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
Results 1-3 of 70
... body of the storyteller is wholly involved in the performance 43 With her body , Nongenile Masithathu Zenani explores the emotional depths of her story 63 Bound for work 97 A girls ' dance 103 " They journeyed a great distance . " Her ...
... body and the resulting har- monizing of the body movements of the members of the audience , some- times physical , always an emotional harmonizing . In some , if not all , narrative performances , the completely nonverbal movements of ...
... body first , or the head . She took the head and wanted to throw the body . Then she stopped . She was about to throw the head instead . But she stopped and was going to throw the body and leave the head . She could not decide . In the ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
17 other sections not shown