OVERVIEW. In this chapter, we consider the role of the oral tradition in counseling people of African ancestry. We first analyze the meaning and significance of aspects of the oral tradition and some of its constituent genres, such as myth, legend, and fable, in an African context. Second, we contemplate the potential place of the oral tradition in actual counseling with clients of African ancestry. More particularly, we reconsider the role that the oral tradition can play in the healing process of people of African ancestry, who may have lost the sense of connectedness to a past that provided support in a variety of cultural contexts and traditional structures. We conclude by investigating two folktales and their role in a counseling session.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the chapter, the reader should be able to:

1. Discuss some of the different forms the oral tradition in an African context may assume.

2. Explain the role of the oral tradition in counseling clients of African ancestry.

3. Analyze the meaning and significance of the oral tradition and some of its constituent genres, such as myth, legend, and fable, in an African context.

4. Critique the unwarranted emphasis on a positivist approach to counseling in an African context.

5. Express an understanding of the importance to utilize the oral tradition in the counseling of people of African ancestry.

6. Discuss the interventive use of folklore (diagnosis, wellbeing, and development) in counseling.