Conference
European American Griots: Do They Have the Right?
Author
- Fabian Awanyai (Iowa State University)
Abstract
Griots are African storytellers who capture their community’s past into oral tradition. Storytelling is utilized by elders to incorporate informal education for the children of African villages. That culture was transferred to the Americas via the years of the slave trade. It was through the culture of slave plantations that European Americans were first exposed to the storytelling that is native to the African American culture. Join us for an interactive discussion on how many view these traditions as “African American only.” The session will provide examples from different genres of the African American culture as seen and told from the perspective of European Americans.