LOVE in its commercial concept is probably the brain child of Western interpretation with some Christian ideals thrown in for good measure.

My views might be quite controversial but i am only reasoning from things I saw and learnt while growing up in Kenya & Tanzania.

The Traditional African view of LOVE may have similar threads but at the same time I think the concepts vary greatly. The "Love" between man and woman was probably subdued in my view. Bearing in mind many African Cultures subscribed to polygamy, I think that the ralationship was more practical than romantic in many ways. It must have been hard to not have fits of jealousy as your husband took his second or third wife....so LOVE as a ROMANTIC IDEAL was more of a distant value. Of course there would be some kind of LOVE but i think it is closer to understanding,tolerance and acceptance.....many people see these as virtures or aspects of LOVE. It may not be what people what to here but the concept of LOVE in Africa is really quite vague.

But there is an aspect to LOVE that is more or less universal and is prominent and highly celebrated in Africa and that is the LOVE between mother and child.

I have been documenting various folktales and proverbs from all over Africa for the past few years. I beleive that within these oral traditions lie many a key to understanding various aspects of African Philosophy. Our people before us were very practical and thus traditional philosophies were emulated from generation to generation through these mediums. If you like I would be happy to pass on a few examples........