The Last Storytellers

The Last Storytellers
Author: Richard Hamilton
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2011-05-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0857720155

Marrakech is the heart and lifeblood of Morocco's ancient storytelling tradition. For nearly a thousand years, storytellers have gathered in the Jemaa el Fna, the legendary square of the city, to recount ancient folktales and fables to rapt audiences. But this unique chain of oral tradition that has passed seamlessly from generation to generation is teetering on the brink of extinction. The competing distractions of television, movies and the internet have drawn the crowds away from the storytellers and few have the desire to learn the stories and continue their legacy. Richard Hamilton has witnessed at first hand the death throes of this rich and captivating tradition and, in the labyrinth of the Marrakech medina, has tracked down the last few remaining storytellers, recording stories that are replete with the mysteries and beauty of the Maghreb.

Jewish Folktales from Morocco

Jewish Folktales from Morocco
Author: Marc Eliany
Publisher: Sephardic and Mizrahi Studies
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2021
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9781793644657

This annotated collection of simple yet witty Jewish Moroccan folk tales presents the popular fictional hero Seha as both sage and clown, conveying deeply engrained Jewish values. The authors also provide socio-historical information that contextualizes the tales in the process of social change and modernization in Morocco.

Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore

Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore
Author: Theresa Bane
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2016-05-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 147662268X

"Here there be dragons"--this notation was often made on ancient maps to indicate the edges of the known world and what lay beyond. Heroes who ventured there were only as great as the beasts they encountered. This encyclopedia contains more than 2,200 monsters of myth and folklore, who both made life difficult for humans and fought by their side. Entries describe the appearance, behavior, and cultural origin of mythic creatures well-known and obscure, collected from traditions around the world.

Myths and Legends

Myths and Legends
Author: John Pemberton
Publisher: Canary Press eBooks
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2011-10-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 190869811X

Many ancient legends in circulation, either through verbal story-telling, ancient script or paintings, have assisted the human race in understanding the complex world we live in, even if they have been embellished over the years. They have helped us form societies and have given people reason to live, they are the blocks that when linked together can help us find the answers we as a human race have been searching for. Myths and Legends gathers together the principal mythologies, legends and folklore of ancient and modern cultures and explores the relationship that they have with their people and with the major religions of the world. Contents : Creation; male and female relationships; natural disaster; survival; death and the afterlife. Principal myths and legends of the world: Greek, Roman, Celtic; pagan; Arthurian; Greenman, Norse, Voodoo; Caribbean folk heroes; giants, dragons and unicorns; Maori gods rangi and papa (sky and earth); dream-time of the indigenous Australians; Bon of Tibet; Chinese mythology; Native American tribal stories; mythology and religion: Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism, Taoism.

Moroccan Islam

Moroccan Islam
Author: Dale F. Eickelman
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2014-07-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0292768761

This book is one of the first comprehensive studies of Islam as locally understood in the Middle East. Specifically, it is concerned with the prevalent North African belief that certain men, called marabouts, have a special relation to God that enables them to serve as intermediaries and to influence the well-being of their clients and kin. Dale F. Eickelman examines the Moroccan pilgrimage center of Boujad and unpublished Moroccan and French archival materials related to it to show how popular Islam has been modified by its adherents to accommodate new social and economic realities. In the course of his analysis he demonstrates the necessary interrelationship between social history and the anthropological study of symbolism. Eickelman begins with an outline of the early development of Islam in Morocco, emphasizing the "maraboutic crisis" of the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. He also examines the history and social characteristics of the Sherqawi religious lodge, on which the study focuses, in preprotectorate Morocco. In the central portion of the book, he analyzes the economic activities and social institutions of Boujad and its rural hinterland, as well as some basic assumptions the townspeople and tribesmen make about the social order. Finally, there is an intensive discussion of maraboutism as a phenomenon and the changing local character of Islam in Morocco. In focusing on the "folk" level of Islam, rather than on "high culture" tradition, the author has made possible a more general interpretation of Moroccan society that is in contrast with earlier accounts that postulated a marked discontinuity between tribe and town, past and present.

Myths and Legends of the World

Myths and Legends of the World
Author: Lonely Planet Kids
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1788686535

Bold reader - open your mystical map and get ready to travel through time with 21 dazzling stories of daring and deceit, reward and punishment. Meet gods, goddesses and demigods, serpents, coyotes, talking fish and clever spiders, and cavort with sea nymphs, mystical women, terrifying beasts and volcano people - as you discover different tales of how the world began. These powerful, fascinating myths and legends will transport you to every corner of the globe. You'll journey from ancient to modern times, from hot climates to freezing temperatures, from mountaintops to seafloors. The stories in this book link you to past generations; these tales have been passed down through a long line of oral traditions. The souls of ancestors, the lives of heroes and the fates of mortals are waiting to be discovered. Myths and legends are retold by Alli Brydon and beautifully illustrated by Julia Iredale. Myths from Africa include: 'The Creation of the World' from the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo 'The Tale of the Ghosts and the Flutes' from the Beba people of Cameroon 'Anansi and the Box of Stories' from the Ashanti people of present-day Ghana Myths from Europe include: The Selkies from Scottish mythology 'Athena, Arachne and the Duelling Looms' from Greek mythology Myths from Asia include: Lord Ganesh from the Hindu pantheon 'Nyai Loro Kidul, Queen of the Sea' from Indonesian mythology Myths of Oceania include: 'The Legend of Maui' from Polynesian mythology Uluru from the Anangu people of Australia The Rainbow Serpent from the Aboriginal people of Australia Myths of the Americas include: 'Coyote Steals Fire for the People' from the Native American people of the United States 'The Hero Twins Visit the Underworld' from the Mayan People of Mesoamerica The Mapinguary from Brazilian mythology Myths from the Arctic include: Sedna, the Mother of the Sea from Inuit mythology Niekija and the Northern Lights from Sami Shamanism About Lonely Planet Kids: Lonely Planet Kids - an imprint of the world's leading travel authority Lonely Planet - published its first book in 2011. Over the past 45 years, Lonely Planet has grown a dedicated global community of travellers, many of whom are now sharing a passion for exploration with their children. Lonely Planet Kids educates and encourages young readers at home and in school to learn about the world with engaging books on culture, sociology, geography, nature, history, space and more. We want to inspire the next generation of global citizens and help kids and their parents to approach life in a way that makes every day an adventure. Come explore! Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

The Martyrdom of a Moroccan Jewish Saint

The Martyrdom of a Moroccan Jewish Saint
Author: Sharon Vance
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2011-05-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004207163

The martyrdom in 1834 of Sol Hatchuel, a Jewish girl from Tangier, traumatized the Jewish community and inspired a literary response in Morocco and beyond. This study focuses on works written in the first century after her death in Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Spanish, Spanish and French that tell her story and interpret its meaning. The author places both the event and the texts that narrate it in their historical context and show how its significance changed in each language and literary setting. The texts, prose and poetic laments by North African rabbis and a romantic feuilleton from the Judeo-Spanish press, and their historical settings reveal the complex relations between Jews and Muslims in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and the intersection between religious polemics and gender discourse.

Djinn City

Djinn City
Author: Saad Z. Hossain
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: Bangladesh
ISBN: 9781944700065

"Indelbed is a lonely kid living in a crumbling mansion in the super dense, super chaotic third world capital of Bangladesh. His father, Dr. Kaikobad, is the black sheep of their clan, the once illustrious Khan Rahman family ... When Dr. Kaikobad falls into a supernatural coma, Indelbed and his older cousin, the wise-cracking slacker Rais, learn that Indelbed's dad was in fact a magician--and a trusted emissary to the djinn world"--Amazon.com.