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. “The storyteller's materials are simple,” Zenani told Scheub, “the world, and the word.” She presents to us the entire world of the Xhosa people, how they first came to be, the origins of their customs, how they order their world and deal with transgressors, how they manage all of life's transitions from birth to death. She depicts both the world as it exists and as it is shaped in the words of the storyteller. Inheriting tales from the Xhosa tradition, Zenani has transformed them into imaginative new stories marked by her own artistry. Scheub's introduction to The World and the Word discusses Xhosa oral tradition and Zenani's particular characteristics as an artist within that tradition; Zenani's personal history and her work as both a storyteller and a healer; and Scheub's friendship with her and his role in recording her legacy. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
18 September arrived asked audience aunt baboons beast became become beer billycan bird bridal party calabash cattle child circumcised cooked daughter dishes doctor eaten father finished frog Gatyana District Gcaleka girl goat groom's party Hamio happened head herd home in Nkanga home of birth homestead husband images initiate Jojothwane king knobkerries kraal Krwebede leave looked maize Malejese married Masithathu Zenani's master of ceremonies matter Mbulukazi meat medicine milk Miose monster morning mother narrative never Nginingini Nobani Nomanaso ochre pit passed pattern Performance Note person pregnant puberty raven rectum returned right-hand house ritual river rondavel roots royal residence side Sikhuluma sister slaughtered sleep someone speak stick story storyteller tell There's thing told took Transkei traveled tree Vel'ekhaya Vukuthu walked Wangu What's wife women young woman Zenani Zenani's home