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
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... brother talks to me like that because he is older than I am . And things won't change unless I forget that I'm younger than he is because a younger person is supposed to respect someone who is older . The younger must defer to the elder ...
... brother ! " The child of her brother went to her . The woman came close to the girl- zum ! She clung to her - molokonco ! Then she ripped the girl's mouth off— vungu ! —and ate it because it was meat that she wanted . The girl cried out ...
... brother were not in the main house of my new home ; only the wife of my older brother was there , in place of the parents . 27 She presided over the preparations , mak- ing things right . The bridal party now went outside to the men ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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