Folk Beliefs and Psychology

I’m very excited about this week’s episode of the MA Podcast because I get to talk with my mother, author and poet, Susan Nde. This is not her first time on MA! Back in 2022, we got to chat with her about her short story collection, The Mirror and Nine Other Short Stories. We talked menstrual taboos, girlhood culture and more! She joins me today to talk about what I call the “My Village People” phenomenon. If you spend any time around people from the African continent, you will invariably run into some version of this phenomenon. This is the belief that misfortunes in life can result from the malicious intent of one’s own “village people”. The village people in question here does not necessarily mean a whole village. It is a metaphor for the people, usually extended family, in one’s immediate community who might have vested interest in one’s success or failure as the case may very well be. This was a great conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! References* Les Nouveaux Contes d'Amadou Koumba by Birago Diop.Meanwhile…The Watkins Book of African Folklore (…or The Mythological Africans Book) is out!The Watkins Book of African Folklore contains 50 stories, curated from North, South, East, West and Central Africa. The stories are grouped into three sections:* Creation myths and foundation legends* Stories about human relationships and the cultural institutions they created* Animal tales (with a twist…the folktales are about some of the most unlikely animals!)I thoroughly enjoyed digging into the historical and cultural context out of which the stories, their themes, and protagonists emerge. There is something for everybody! Get full access to Mythological Africans at mythologicalafricans.substack.com/subscribe