Ben-Amos, Dan2023-05-232023-05-2319862017-08-29https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/41305African folklore has come of age. No longer apologetic, it assumes its position among the literatures of the nations without any pleading for its literary value, nor with any defensive rhetorics to ward off unwarrented interpretations. Native scholars are taking charge of their own literatures with a commanding authority that combines profound knowledge of their own tradition with the breadth and depth of folklore scholarship. In doing so they are setting new scholarly standards that advance our research methods from a phase of participant-observation to a new level of indigenous scholarship, leaving behind the sisyphean task of interpreting traditional texts that non-native speakers face.This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommerical license (CC BY-NC).African Languages and SocietiesFolkloreNear and Middle Eastern StudiesReview