New Age vs Stone Age South African Black Folklore: A Study of the Evolution of Folklore in Black South African Societies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6697/21049Keywords:
Black South African folklore, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, orality and performance theory, cultural memory, postcolonial theory, folklore modernisationAbstract
This article traces the evolution of Black South African folklore from its earliest articulations in Stone Age societies to its vibrant reimaginations in the contemporary era. It argues that South African folklore has never been a static cultural residue but a dynamic, adaptive system through which communities have continuously interpreted social, spiritual, and historical worlds. Early oral traditions rooted in myth, ritual, cosmology, and communal performance functioned as repositories of collective memory, moral instruction, and social order. These traditions were reshaped by colonisation, missionary intervention, labour migration, urbanisation, and globalisation, each generating new narrative forms, audiences, and meanings.
Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative, interpretive design grounded in textual and discourse analysis. Data was generated through a systematic review of oral narratives, archival collections, literary texts, and contemporary digital performances. The analysis is guided by a cultural memory theory, supported by postcolonial theory and orality‑performance studies, to examine how mythic archetypes and ancestral motifs are preserved, transformed, and mobilised across time. Particular attention is given to figures such as the trickster, the ancestral mediator, and land‑spirit cosmologies, and to their reinterpretation in modern literature, theatre, music, and digital media to address contemporary concerns around identity, race, social justice, and diasporic belonging.
By juxtaposing early oral traditions with their 21st‑century reinterpretations, the article illuminates the interplay between continuity and innovation in the making of cultural identity. It argues that folklore constitutes a resilient, evolving corpus that preserves ancestral wisdom while responding creatively to modernity. The study contributes to debates on indigenous knowledge and cultural resilience.
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Accepted 2026-03-31
Published 2026-05-04
