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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... pattern of the story has to do with the father's incestuous advances toward his daughter . His approaches become more and more ur- gent , but she regularly refuses him . This pattern leads to the separation phase of the girl's puberty ...
... pattern , she suggested , establishes an ominous linkage between the twelve girls and the splendid gardens . The girls find these gardens , not coincidentally twelve of them , in a forbidden forest . They are led there by a princess ...
... patterns . The antithetical pattern has to do with the cruel treat- ment of Mityi by her stepmother and her children . As is usual in stories , the interaction of the patterns reveals the theme . There is an ample supply of wish ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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