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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 61
... began with someone doing something that he liked , that he wanted to do . That thing that he did was then admired by others , and they started to do it too . So it developed . Other people began to do the same thing , imitating each ...
... began to crawl , this child did not crawl as she should have . Her age - mates began to stand , but she did not stand as she should have . 2. In another story in this collection ( Tale 3 , " A Father Cuts Off His Daughter's Arms ...
... began to avoid the young men's dance , saying that they would not dance with him because he generated confu- sion - confusion , because whenever he spoke to a young woman , she would desert her own boyfriend . The women said that they ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
16 other sections not shown