Abstract |
The study explored the various performances of oral narratives in the Teso communities. In-depth interviews carried out with 68 respondents from 2009 to 2013, in six selected Teso districts in Uganda and Teso and Busia districts in Kenya, before and after performances, provided the data. In placing value and assessing the unquantifiable feelings of narrators and audiences, the study chose the methods of qualitative research and ethno-methodological philosophical analyses. Various levels of perceptions emerged from both the audiences and performers as they journeyed into both self and society. The study showed that the communities yearned for the communicative avenues of harnessing resources for solving various issues as they look into the future. Oral narratives motivated audiences through experiences of self discovery which spurred them to analogies of societal issues that haunted them. Both value and virtue were experienced at individual and group levels with a cultural identity and exposure to ethnic ties that bound them together in the struggle for a brighter tomorrow. The study recommends that a new society can be realized with movement from analogue to digital strategies for communication. |