The World and the Word: Tales and Observations from the Xhosa Oral TraditionA master storyteller of the Xhosa people of South Africa, Nongenile Masithathu Zenani gives us an unprecedented view of an oral society from within. Twenty-four of her complex and beautiful tales about birth, puberty, marriage, and work, as told to the renowned collector of African oral tradition, Harold Scheub, are gathered here. Accompanying the stories are Zenani’s detailed commentaries and analyses and Scheub’s striking photographs of her in performance. The combination of these historical and cultural observations with a richly symbolic collection of tales from a single traditional storyteller make The World and the Word a remarkable document. |
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... arms ! Both of my arms were cut off ! " So said the girl , and she began to cry . As she cried , this man approached her . He examined her more closely , and when he had done so , he saw that " This person has had both of her arms cut ...
... arms . She became pregnant , her stomach grew ; she became that kind of responsibility . As for her arms , she had long been healed , the pain had stopped . She was now a person who seemed to have been born that way , without arms . Her ...
... arms ! " " Oh ! " those of her homestead of marriage exclaimed . " What are you saying ? " " I say , she has arms ! She says that she was expelled from this home . And now she says that she wants to live over there . She's looking for ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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