Transformational Narratives: Hearing/Reading Selected Senegalese Folktales by Young Women

The culture of a people is usually reflected in its folklore. As important constituents of folklore, folktales are consequently expressive of the worldview of a society at some point in time; they convey indicators of the prevailing ideology in a society. Thus, they are suitable sources for an inquiry into gender relations at work in a given social formation, especially when folktales by women are considered. This essay embarks on a listening/reading of such folktales in search of transformational trends in gender relations.