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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... 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 the ...
... ritual to end ( only then will Sikhuluma emerge from the circumcision lodge ) and the marriage rite to begin . The two rituals overlap in part two . The river monster's skin becomes Sikhuluma's protection during his bride quest . The ...
... ritual is called " The marrying of me . " That is what they were saying : they were marrying me by means of this ox ; that is how I became a wife of this homestead . We ate that meat then , portions of which went to the people of the ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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