A Dictionary of African Mythology: The Mythmaker as Storyteller – Harold Scheub – Oxford University Press (2000)

What the Book Explores

Harold Scheub’s A Dictionary of African Mythology: The Mythmaker as Storyteller is far more than a standard reference text; it is a profound exploration of the intersection between oral performance and the construction of cosmic meaning. Rather than merely listing deities and their attributes, the author examines the process of mythmaking. The work explores how hundreds of distinct African cultures—ranging from the San and Zulu in the south to the Yoruba and Dogon in the west, and the Amhara and Maasai in the east—use narrative to organize their understanding of the universe. The book serves as a bridge between the raw data of ethnography and the living experience of the oral tradition.

The Centrality of the Storyteller

The author explores the premise that the “mythmaker” is not a distant, historical figure but the active storyteller who brings the narrative to life for a contemporary audience. This work examines the storyteller as a mediator who uses inherited symbols to address the immediate psychological and social needs of the community. Scheub emphasizes that in African traditions, the myth is never a static document; it is a performance that relies on rhythm, gesture, and the shared emotional response of the listeners. Through the entries in this dictionary, the author explores how these performances preserve the cultural memory of a people, ensuring that the origins of the world and the dictates of the ancestors remain relevant in a changing world.

Themes of Creation and the Human Condition

The work examines a vast array of creation myths, focusing on the diversity of the “Supreme Being” across the continent. The author explores characters such as Olodumare (Yoruba), Unkulunkulu (Zulu), and Amma (Dogon), detailing how these entities brought the world into being. Often, as the work examines, the act of creation is followed by a “separation” where the deity withdraws from the earth due to human error or proximity, leaving the management of life to lesser spirits, ancestors, and humans themselves. This theme of the “distanced god” is a recurring motif that the author explores to illustrate the African focus on human agency and moral responsibility.

The Trickster and the Heroic Archetype

A significant portion of the work is dedicated to the archetypal figures of the trickster and the hero. The author explores the multifaceted nature of characters like Anansi the Spider, Eshu the Messenger, and the various Hare figures found throughout East and Southern Africa. This work examines how the trickster functions as a psychological safety valve, challenging social norms and introducing an element of chaos that ultimately leads to cultural growth. Similarly, the author explores the heroic cycle through epics like that of Sundiata or Mwindo, illustrating how the hero’s journey in the African context often emphasizes the restoration of community and the fulfillment of ancestral destiny over individual glory.

Historical / Cultural Context

Harold Scheub, a professor of African Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was one of the world’s foremost authorities on African oral traditions. His work is grounded in extensive fieldwork; he famously walked thousands of miles across Southern Africa in the 1960s and 70s, recording thousands of stories from Xhosa, Zulu, Swati, and Ndebele narrators. A Dictionary of African Mythology, published by Oxford University Press in 2000, represents the culmination of decades of research into the structural and emotional heart of these narratives.

The work matters because it arrived at a time when the study of mythology was moving away from Eurocentric models that prioritized written texts. Scheub was instrumental in demonstrating that oral literature possesses a complexity and philosophical depth equal to that of the Greek or Norse traditions. By organizing the material into a dictionary format, he made a vast and often fragmented body of knowledge accessible to a global audience without stripping the stories of their specific cultural contexts. The book stands as a testament to the resilience of African intellectual traditions which, despite centuries of colonial pressure, have maintained a distinct and powerful worldview through the art of the spoken word.

Who This Book Is For

This work is intended for readers who seek a structural and symbolic understanding of African thought. It is an essential resource for:

Scholars of Mythology and Folklore: Those interested in comparative studies of creation, death, and the trickster archetype across different cultures.
Cultural Historians: Individuals seeking to understand the ethical and spiritual frameworks that governed pre-colonial African societies and continue to influence them today.
Writers and Creative Artists: Creators looking for a deep well of symbolic imagery and narrative structures that exist outside of the Western literary canon.
General Readers: Anyone with a curiosity about the diverse ways in which human beings have used story to explain the mysteries of existence.

While the book is formatted as a reference work, the entries are written with a narrative flair that reflects Scheub’s own appreciation for the art of storytelling. It functions both as a tool for targeted research and as a volume for serial reading, providing a comprehensive overview of the African mythological landscape.