Omugane gwokubanza: Ishe Katabazi 1

Midi pic

I've been debating if I should share these stories in my mother tongue--Rukiga--or English. I might end up doing both. I would like to maintain the Rukiga structure and if I translate them into English, I may play with form, aiming for brevity, cutting out repetitions, and perhaps even writing in a more epic poetry manner than oral story. I might also put a modern spin on both and see how that goes. Be my own trickster on what was and now is or could be. This being a project in the making. Anyway, decisions aside, here's the first story involving a character named Ishe-Katabaazi.

The Stylistic Practices of Trickster storytelling

The trickster figure Reynard the Fox from the wiki

Before I share a number of trickster stories allow me first to delve into their development and some of the qualities that stand out as stylistic conventions in my traditions.

Beginning of Digital Humanities Project

Coyote from the wiki

I didn't fully realize what I was up to when I started taking a tutorial on Digital Humanities and had to come up with a project. After some thinking it occurred to me that it would be a good idea if i start blogging about the stories my family and community members told me when i was growing up.

My favorite stories are in the trickster tradition. We didn't have the coyote or Ananse, but we had the hare, sometimes called Kalulu, sometimes just Mr. Hare.In the stories he is celebrated for outwitting everyone. Sometimes he falls short but is quick to get himself out of the trap. Always a he. Crafty, cunning, cheating. Perhaps that says something about my community; what males were more likely to do compared to females since there is a belief that animals symbolize humans. This site for a start aims to share trickster stories across cultures and languages.