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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... mother spied on him . She said , " There's some- thing wrong with this child . " Time passed that day for the mother . Time passed , and when he took the cattle out to pasture that morning , his mother went out as well . She went over ...
... Mother ! Come and take the pail of water down from my head ! Mother , come and take it down ! " " No ! Take it down yourself ! Don't be so silly ! " " Mother ! Come and take it down ! " " Take it down yourself ! What is this , that your ...
... mother and daughter is based on a very simple tale . That tale , occupying the second half of this narrative , is a venerable one about a per- sistent pursuer ; it describes the insistent aggressiveness of a monster that is kept at bay ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
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