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Why Goats Smell Bad and Other Stories from Benin. Translated and retold by Raouf Marna, with woodcuts by Imna Arroyo. (New Haven, Conn.: Linnet Books, 1998. Pp. xii + 138, introduction.)
PAOLA CORSO
Fiction Writer
Raouf Mama describes the 20 tales he has collected and translated in Why Goats Smell Bad as an attempt to recapture the oral tradition of the Fon-the largest ethnic group in Benin--and to enrich our understanding of this West African culture. The book is clearly a result of his concern for the extinction of Beninese folktales and the need to systematically record and introduce them to the mainstream of oral literature. Over a six-year period, Mama recorded Fon storytellers ranging in age from ten to 60. A few of the selections have parallels in familiar stories such as "Cinderella" or "Little Red Riding Hood," but at the end of each story, Mama points out aspects pertaining to Fon culture. These notes, however, are often a few sketchy sentences that state the obvious or provide little depth into a culture that is largely unknown beyond Benin's border. While this may disappoint readers looking for cultural specificity, the strength of the collection is the universality of the stories and the literary details that shine through in Mama's translation.
The tales are organized into four sections: "Orphans, Twins, and Other Children," "Cautionary Tales and Spirit Stories," "Pourquoi Tales and Animal Wisdom," and "Trickster Tales: Yogbo the Glutton." The...