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Badra Popular Tales from Algeria

A particular form of expression in the popular culture of traditional Algerian society, tales have always permeated the life of communities, in homes, cities, cafes, markets and workplaces. The culture dictates that they are transmitted from elders to younger people generally from early childhood. At birth, the child is nourished by lullabies then later by a rich repertoire of tales through the gentle narrative voice of his mother, sometimes by his grandmother or one of his aunts, during family vigils around a fire. Also sisters, sisters-in-law, older brothers, uncles pass on to children within the family the best of traditional folk tales introducing them to the enchanted, wonderful and wisdom-filled world of this oral literature. It is the same in other environments and social categories where master storytellers initiate student storytellers. Nomads, villagers and city dwellers transmit and disseminate tales, each in their own natural and family area. The oral tradition, very widespread among the populations of the Maghreb, remains one of the main cultural vehicles through which the literary content is transmitted in its varied forms through the storyteller who replaces the reader. And it is the story that gives a taste for reading from a very young age. Accounts of imaginary stories, from a distant past, no reference is made to the forgotten author, a genius, whose legacy belongs to all. This heritage transmitted from generation to generation through a collective memory, conveys ancestral educational and cultural values. Thus, the tale belongs to the intangible cultural heritage of our country whose contribution, thanks to its richness and diversity, is always beneficial.