Abstract
In this article, how the tradition of intergenerational storytelling provides parents with contexts for the socialization of children is discussed, drawing on the author’s observations of family storytelling events and interviews with parents and children among the Guji-Oromo in southern Ethiopia. This ethnographic analysis shows that, among the Guji-Oromo, storytelling provides occasions for positive communication between parents and children, which in turn are effective in the process of socialization. It was found that parents seek to achieve three socialization outcomes through storytelling: cautioning children, motivating children to learn from adults, and heightening children’s respect for the value of adult supervision. These practices empower children to fit their actions to accepted norms and values. Parents among the Guji-Oromo perform and interpret folktales with the purpose of entertaining and educating children through a child-friendly process of socialization.
Recommended Citation
Jirata, Tadesse Jaleta
(2014)
"Positive Parenting: An Ethnographic Study of Storytelling for Socialization of Children in Ethiopia,"
Storytelling, Self, Society: Vol. 10:
Iss.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/storytelling/vol10/iss2/2