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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 82
... side of her character , and the ravens , the negative side . The argument of this story is established in two sets of parallels : the great wife's struggle with a raven wife in part one is paralleled by Mbulukazi's struggle with a raven ...
... side , then flying to that side . The boys said , " Let's get started again . " They traveled with those birds once more ; the boys journeyed , striking the birds , crossing river after river , passing place after place , traveling ...
... side ; there's water on the upper side ! ' I pulled my stick up then and went to the upper side and indeed found water there . I drank the water , and , as I was getting up , I saw my dog coming toward me , wagging its tail at me . The ...
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
PrologueOrigins | 9 |
Masithathu Zenani on Storytelling | 19 |
Copyright | |
17 other sections not shown