Fatoumatta Jobe is transcribing in Wolof鈥攁nd then translating into English鈥攃enturies-old stories passed down orally.
人妻少妇专区 student Fatoumatta Jobe 鈥�23 has a story to tell. Dozens of stories, actually.
For the past year, the English and biology double major from The Gambia, Africa, has been using in-person interviews and WhatsApp to connect with聽around 30 elder members of her family and community, seeking stories that are centuries old and have been passed down like heirlooms.
鈥淭hese are stories my grandmother was told by her grandmother, who was told by her grandmother, and so on,鈥� she says. 鈥淪tories that only exist in the oral traditions of The Gambia and Senegal.鈥�
Jobe audio records the interviews, then types up the stories in Wolof, the primary language of more than five million people in The Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania. She plans to publish her Wolof transcriptions. But as her
senior research project for her English major, she is also translating the fables into English (also an official language of The Gambia).
As fables, the stories carry moral lessons. One is about a stubborn child who was warned against bothering birds. One day, he threw sticks at a bird until the bird turned on the boy and carried him around the forest until guiding him into a well. 鈥淭hat story is used to warn children against not listening to their mothers,鈥� Jobe says.
Jobe鈥檚 father recently told her about a man whose family lived in poverty. He would sneak out for food and pretend to be hungry when he returned. A chicken told the family, and the man was so ashamed he turned into a hill. 鈥淪o when you hear voices in the woods,鈥� Jobe says, 鈥渒now that an ashamed man is somewhere behind it.鈥�
Jobe鈥檚 goal is to turn these conversations with elders in her country into an anthology of Gambian bedtime stories, preserving them for future generations.
Lucid retellings, says Professor Kenneth Gross
Jobe came to the 人妻少妇专区 after attending the African Leadership Academy, a selective college preparatory program in Johannesburg, South Africa.
鈥淚 did some online research and really loved that Rochester had an open curriculum, and I was able to explore different fields,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 came to Rochester sight unseen, but I love it.鈥�
Since arriving on the River 人妻少妇专区, she has served as the former president of the , a member of the , and a . She also works at the as a student engagement assistant.
The idea for the translation project came last year in a class called Dangerous Children taught by Kenneth Gross, the Alan F. Hilfiker Distinguished Professor of English.聽Says Gross: 鈥淚 asked the students to share in writing some story that they had heard or read in childhood鈥攖o get them thinking about childhood, its imaginative world, and stories that belong to children.鈥�
Jobe turned in what Gross calls 鈥渁 vivid retelling鈥� of a Gambian folktale, about a brave girl named Suntu and a magical ape who becomes human and helps her deal with her mean-spirited stepfamily.
鈥淗er pages not only lucidly retold the story itself,鈥� Gross says, 鈥渟he also recalled the conditions under which she had heard it told repeatedly as a child by her father.鈥�
Jobe wrote in her essay that her father would tuck her in every night at bedtime and tell her a story in Wolof until she fell asleep, or the story finished: 鈥淭he story would always begin with my dad saying 鈥楲毛pp woon鈥� (a story of the past) and I would have to reply 鈥楲upp毛n鈥� (a story of today). My dad would then say 鈥楢monafi鈥� (it happened once here), and I would reply 鈥楧盲a na am鈥� (and it shall again). And then the story would start.鈥�
Jobe鈥檚 final touch was providing Gross with a digital recording of her father singing in Wolof and translating the spell-like song at the center of the tale. 鈥淭hat spurred an interest in me to learn more about these stories that had been passed down for years and years,鈥� Jobe says. 鈥淭here are so many. They鈥檙e only being told orally, and people are dying. How would they be preserved for future generations?鈥�
Her translation project started soon after. 鈥淚 asked my dad a bunch of questions, and my grandmothers sent me stories on a group chat,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 reached out to an uncle who is an historian in The Gambia. A lot of it is word of mouth: who do you know that knows a lot of stories?鈥�
Jobe did most of her interviews using WhatsApp, but she returned home over winter break after being awarded a research grant from the and the that helped cover her travel expenses. At home, she did in-person interviews. She has translated about 30 stories from Wolof into English. She intends to present the book for her honors thesis this semester鈥攂ut also has bigger plans.
鈥淪ince embarking on this journey, I鈥檝e been thinking about doing more research and producing various volumes that are more representative of various tribal groups in Gambia,鈥� she says. 鈥淎 friend of mine and I also have discussed making a documentary of the stories this summer so people can actually visualize them.鈥�
Jobe has learned a lot about her country鈥攁nd herself鈥攄uring this process.
鈥淚 love talking to older people, especial Gambian people,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey know everything! I get to learn from them and laugh with them. My paternal grandmother loves that I鈥檓 doing this. And I鈥檓 learning that my creative capacity isn鈥檛 something of my own unique design. It鈥檚 literally within my culture to be creative.鈥�
Jobe is applying to graduate schools but also keeping her career options open. 鈥淚鈥檓 interested in writing, but this experience has also taught me that I鈥檓 capable of doing research,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 a STEM student, so I鈥檝e learned that I can do that. But this research, this is where I flourish.鈥�
