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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... heard of a certain woman who had given birth to a child . He had heard that this woman had been picked up in a garden , that she had no arms . He had learned that , in the homestead where she had been found , she had become a person who ...
... heard this boy speak - the one who did not know how to speak . In his first speech , Sikhuluma said , “ No , Sitshalotshalwana , my little brother ! Don't take the children to that home- stead because no one sleeps there . That ...
... heard that the pumpkin of the forest kills . I've heard it said that it is deadly . A certain woman ate it , and she died . I thought that this would happen in this case as well . Obviously , that's not happening . What should we do ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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