Irony in Teso Folktales
Abstract
This study investigates the different forms of irony in Teso folktales. The main focus is on how irony creates meaning in Teso folktales. Some of the different forms of irony include; verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony.
The research was carried out in Soroti and other neighbouring districts of Teso region. It was conducted mostly through interviews. The people who were interviewed were mostly elders of fifty and above and also some youths and young people were also interviewed.
The data collection mostly involved recording of these tales on tapes as well as oral interview that was conducted in the evenings when most families were through with their hard tasks.
The findings of the study were to prove that irony creates meaning in Teso folktales. Whereas its true that there are other forms that Teso folktales employ like imagery, symbolism however they don't bring out the message clearly and above all the beauty of folktales that explains why this study is based on irony because it clearly brings out the message that the folktales are meant to, for example irony develops critical thinking among the people who listen to the folktales because it encourages the listeners to think in order to understand the message.
The conclusion that was derived from the study was that irony creates meaning in Teso folktales because these folktales among other narratives and forms of oral literature play a didactic role that shapes society. The major forms of irony include; Dramatic irony, verbal and situational irony. This study among others is a very special one because most scholars have studied the role of folktales, the role of folktales in Teso communities, irony in Kiswahili folktales as a case with Hamza M.N. (2014). However, no scholar has studied irony in Teso folktales. This has prompted the researcher to investigate irony in Teso folktales as area that has not studied.