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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... gave him medicine that was composed of two roots ; the woman was to take this medicine . The roots were put into the hearth , and , when she removed them from the hearth , she chewed and swal- lowed them . She pounded some of the roots ...
... gave birth to two chil- dren , a girl and a boy . The girl was older than the boy ; the boy was the younger of the two . The girl grew up then ; both of them grew up . The girl gave birth here at the home of her birth . She gave birth ...
... gave birth to me . She bore me at her home of birth . Now , what does my name mean ? It's the reason you gave me a name like that to begin with . You gave me a name that reflected my situation at birth : your daughter had a child while ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
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