The Effects of Modernity on Storytelling among Bamasaaba in Uganda

In this article, the author explains the meaning of the word ‘modernity.’ He further explains how the different forms of modernity have affected the culture of storytelling among Bamasaaba in Uganda, East Africa. Generally there are different periods of modernity. However, in this article, the author has not considered forms of modernity which took place throughout all the periods of modernization. Instead he has limited his study to the modernization which took place from the middle of the (19th to-date. The components of modernity which the author analyzes include the following: introduction of the monitory economy, introduction of formal education, emergence of new religions and ways of worship, technological advancement, globalization and adoption of new and foreign cultures. The author explains how each of the above mentioned components of modernity has affected the culture of storytelling among Bamasaaba community in Uganda. The author’s concern is that storytelling which is an important genre of oral literature in Africa and the world over is varnishing among Bamasaaba. Interesting stories which the elderly people used to narrate to the children are dying away. The artistic nature and creativity of the people are no longer.