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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... continued to do the cooking , and washing clothes was one of her duties . During the ploughing season , she helped her father to inspan the oxen . Though she was a girl , she also knew how to do the milking . The father , because his ...
... continued to come out in the evenings , and this lizard's son continued to grow : he became an older boy . When the child had grown into an older boy , he said to the lizard , " Father . " The lizard said , " Mm ? " He said , " I have ...
... continued to be seen by the other people . They would go by her homestead and invite her to accompany them when they went to gather firewood . One day , the husband said to his wife , " My wife , I don't want you to travel about with ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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