West African Rice-Folklore

We continue to enjoy the best of both food folklore and folklore in modern African literature with this week’s episode. We start with the rice harvest as depicted in Camara Laye’s “The African Child” and savor some rice-related folklore from West Africa’s rice-growing peoples.Can’t Get Enough?* Friendly, Delicious Rivalry Surrounding Jollof Rice* The World Wide World of Jollof Rice* Jollof Wars: The Dispute Surrounding This West African Rice Dish* The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American ConnectionReferences* Shaw, Thurstan, ed. The Archaeology of Africa: food, metals and towns. Vol. 20. Psychology Press, 1993.* Fields-Black, Edda L. Deep roots: rice farmers in West Africa and the African diaspora. Indiana University Press, 2008.* Kallon, Zainabu Kpaka. Zainabu's African Cookbook: With Food and Stories. Citadel Press, 2004.* Schlenker, Christian Frederick. A Collection of Temne Traditions: Fables and Proverbs, with an English Translation: as Also Some Specimens of the Author's Own Temne Compositions and Translations: to which is Appended a Temne-English Vocabulary. Church Missionary Society, 1861.* Migeod, Frederick William Hugh. A view of Sierra Leone. K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1926.* Kilson, Marion. Royal Antelope and Spider: West African Mende Tales. 1976. Get full access to Mythological Africans at mythologicalafricans.substack.com/subscribe