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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... begin to carry out the implications of that thought : " This is the way it shall be done in this homestead . " But it was not this way in the begin- ning . Custom is a human thing , a cultural creation ; it is not in the nature of ...
... begin . " Let's begin with a game of tag . One of you must run . Run up to that place ! Then I'll give chase . I'll try to tag you . Now if I'm just about to catch you , and if you're getting tired and don't realize how close I am , all ...
... begin with the burning of the kraals - he had not been told what he should begin with . He concluded that he must begin with the kraals , and he would still have a place to sleep . If he burned the house first , he would have no place ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
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