22 min
West African Griots - TWB S2 E2 Stories from the Hearth
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- Drama
In West Africa, speech goes deeper than just communication - the spoken word is imbued with the natural power to create and to give life. For centuries, West African storytellers the griots have been advisors to kings and emperors, village elders and tribal chiefs. They have served as walking libraries, fonts of all knowledge, "the memory of humankind". And whilst the brutal slave trade of the 16th-19th centuries did its best to destroy West African culture, the legacy of the griots lives on in hip-hop, poetry and activism to this very day. This is Part Two in season two of bonus historical and interview series: The Wandering Bard on Stories from the Hearth.
In West Africa, speech goes deeper than just communication - the spoken word is imbued with the natural power to create and to give life. For centuries, West African storytellers the griots have been advisors to kings and emperors, village elders and tribal chiefs. They have served as walking libraries, fonts of all knowledge, "the memory of humankind". And whilst the brutal slave trade of the 16th-19th centuries did its best to destroy West African culture, the legacy of the griots lives on in hip-hop, poetry and activism to this very day. This is Part Two in season two of bonus historical and interview series: The Wandering Bard on Stories from the Hearth.
22 min