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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... covered with a lid woven of grass . Others are cautioned not to look into that vessel into which the medicine has been placed while still in the form of roots . The medicine grows inside that container and develops leaves . If that hap ...
... covered all the doorway . They completely covered it . There was not even a tiny space through which the wind could seep . When it was com- pleted and no wind could get into the house , he said , " Have you finished ? " They said ...
... covering . " Oh ! They departed , twiiiiiiiiii ! They arrived over there ; they stopped at the entrance . Silence . [ sings ] " Hamio ! Hamio ! Mio ! Mio ! Miose ! We were sent by your husband , Miose . We were told to take the breast ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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