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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... husband was going to marry another wife . She thought about it , then decided that she should visit the home of her birth regarding this matter . She should go home and recount the strange thing suggested by her husband . One day , she ...
... husband said , " What is this ? Have there ever been doves that speak ? Hee ! Isn't this strange ? Birds that speak ? ” The birds flew off , wiuuuuuuuu . They stopped at the entrance to the house , and it was quiet now because the husband ...
... husband : How are these places , objects , and characters organized in an oral performance to communicate a complex message ? Physical action by the central character of the narrative links these entities and others in a tightly ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
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