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Jürgen Hubertjuergen_hubert@mementomori.social
Oct 8, 2026, 1:28 PM
I could use some book recommendations. I am looking for folk tale collections which are
1. from cultures outside of Europe, and
2. were written by people _from_ that culture.
Ideally, they should also be translated into English (or German) by people from that culture as well.
It would also be a plus if they contain a lot of "local legends" which incorporate local geography and history (as opposed to "fairy tales" which take place at indeterminable places and times).
#folklore #AmReading #Bookstodon
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Replies

Reginaldraganwald@social.bau-ha.us
Oct 8, 2026, 1:40 PM
@juergen_hubert from my distant culture of origin, there are folktales from the Akan people of West Africa centered on a trickster character named Anansi who is an anthropomorphic spider. [1]
There are similar stories told about a rabbit that trace back to other African peoples. Those stories came to America with the slave trade and became Brer Rabbit stories. [2]
In both cases, the most authentic versions are spoken, not written:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UAWbeRkwwc
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Reginaldraganwald@social.bau-ha.us
Oct 8, 2026, 1:41 PM
@juergen_hubert [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anansi
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br'er_Rabbit
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Reginaldraganwald@social.bau-ha.us
Oct 8, 2026, 1:46 PM
@juergen_hubert A century ago, Helen Roberts was an ethnomusicologist who travelled and recorded music and stories from various “ethnic” communities, including recording Anansi stories and accompanying music/songs in Jamaica.
This repository has phonetic transcriptions of her recordings.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Jamaica_Anansi_Stories
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Reginaldraganwald@social.bau-ha.us
Oct 8, 2026, 1:54 PM
@juergen_hubert However, these are fairy tales, including some deeply foundational stories such as “Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom,” which is a myth of creation.
https://oldfolklore.com/america/latin-american-folktales/anansi-and-the-pot-of-wisdom-a-caribbean-folktale-that-teaches-lessons-on-humility-and-sharing/
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Don Raydonray@mastodon.online
Oct 8, 2026, 1:48 PM
@juergen_hubert
Here are two from Guatemala. They contain very local tales from the villages around Lake Atitlán. All of the tales originate from speakers of Mayan languages.
The book on the left is Spanish-English. The other one has Mayan languages-Spanish.
They have a lot of traditional elements, but since they come from communities with 500 years of Spanish influence, there’s no doubt some borrowed elements mixed in.
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L.J., romantic toilerljwrites@writeout.ink
Oct 8, 2026, 1:52 PM
@juergen_hubert Myths and Legends of the Bantu and other Africans was originally compiled by Alice Werner, and had a number of problems given that provenance. @dilmandila edited and modernized the racism and outdated parts, and his edited volume is available for free as a newsletter subscription magnet. https://www.ododopress.com/non-fiction/myths-and-legends-of-the-bantu-and-other-africans/
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Dilman Diladilmandila@mograph.social
Oct 8, 2026, 8:08 PM
@ljwrites @juergen_hubert A couple other books you might enjoy, Twilight Tales of the Black Baganda (very misleading title) was written by two Ugandans, but the translator, white woman, claimed ownership, though in her introduction she acknowledged their writing. Skip chapter 1-5 for racist texts!
https://archive.org/details/twilighttalesofb00fishrich/page/n11/mode/2up
The other book by a Ugandan in the 1900s and translated by another in the 1930s is Customs of the Baganda, has little of folk lore https://archive.org/details/customsofbaganda0022sira/page/n7/mode/2up (I can email pdf)
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Dilman Diladilmandila@mograph.social
Oct 8, 2026, 8:26 PM
@ljwrites @juergen_hubert Hare and the Hornbill is mostly folk tales by one of Uganda's most famous writers, Okot p'Bitek https://archive.org/details/harehornbill0000pbit/page/82/mode/2up
I intend to sometime read The African and Baganda Oral Traditions: An Introduction, by Immaculate N Kizza, got it a while back but haven't sat down to it, but looks like it fits what you are looking for.
Also Keep My Words (not sure you can get it in Europe, though https://textbookcentre.com/shop/keep-my-words-eaep/ ) one of my best entertainments growing up
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When Elvis Diedwhenelvisdied@wandering.shop
Oct 8, 2026, 2:17 PM
@juergen_hubert Arthur Parker, a Seneca Archaeologist and historian, published two books of Seneca Folk Tales, both of which are interesting, if products of their time (early 20th century)
https://archive.org/details/skunnywundysenec0000park_h8b9
https://archive.org/details/senecamythsfolkt00park
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S༙྇p༙྇i༙྇r༙྇i༙྇t༙྇ A༙྇d༙྇v༙྇i༙྇s༙྇o༙྇r༙྇mangotable@famichiki.jp
Oct 8, 2026, 2:20 PM
@juergen_hubert I’ve had this book snd enjoyed since I was a teen and have read it’s stories to my kids.
2 Editors - one a Native American anthropologist
https://www.powells.com/book/american-indian-myths-legends-9780394740188?condition=Used+-+Good&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23293931881&gclid=CjwKCAjw_pzWBhAkEiwAwDCi1b6r5HoOTWcG-v9kryz2PlC1M9LPMJcqVgpzBCUQI_j9eRFZ1GfjJRoCv5UQAvD_BwE
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Benjamin Geerbenjamingeer@piaille.fr
Oct 8, 2026, 2:32 PM
@juergen_hubert @raganwald I enjoyed these: https://nyupress.org/9781479855964/stories-of-piety-and-prayer/
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OhSnap!DragonDrOinOR@mastodon.social
Oct 14, 2026, 2:32 AM
@juergen_hubert
Eastern Heathens: An Anthology of Subverted Asian Folklore tics off all your boxes. I published a review of it when it came out, and loved it. The stories are steeped in Asian folklore--but with wonderful twists.
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