Atrophization of Minority Languages: Indigenous Folktales to the Rescue

Abstract

In the wake of the already established fact that Africa in particular, and some other developing countries of the world, are gradually losing their linguistic heritages, and in consequence their cultural ethos, to the encroachment of the ‘super-power’ languages like French and English, it is necessary to examine the scope of the hegemonic influence wielded by foreign languages, particularly English, on the culture of the ‘colonized’, and how folktales as a part of communal tradition can invigorate a renaissance in the preservation and sustenance of culture. This paper, as a synchronic study, therefore discusses the utilitarian values of some of the well-known Yoruba folktales in ensuring a reappraisal of the link between culture and language, and maintenance and survival.