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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... puberty ritual , as well as the con- sequential role played by nature in the process . Among the Xhosa , the cir- cumcision ceremony for boys occurs in a remote place , away from their homes . They remain in that isolated condition for ...
... puberty ritual . It is the oral tradition's means of evoking stream of consciousness . The disputatiousness of the two sisters makes up the primary pattern in the early part of the story , the performer emphasizing the opposition be ...
... puberty and beyond , to his marriage . Rites of passage always emphasize crises in people's lives , as they move ... puberty ritual . The old man reveals this when he derides the boys , insisting that chasing the birds is an act of ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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