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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... coming from that direction , he smelled the meat . He sought the place from whence the smoke and the smell of the meat were coming , then he headed in that direction . When he got there , he first went over to the boys below the kraal ...
... coming out of this circumci- sion lodge . I shall come out when I can put on a cloak made of the skin of a water monster . Otherwise , I am not coming out . " Someone asked , " What's that ? What is this about a water monster ? " He ...
... coming from in- side the cave . She stood at the outside and heard someone saying , “ Be on the lookout , my penis cover ! Is anyone coming ? Is anyone coming ? " Then she heard the sounds of grinding . And she knew that he was grinding ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
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