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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... ritual , as well as the con- sequential role played by nature in the process . Among the Xhosa , the cir- cumcision ceremony for boys occurs in a remote place , away from their homes . They remain in that isolated condition for the ...
... ritual - in this story , a girl's rite of passage . The girl's childishness is indicated in two ways , each considered a pecu- liar quality by her neighbors : she is always getting lost , and her speech is " difficult to comprehend ...
... ritual to end ( only then will Sikhuluma emerge from the circumcision lodge ) and the marriage rite to begin . The two rituals overlap in part two . The river monster's skin becomes Sikhuluma's protection during his bride quest . The ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
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