The theme of laziness in selected folk tales of Bakiga of South Western Uganda.

Abstract

The study explores the theme of laziness and literally devices that develop it in selected Rukiga folktales. The research is qualitative in nature. The study identified folktales which originated from Bakiga to extract the required information to satisfy the study objectives. The inclusion criteria were that the story had to be with roots from Bakiga community; it had to involve a theme of laziness, it had to contain the major theme of laziness and the devices that are used to create meaning. Using interviews, observation, library research data was collected. The validity and reliability of the folktales was ascertained through asking several elders about which version of the folktale was most appropriate or correct. The data obtained was processed qualitatively using thematic analysis. he study recommends that oral literature should be made more available and aware to the young generation for provision of moral lessons and guidance in line with our cultural norms. The literature about the folktales in Bakiga should be made publicly accessible and well documents as well as uploaded to media platforms liked by the young generation. Stakeholders in Bakiga community and who are mindful of the future of Rukiga literature need to ensure that they create a database which can be accessed by all those who are willing to freely get knowledge about the folktales. Parents should be encouraged to tell their children the folktales and ensure that the morality of the stories is explained to ensure that they do not get extinct. In conclusion, folktales are still relevant today. What remains to be done is to compile all the folktales and make them part of our literature.