The stories were, and I want to believe that they still are, a wonderful way to form a tribe, to make the little ones participate in the beliefs, myths, values and other circumstances of all kinds that affect a community, region, country or even continent.
Africa is a varied continent but one that still forms an ideology of groups of tribes in its 30 million km2. Quite a feat that, to this day, they still remain
Ethnic groups, tribes, and ancestral communities are seen from the West as archaic groupings, sources of territorial conflicts. But, deep down, analyzing our "first world" are we not even worse in our supposed modernity and our double standards?
Sometimes we can rationally understand different values of these societies as wrong, but the point is that it is important to value that there are still them. I do not believe that we can dictate and lead tribes of any kind towards a well adjusted to our societies already stripped of almost all values.
But focusing on this book by Nelson Mandela, it is exciting to put so many stories, tales and adventures black on white with the intention of entertaining but also of valuing the ideologies of each people, composed for their order and survival.
A book full of fables and morals for children and a reflection of ideas as remote as they are valuable for adults.
Summary of the book: Nelson Mandela collects in this masterful anthology the most beautiful and ancient stories of Africa. It is a collection that offers a bunch of endearing stories, small samples of the valuable essence of Africa, which in many cases are also universal because of the portrait they make of humanity, animals and fantastic beings.
'There's the hare,' Mandela observes in the prologue, 'a very clever urchin; the hyena, who is the loser of all stories; the lion, the chief of the animals and the one who gives them gifts; the serpent, which inspires fear and at the same time is the symbol of healing power; there are also spells that can bring misfortune or grant freedom ... ».
You can buy the book My African stories, the Nelson Mandela compilation, here: