STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF FAIRY TALES OF THE GIRIAMA OF RURAL KILIFI COUNTY IN KENYA.

Abstract

The study set out to carry out a structural analysis of Giriama fairy tales from the rural parts of Kilifi County in Kenya. This was informed by the structural analysis of tales that began with Propp’s ground-breaking morphological classification of Russian fairy tales. This marked the onset of numerous studies of structural analysis on fairy tales from different cultures. The study sought to research on the identification and analysis of fairy tales of the Giriama, analyse their structure and investigate how their structure is related to the social functions of the the tales. This was done through the fieldwork based approach that allowed for the collection of the tales. The tales were later transcribed and translated. The study singled out fairy tales of the Giriama out of the general classification as folk tales. The tales were singled out and identified using the ATU Index of folktales classification, and then analysed using Propp’s Thirty-One Morphological Functions for the classification of fairy tales. This helped in canonizing the fairy tales of the Giriama as of good structure in the level of other fairy tales of the world. The plot of the tales was descriptively availed using Roland Barthes’ Narrative Structure Model which revealed a layering of communicative segments from formulaic beginning, development of the body, and to the formulaic ending. An explanation of how formal patterns are related to the tale’s content was discussed and it revealed that the relationship between structure and function in fairy tales is one in which structure reinforces the function. The findings of the study offered an incisive look into the types of fairy tales of the Giriama specifically and of the African in general. The study also made reference to the ATU Index of folktales classification and revealed that the tales fall under the broad categories of Magic, Marvels, Ogres, Tests and Quests, and Captives and Fugitives. They however have some distinct features that make them unique such as the Use of a Victimized Hero and Happy Endings in Celebrations rather than the dominant Crowning and Marriage to a Prince or Princess. The study concluded that the fairy tales of the Giriama are not only similar to other fairy tales in the scale of the Proppian Morphological elements, but also have some distinctive non-European based structures.