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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... Never ! Never ! " Her father said , " Would you rather die ? " The child said , " I would rather die ! That would be better . It would be better to die than to do what you are suggesting ! " Her father became quiet . He took a knife and ...
... Never have we seen such a bridegroom ! " " This is an extraordinary groom . " He was quiet ; he did not speak again . He was taken to a dirty house . It had manure in it ; there were fleas and bedbugs in it . The calves were sleeping ...
... never been dis- charged ! You have the brazenness to attempt to drive these cattle away ! " The young man confronted his senior mother ; they quarreled , as she contested his insistence that the cattle were his . Then she went and laid ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
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