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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... women remove the headcloths from the young men , and that is a beautiful thing to see : the young women move slowly , smoothly , careful not to bump the young men . The men make way easily so that the women move elegantly as they come ...
... women came in . When they had entered , each woman went to bed with her appropriate young man . All the young women did that , and the bride went to sleep with her groom , Sikhuluma . A member of the groom's party said , " Women , we ...
... women go to the house ! " So the women go into the house . When the women have gone in , the unmarried women go into the house where they sleep - the same house occupied by the men , the house from which the meat has come . The girls ...
Contents
The Art of the Storyteller | 7 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Tales | 27 |
Copyright | |
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