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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... gave birth . That other wife , the first one , was still pregnant . Now when this second wife gave birth , she bore birds ! Five ring - necked ravens ! This husband went to that house then ; he went to live with that wife who had borne ...
... gave him medicine that was composed of two roots ; the woman was to take this medicine . The roots were put into the hearth , and , when she removed them from the hearth , she chewed and swal- lowed them . She pounded some of the roots ...
... gave birth to me . She bore me at her home of birth . Now , what does my name mean ? It's the reason you gave me a name like that to begin with . You gave me a name that reflected my situation at birth : your daughter had a child while ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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