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Nhlangwini, Andrew Pandheni. "The ibali of Nongqawuse: translating the oral tradition into visual expression." Thesis, Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/237.
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The tribal life and the oral traditions of black South Africans have been marginalized. The consequence of the western civilization and the apartheid regime forced people to do away from their traditional heritage and culture; they adopted the western way of life. They buried their oral tradition and only a little has survived. To save the dying culture of the art of the oral tradition we need to go out and record and document the surviving oral tradition as soon as possible. Since the art of the oral tradition is an art form conducted by an artist, it may be possible to tell the ibali likaNongqawuse by means of visual imagery. Visual images can be read and be understood easily by the public because visual forms, sings, images can make up a language for both the literate as well as the illiterate.
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Souza, Victor Martins de. "A poética e a política no cinema de Glauber Rocha e Sembene Ousmane." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2012. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/12747.
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We discuss the relation between Glauber Rocha and Sembene Ousmane s cinematographics and political projects considering images dialogues. The focus of our analysis is on the movies Der Leone have sept cabeças (1969-70), by Glauber, and Ceddo (1976), by Sembene. Using the technique of historians, these filmmakers problematized the present from the re-intepretation of the past. In Ceddo, Sembene reinvented traditions with the intention of questioning the history of his time, and denounced West African colonialism to be more sophisticated than previously imagined. In Der Leone have sept cabeças there exists different historical periods to question the present. In this process, the oral traditions have a preponderant role because they are used to critize the deformed European view concerning the Third World. Therefore, the relationship between the cinema of Glauber and Sembene enables us to gain a new perspective of their work, through the diasporic, tri-continental, and politically-cultural dialogue
Discutimos os projetos cinematográficos e políticos de Glauber Rocha e Sembene Ousmane à luz do diálogo em imagens. Assim, centramos nossa análise em dois filmes: Der Leone have sept cabeças (1969-70), de Glauber, e Ceddo (1976), de Sembene. À maneira dos historiadores, estes cineastas recorreram ao passado para problematizar o presente. Em Ceddo, Sembene reinventou tradições para questionar a história do seu tempo, mostrando aspectos mais sofisticados do colonialismo da África do Oeste. Em Der Leone have sept cabeças, há a convivência de tempos históricos distintos, nos quais o presente é posto em suspenso, portanto passível de questionamento. Neste processo, as tradições orais possuem papel preponderante, pois é a partir delas que é criticado o olhar enviesado do europeu em relação ao Terceiro Mundo . Assim, as afinidades aqui elencadas entre os cinemas de Glauber e Sembene permitem delinear novos olhares à filmografia de ambos, a partir de um diálogo diaspórico, tricontinental e político-cultural
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Wade, Richard Peter. "A systematics for interpreting past structures with possible cosmic references in Sub-Saharan Africa." Diss., Pretoria : [s.n.], 2009. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05052009-174557/.
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Stonier, Janet Elizabeth Thornhill. "Oral into written : an experiment in creating a text for African religion." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16127.
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Bibliography: pages 105-113.This study is a description, from the vantage point of a participant observer, of the development of a new, and probably unique, method of writing, teaching and learning about an oral tradition - a method which is grounded in ways of knowing, thinking and learning inherent in that tradition. It arose in the course of a co-operative venture - between two lecturers in African Religion and myself - to write a text for South African schools on African Religion (sometimes called African Traditional Religion). Wanting to be true to our subject within the obvious constraints, we endeavoured to write within an oral mode. The product, African Religion and Culture, Alive!, is a transcript of taped oral interchanges between the three authors within a simulated, dramatised format. The simulation provided the context for using the teaching and learning strategies employed in an oral tradition, but within a Western institution. We hoped in this way to mirror and mediate a situation in which many South African students find themselves: at the interface between a home underpinned by an oral tradition, and a school underpinned by a written tradition. In the book, knowledge is presented through myth, biographical and autobiographical stories, discussion, question, and comment. The choice of this mode of knowledge-presentation has been greatly influenced by the work of Karen McCarthy Brown. A further important requirement for us was to produce a text that would be acceptable to all the particular varieties of African religious practice. This need was met in a way that became the most important aspect of the method - the device of setting, as a core part of the work for students, a primary research component. Students are required to seek out traditional elders within their community and learn from them, as authorities on African religion and culture, the details of particular practice. This is a way of decentering the locus of control of knowledge and education, as well as of restoring respect for African Religion and preserving information in danger of being lost. The primary research component highlights fundamental issues relating to the 'ownership' of religion, knowledge, power, reality which are explored in the study. Also considered are the implications of writing about an oral mode while trying to preserve as much of the character of that mode - writing by means of speaking. Text as a metaphor provides a frame for examining the process and the product - in terms of text as document, as score, as performance, as intertextual event, and as monument and site of struggle. Suggestions are made for further research, both on the particular method of text-production under consideration, and also on the approach to teaching and learning about African Religion. Also considered is the relevance of this particular learning and teaching approach to the values inherent in the proposed new curriculum for education in South Africa.
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Musandu, Phoebe A. "Daughter of Odoro Grace Onyango and African women's history /." Oxford, Ohio : Miami University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=miami1152280364.
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Gadzekpo, John Rex Amuzu. "Do duelo poético-satírico na gestão de conflitos sociais : um tríptico de gêneros africano, português e brasileiro." Poitiers, 2007. http://www.theses.fr/2007POIT5030.
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Cette étude explore la poésie satirique dialoguée et chantée en tant qu'instrument pour la gestion de conflits entre individus et groupes sociaux. Après un bref exposé sur les théories fondamentales de l'oralité et de la performance orale, ainsi que sur des questions plus spécifiques liées au rapport entre la performance orale et son enregistrement par l'écrit, au rôle de la traduction, à la théorie du jeu et aux concepts du dialogue et de la satire, nous présentons un triptyque comprenant le poème-chant "halô" africain, les "cantigas de escàrnio e maldizer" du Portugal médiéval et la "peleja" brésilienne. Un bref exposé d'histoire sociale précède l'analyse textuelle de chaque volet du triptyque ; une étude comparative s'interroge sur la question de l'obscène et du grossier, en les situant dans le contexte esthétique particulier de la joute poétiqueThis study focusses on the sung satirical poetic duel as a genre for conflict management, given its penchant for invective and criticism. Beginning with an overview of basic orality and performance theories, it proceeds through more specific issues concerning the relation between oral performance and its written record, the role of translation, the theory of game and the concepts of dialogue and satire, to a triptych comprising the African "halô" chant-poem, the medieval Portuguese "cantigas de escàrnio e maldizer", and the Brazilian "peleja". A brief account of social history precedes the textual analysis of samples of each poetic tradition, while a comparative chapter attempts a review of the question of obscenity and vulgarity within the specific context of the aesthetics of the satirical duel
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Pires, Ricardo Annanias. "A tradição oral africana e as raízes do jazz." Universidade de São Paulo, 2008. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8137/tde-24112009-161055/.
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Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar as peculiaridades da tradição oral africana e suas influências na criação do jazz. Os africanos, sendo um povo onde sua cultura tem como principal característica enfatizar o emprego da oralidade na transmissão do conhecimento, o faz de forma muito distinta aos padrões culturais europeus. Sob a ótica do povo africano, a palavra expressa de forma oral possui um grande valor, sendo atribuído à mesma, um nível de relevância tamanho que chega a ser vista como um elemento místico capaz de criar ou até mesmo destruir. Os africanos, presentes em solo americano, pela imposição da escravidão, fundiram seus elementos culturais à cultura européia, dando luz uma nova concepção musical, o jazz. O jazz desde sua criação até os dias atuais, passou e passa por diversas transformações. Estas transformações, mesmo que de forma implícita, contribuem para que o jazz esteja presente nas mais diversas manifestações culturais. O jazz não pode ser considerado apenas um gênero musical de origem americana. O jazz está presente em diversas partes do mundo, inclusive no Brasil, onde se torna renovado devido à riqueza e diversidade cultural deste país.This work studies the peculiarities of the oral African tradition and his influences in the creation of the jazz. The Africans, being a people where his culture has like principal characteristic emphasizes the job of the orality in the transmission of the knowledge, it does it in the very different form to the cultural European standards. Under the optics of the African people, the definite word of oral form has a great value, when attributed to same, a so great level of relevance that comes being seen like a mystic element able to create or even to destroy. The Africans, presents in American ground, for the imposition of the slavery, fused his cultural elements to the European culture, giving there shines a new musical conception, the jazz. The jazz from his creation up to the current days, passed and it suffers several transformations. These transformations, even that in the implicit form, they contribute so that the jazz is present in more several cultural demonstrations. The jazz cannot be considered only a musical type of American origin. The jazz is present in several parts of the world, including in Brazil, where it becomes renewed due to the wealth and cultural diversity of this country.
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Diallo, Amadou Oury. "Histoire et fiction, contextes, enjeux et perspectives : récits épiques du Foûta Djalon (Guinée)." Thesis, Nice, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014NICE2011.
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La présente étude questionne les rapports complexes de la fiction et de l’histoire, les retentissements du contexte, le poids des enjeux historiques, idéologiques, axiologiques dans l’épopée orale. Dans l’Épopée du Foûta-Djalon, la fiction narrative relie les faits réels et les faits fictifs dans un élan de construction d’une histoire mémorable où la vérité épique élève au premier plan la figure héroïque (Abdoul Rahmâne) au détriment de la figure historique (Almâmy Oumar) et où certains faits, réaménagés et réactualisés font émerger les mythes fondateurs investis de nouveaux sens. Le conflit qui opposa en 1867 Peuls et Mandingues rejaillit dans le récit sous forme d’une opposition de valeurs, que la vision épique, ambivalente, accentue au moyen d’une dualité contrastée : Peuls vs Mandingues, Musulmans vs Animistes. Du fait de sa vocation d’exaltation des valeurs fondatrices, l’épopée se distingue de l’Histoire dont elle se nourrit mais qu’elle infléchit dans le sens d’un drame qui flatte et réveille la conscience collective sans cesse invitée à relever les défis du présent. Outre le ton idyllique ou encomiastique, l’épopée prend aussi des allures satiriques en faisant une critique sans complaisance des vicissitudes et des drames de l’Afrique contemporaine (L’enfant prodige). L’analyse de la composition, de la structure et de la performance narrative révèle une esthétique fondée sur le « style formulaire », la narration épisodique et une forte « épicisation » rhétorique, couronnée par les effets de l’accompagnement musical qui agrémente l’écoute et traduit en sons les thèmes essentiels: This work questions the complex relationships between fiction and history, the effects of contextual background, the weight of historical, ideological, and axiological issues in oral epic. In Épopée du Foûta-Djalon, the narrative fiction links real and fictional facts in a dynamic momentum to construct a memorable story, one in which epic truth enhances the heroic figure – Abdul Rahmane – at the expense of the historical figure – Almâmy Oumar -, and one in which some facts have been rearranged and updated, and thus bring forth the founding myths which are endowed with whole new meanings in the process. The conflict which opposed Fulah and the Mandinka people in 1867 is represented in the story in the form of adversary values which the bivalent, epic vision reinforces in a set of contrasting dualities: Fulah versus the Mandinka people, Muslims versus Animists. Because it aims to exalt founding values, the epic story differs from, though is inspired by, History, the essence of which is shifted to fit a drama meant to flatter and awaken the collective conscience endlessly urged to meet today’s challenges. Apart from its idyllic and eulogistical tone, the epic also takes on satirical airs through a thorough criticism of the vicissitudes and dramas of contemporary Africa (L’enfant prodige). The analysis of the narrative composition, structure and performance reveals an aesthetics based on what is called “the formulaic style”, the episodic narrative structure and a strong rhetorics of “epicisation”. This aesthetics culminates in the effects of the musical accompaniment which embellishes the listening of this oral epic and translates the main themes into sounds
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Mostert, Andre. "Developing a systematic model for the capturing and use of African oral poetry: the Bongani Sitole experience." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002154.
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Oral traditions and oral literature have long contributed to human communication. The advent of arguably the most important technology, the written word, altered human ability to create and develop. However, this development for all its potential and scope created one of the most insidious dichotomies. As the written word developed so too the oral word became devalued and pushed to the fringes of societal development. One of the unfortunate outcomes has been a focus on the nomenclatures associated with orality and oral tradition, which although of importance, has skewed where the focus could and should have been located, namely, how to support and maintain the oral word and its innate value to human society in the face of what has become rampant technological developments. It is now ironic that technology is creating a fecund environment for a rebirth of orality. The study aims to mobilize technauriture as a paradigm in order to further embed orality and oral traditions to coherently embrace this changing technological environment. The central tenet of the study is that in order to enhance the status of orality the innate value embodied in indigenous knowledge systems must be recognized. Using the work of Bongani Sitole, an oral poet, as a backdrop the study will demonstrate a basic model that can act as a foundation for the effective integration of orality into contemporary structures. This is based on work that I published in the Journal of African Contemporary Studies (2009). Given the obvious multi-disciplinary nature of the material the work covers a wide cross section of the debate, from questions of epistemology and knowledge in general in terms of oral traditions, through the consciousness and technical landscapes, via the experience with Sitole’s material to issues of copyright and ownership. This work has also been submitted for publication together with my supervisor as a co-author. The study intends to consolidate the technauriture debate and lay a solid foundation to support further study.
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Mpolweni, Nosisi Lynette. "The orality - literacy debate with special reference to selected work of S.E.K. Mqhayi." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2004. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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The focus of this thesis is on Xhosa oral and written poetry. The discussion in the thesis is based on the information from existing literature, the responses from the questionnaires and the interviews with some Xhosa iimbongi (person who sings praises) who have reflected on their personal experiences. In addition to this, S.E.K. Mqhayi is at the centre of discussion because as a prominent Xhosa imbongi he features in both the oral and the written world.
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Present, Hebresia Felicity. "A narrative of omission : oral history, exile and the media’s untold stories – a gender perspective." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/6477.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa consists of a vast, culturally diverse population, entrenched in customary tribal influences which are essentially based on stringent patriarchal directives. These spilt over into other societal spheres, one of which is the media, which is part of an existing male hegemonic society. The rationale for this study is essentially to determine the role played by the media in their representation of women, before and shortly after the liberation of South Africa. This study will establish whether the voices of women were represented, or not, in the media, in the period shortly after the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and affiliated organisations in 1990. By interviewing and recording the oral histories of a few female ANC Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) soldiers, the need is evident to, through this oral tradition process, give a voice to these voiceless women. The theoretical foundations for this study is firstly based on “womanism”. Womanism was born from the shortcomings of feminism (a largely Western concept) that was unable to address the issues unique to the situation of black women. A second theoretical point of departure is the Social Responsibility Theory, a media theory that could, based on research done for this study, play a profound role to the benefit of women. The methodological investigation is based on a mixed method research approach where Content Analysis (CA) and Grounded Theory (GT) are triangulated with the literature review. The GT processes gave a voice to some unknown female MK soldiers by conducting interviews based on in-depth interview questions. The CA process led to the conclusion that the voices of women who contributed to the struggle were largely ignored by the media. The researcher found that given the contributions and sacrifices women have made in democratising South Africa, acknowledgement of these efforts are sorely lacking, especially in the media. This study therefore seeks to contribute to the lost and repressed voices of women, and to redress a history of omission to a history of commission.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika beskik oor 'n kultureel diverse bevolking met tradisionele stam-invloede wat essensieel gebaseer is op streng patriargale riglyne. Dit het oorgespoel na ander sosiale kontekste, waarvan een die media is, en wat deel uitmaak van 'n bestaande manlike hegemoniese gemeenskap. Die rasionaal vir hierdie studie was om vas te stel watter rol die media gespeel het in die representasie van vroue kort ná die eerste stappe tot 'n bevryde Suid-Afrika. Hierdie studie wou vasstel of die stemme van vroue verteenwoordig was, of nie, in die media, in die tydperk kort ná die ontbanning van die African National Congress (ANC) en ander geaffilieerde organisasies in 1990. Die veronderstelling is dat vrouestemme nie in die media waarneembaar was nie, en dat die situasie teengewerk kan word deur die toepassing van mondelinge geskiedenis. In hierdie geval is die verhale van 'n paar vroulike Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)-soldate geboekstaaf om sodoende deur die mondelinge geskiedenistradisie 'n stem te gee aan stemlose vroue. Die teoretiese grondslag vir hierdie studie is eerstens gebaseer op “Womanism”. Dié teorie het ontstaan weens die tekortkominge van Feminisme (grootliks ‟n Westerse konsep), wat nie in staat was om die kwessies wat uniek is aan die situasie van swart vroue aan te spreek nie. 'n Tweede teoretiese vertrekpunt is die Sosiale Verantwoordelikheidsteorie. Gebaseer op die navorsing vir hierdie studie, kan dit 'n groter rol in die media in die belang van vroue speel. Die metodologie is gebaseer op 'n gemengde metode-navorsingsbenadering waar Inhoudsanalise en Grounded Theory (GT) trianguleer met die literatuurstudie. Die GT-proses gee 'n stem aan 'n paar onbekende vroulike MK-soldate deur onderhoudvoering wat op in-diepte onderhoudvrae gebaseer is. Die inhoudsanalise proses het bevind dat vroue wat bygedra het tot die Vryheidstryd grootliks deur die media geïgnoreer is. Gegewe die bydraes en opofferings wat vroue gemaak het in die demokratisering van Suid-Afrika, ontbreek erkenning van hul pogings in ons geskiedskrywing, en beslis so in die media. Hierdie studie was 'n poging om by te dra tot die omkeer van hierdie situasie, naamlik om 'n “geskiedenis van uitsluiting” te herstel na 'n “geskiedenis van insluiting”.
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Van, Ryneveld Teresa Ann. "Remembering Albasini." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16124.
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Bibliography: p. 178-192.This dissertation uses the historical figure of Joao Albasini to explore some historiographical issues related to how people commemorate their past. Joao Albasini was a Portuguese trader who operated through the port of Delagoa Bay for a large part of the 19th Century. He was based in Portuguese East Africa in the1830's and early 1840's, and moved into what would become the Transvaal in the late 1840's, becoming a powerful political force in the region. This thesis looks at the strikingly different ways in which Albasini has been remembered by different individuals and groups. Part 1 deals with his South African family's memories of him, focusing in particular on the portrayal of Albasini in a celebration held in 1988 to commemorate the centenary of his death. This is compared with fragments of earlier family memories, in particular, with the testimony of his second daughter recorded in newspaper articles, letters and notes. This comparison is used to argue that the memories of Albasini are being shaped both by a changing social context, and by the influence of different literary genres. Part 2 looks at a doctoral thesis on Albasini written by J.B. de Vaal in the 1940's. This is placed in the context of a tradition of professional Afrikaner academic writing, which combined the conventions and claims of Rankean scientific history with the concerns of an Afrikaner Volksgeskiedenis, and which became powerful in a number of South African Universities in the early decades of this century. The text of de Vaal's thesis is examined in detail with a view to focusing on the extent to which it was shaped by this tradition. Part 3 looks at a group of oral histories collected from the former Gazankulu Homeland between 1979 and 1991, and focuses on the way in which a memory of Albasini has been used in the construction of the idea of a Tsonga/Shangaan ethnic group. One oral tradition is examined in detail, and used to argue for an approach to oral history that attempts to focus on the structure and commentary of oral history, instead of simply using it as a source of empirical fact.
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Conolly, Joan. "(C)Omissions of perspective, lens and worldview : what Africa can learn from the 'Western Mind' about the oral tradition of (indigenous) knowledge." Journal for New Generation Sciences : Socio-constructive language practice : training in the South African context : Special Edition, Vol 6, Issue 3: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/511.
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Published ArticleSometimes what is not in a text is more significant than what is. This paper examines a variety of texts to establish what is and is not present. The argument presented in this paper demonstrates that skewed perspectives, closed lenses, and distorted worldviews are powerful teachers. Appropriate perspectives and lenses can provide a worldview of complex and sophisticated thought, traditioned through memory, simultaneously stretching back into the past and drawing the past into the present…and pointing a way into the future. The paper examines a well-respected account of the 'Western Mind' and then demonstrates what is not in the text which could contribute to a fuller understanding of human civilization such as is present in the texts of peoples whose knowledge predates and/or precludes scribal alphabetic writing. The paper provides examples of such knowledges from societies which demonstrate sophisticated and complex thinking, both prior to 3000 BCE in theWest and in ancient and present day Africa. The paper demonstrates that the exclusion of evidence of complex and sophisticated thinking which predates or precludes scribal alphabetic writing presents a skewed understanding of the knowledge in such societies, and that Africa can learn from such exclusions to its benefit.
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Wanjema, Richard Wachira. "INTERACTIVE MEDIA and CULTURAL HERITAGE: Interpreting Oral Culture in a Digital Environment." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343405232.
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Mpola, Mavis Noluthando. "An analysis of oral literary music texts in isiXhosa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012909.
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This study examines the relationship between composed songs in isiXhosa and the field of oral literature. In traditional Xhosa cultural settings, poetry and music are forms of communal activity enjoyed by that society. Music and poetry perform a special social role in African society in general, providing a critique of socio-economic and political issues. The research analyses the relationship that exists between traditional poetry, izibongo, and composed songs. It demonstrates that in the same way that izibongo can be analysed in order to appreciate the aesthetic value of an oral literary form, the same can be said of composed isiXhosa music. The art of transmitting oral literature is performance. The traditional izibongo are recited before audiences in the same way. Songs (iingoma) stories (amabali) and traditional poetry (izibongo) all comprise oral literature that is transmitted by word of mouth. Opland (1992: 17) says about this type of literature: “Living as it does in the performance is usually appreciated by crowds of people as sounds uttered by the performer who is present before his/her audience.” Opland (ibid 125) again gives an account of who is both reciter of poems and singer of songs. He gives Mthamo’s testimony thus: “He is a singer… with a reputation of being a poet as well.” The musical texts that will be analysed in this thesis will range from those produced as early as 1917, when Benjamin Tyamzashe wrote his first song, Isithandwa sam (My beloved), up to those produced in 1990 when Makhaya Mjana was commissioned by Lovedale on its 150th anniversary to write Qingqa Lovedale (Stand up Lovedale). The song texts total fifty, by twenty-one composers. The texts will be analysed according to different themes, ranging from themes that are metaphoric, themes about events, themes that depict the culture of the amaXhosa, themes with a message of protest, themes demonstrating the relationship between religion and nature, themes that call for unity among the amaXhosa, and themes that depict the personal circumstances of composers and lullabies. The number of texts from each category will vary depending on the composers’ socio-cultural background when they composed the songs. Comparison will be made with some izibongo to show that composers and writers of izibongo are similar artists and, in the words of Mtuze in Izibongo Zomthonyama (1993) “bathwase ngethongo elinye” (They are spiritually gifted in the same way).
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Hayward, Janet M. "“We are white”: oral tradition, documented history and molecular biology of Xhosa clans descended from non-African forebears and their expression of this ancestry through the idiom of ancestor religion." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62939.
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Xhosa clan membership is symbolised by a clan-name (isiduko) and passed along the male line from father to son. This social indicator has a biological counterpart in Y chromosome DNA that passes through successive generations in the patriline. Both relate specifically to a distant patrilineal forebear or apical ancestor. The present study has involved the collection and documentation of oral-historical information relating to the descent of certain Cape Nguni clans from non-African forebears and (where possible) a review of documented accounts of such origins. The research has also included collection of buccal cells from male research participants and analysis of their Y chromosome DNA. This method indicates whether a man’s patrilineal forebear lived in Africa. Otherwise, it indicates the broad geographical region from which he originated, hence providing an additional, independent source of information relating to ancestry that can confirm or challenge claims made based on oral history. Ethnographic research into the performance of distinctive ancestor rituals by clan members explores the continuing relevance of foreign ancestry in the contemporary context of rural communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study heeds calls for the decolonisation of scholarship in various ways: methodologically, through transdisciplinary research; ontologically, by questioning the utility of the nature: culture and related dichotomies; and epistemologically, because instead of relying entirely on the western academic tradition, it takes account of other modes of knowledge production. In rejection of the notion that only one side of history is true, it records multiple voices – those of the powerful but also the ordinary. The study deals with race and racial identification, but confirms the superficiality of these constructed differences by offering evidence of their submergence in the unifying power of kinship and descent.
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Bridger, Emily Jessica. "South Africa's female comrades : gender, identity, and student resistance to apartheid in Soweto, 1984-1994." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/24653.
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As South Africa’s struggle against apartheid entered its final, turbulent decade, African students and youth rose to the forefront of the liberation movement, engaging in non-violent protest and militant confrontation with the apartheid state. In the existing historiography, the “comrades” – as young activists were known – are predominantly depicted as male, with little attention paid to the experiences of politicised girls and young women. This thesis is the first extensive study of South Africa’s female comrades, focused on activists from the township of Soweto. In analysing the experiences of young female activists, it introduces their voices into male-dominated historical narratives, and complicates and challenges existing histories of gender, generation, identity, and political violence in late-apartheid South Africa. Drawing on oral history interviews with former comrades, the thesis provides new insight into why girls joined the struggle, what roles they played, how they were treated by their male comrades, and their experiences of political detention. It argues that the struggle, despite being a male-dominated arena, could provide girls with a sense of agency and empowerment at a time when girls’ lives were otherwise marked by their confinement to the private sphere, social subordination, and susceptibility to sexual violence. Thus, just as the struggle offered young men a means of asserting their masculinity, so too did it offer young women a means of challenging emphasised femininities and constructing oppositional gender identities that defied social expectations and limitations of traditional girlhood. Additionally, this thesis improves current understandings of girls’ experiences of conflict on a global scale by challenging widely held assumptions of girls’ predisposition to peaceful behaviour and lack of political agency. In so doing it places Soweto’s female comrades within broader narratives of liberation movements across Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere. This thesis thus makes an important and original contribution not just to South African history, but also to histories of nationalism and liberation movements, feminist conflict studies, and girlhood studies.
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Baholo, Keresemose Richard. "A pictorial response to certain witchcraft beliefs within Northern Sotho communities." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21197.
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Bibliography: pages 58-62.This study focuses on stories of witchcraft within the Batlokwa - a sub-group of the Northern Sotho community living in the northern Transvaal. Having grown up in this society where witchcraft beliefs are predominant, my fears, as a child, of witches were very real. In later life I have attempted to ignore these fears. However, I do not think they will ever disappear entirely, as I will never be able to extricate myself from my origins. This experience of the dangerous witch is one of the reasons that compelled me to respond pictorially to some of these perceptions for the purpose of highlighting the concerns of ordinary people and the extent to which they have been affected by belief in witchcraft. My paintings are a translation of real and unreal incidents fused together producing a visual narrative.
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Kabuta, N. S. "La formule et l'autopanégyrique dans les traditions orales africaines: étude structurelle." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/212519.
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Bokoda, Alfred Telelé. "The poetry of David Livingstone Phakamile Yali-Manisi." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17400.
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Bibliography: pages 217-232.Yali-Manisi, a Xhosa writer, performs and writes traditional praise poetry (izibongo) and modern poems (isihobe) and can, therefore, be regarded as a bard because he also performs his poetry. One can safely place him in the interphase as he combines performance and writing. The influence of oral poems and other oral genres can be perceived in his works as some of his works are a product of performances which were recorded, transcribed and translated into English. The dissertation, among other things, examines the way in which Yali-Manisi's work has been influenced by such manipulations. In this study we examine lzibongo Zeenkosi ZamaXhosa, lmfazwe kaMianjeni, Yaphum'igqina and other individually recorded poems. His poetry is characterised by an interaction between tradition and innovation. The impact of traditional poetic canon on the poet, the way of exploiting traditional devices are the most outstanding characteristics concerning his poetry. His optimistic disposition towards the future of the South African political situation leaves one with the impression that he envisages an end to the Black-White political dichotomy. Yali-Manisi manipulates literary forms to articulate specific socio-political and cultural attitudes which are dominant among the majority of South Africans. His writings coincide with some of the major political changes in South Africa. In his recent works, he is explicit and protests against Apartheid structures especially in Transkei and Ciskei. In his earlier works he could not articulate the feelings of his people as an imbongi because of the fear of censorship and themes of protests had to be handled with extreme caution if one's manuscripts were to be published at all. He often alludes to national oppression of the majority by the minority and instigates the former to be politically conscious. In some instances (e.g. in his historical poems) he seeks to correct inaccuracies which are presented in history books. Thus showing the listener/reader another side of the coin. He displays very keen interest and deep knowledge of natural phenomena such as seasons of the year and the behaviour of animals during each period. Poems about historical figures are characterised by certain allusions which refer to realities and events in the life of the 'praised one' or his forefathers. This helps to shed light on the present situation. Although fictitious adaptations of genuine events have been done, an element of reality is still prevalent.
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Gromov, Mikhail D. "East African Literature: Essays on Written and Oral Traditions. Ed. by J.K.S. Makokha, Egara Kabaji and Dominica Dipio. Berlin: Logos Verlag, 2011, 513 pp. ISBN 978-3-8325-2816-4." Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2013. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-107482.
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Dowling, Tessa. "The forms, functions and techniques of Xhosa humour." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17456.
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Bibliography: pages 259-274.In this thesis I examine the way in which Xhosa speakers create humour, what forms (e.g. satire, irony, punning, parody) they favour in both oral and textual literature, and the genres in which these forms are delivered and executed. The functions of Xhosa humour, both during and after apartheid, are examined, as is its role in challenging, contesting and reaffirming traditional notions of society and culture. The particular techniques Xhosa comedians and comic writers use in order to elicit humour are explored with specific reference to the way in which the phonological complexity of this language is exploited for humorous effect. Oral literature sources include collections of praise poems, folktales and proverbs, while anecdotal humour is drawn from recent interviews conducted with domestic workers. My analysis of humour in literary texts initially focuses on the classic works of G.B. Sinxo and S.M. Burns-Ncamashe, and then goes on to refer to contemporary works such as those of P.T. Mtuze. The study on the techniques of Xhosa humour uses as its theoretical base Walter Nash's The language of humour (1985), while that on the functions of Xhosa humour owes much to the work of sociologists such as Michael Mulkay and Chris Powell and George E.C. Paton. The study reveals the fact that Xhosa oral humour is personal and playful - at times obscene - but can also be critical. In texts it explores the comedy of characters as well as the irony of socio-political realities. In both oral and textual discourses the phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics of Xhosa are exploited to create a humour which is richly patterned and finely crafted. In South Africa humour often served to liberate people from the oppressive atmosphere of apartheid. At the same time humour has always had a stabilizing role in Xhosa cultural life, providing a means of controlling deviants and misfits.
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Sekhoela, William Godwright. "Account-giving in the narratives of personal experience in Sepedi." Thesis, Link to the online version, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10019/1200.
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Beney, François. "Contribution à la valorisation du conte africain issu de la tradition orale pour son inscription dans les patrimoines culturels nationaux : exemple de la Côte d'Ivoire." Phd thesis, Université Rennes 2, 2007. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00199450.
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Participer à la reconnaissance de la littérature orale est une des missions de la Maison Régionale des Conteurs d'Afrique, en cours de création à Yamoussoukro, capitale politique de la République de Côte d'Ivoire. Véritable porte voix, elle a pour vocation le recueil des contes, leur diffusion bilingue et, ce faisant, leur inscription dans la patrimoine culturel de la Nation ivoirienne. Recueillir oralement des histoires, comme autant d'humbles témoignages d'un temps qui "va et vient", que portent des voix à leur rythme pour mieux nous transporter! Diffuser cette "littérature" dans les langues natives nationales et en langue française! Ce sont deux des actions essentielles que ce travail se propose de décrire. Nous avons choisi la Côte d'Ivoire où six collectages ont été réalisés de 1999 à 2006 au cours desquels 132 contes ont été enregistrés. Les 27 premiers d'entre deux, recueillis en langue baoulé ont permis la réalisation, à titre expérimental, d'un classement adapté aux récits contés. Les 105 contes présentés ici constituent la base de données du corpus actuel dont 91 sont présentés, transcrits dans les 2 langues nationales de recueil que sont le baoulé et le sénoufo puis traduits en français littéral et 14, recueillis en langue nationale bété sont uniquement traduits en français littéraire. Le travail de transcription et de traduction terminé, une fiche signalétique créée pour chaque récitant de conte est complétée et les données enregistrées à des fins d'exploitation. Pour conclure, tout en situant les résultats du travail d'analyse à leur juste niveau compte tenu de la taille modeste de l'échantillon soumis à son traitement, nous disposons d'un outil susceptible d'assurer, à terme, l'exploitation de nouvelles données. Enfin, sachant que ce travail de recherche a pour ambition de participer à la sauvegarde et la reconnaissance de la littérature orale dans ce chaleureux pays, nous formons le voeu qu'il dépasse les frontières et inspire le monde francophone.
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Alexander, Jamie Kim. "Stories from forest, river and mountain : exploring children's cultural environmental narratives and their role in the transmission of cultural connection to and protection of biodiversity." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015267.
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Preservationist conservation created a legacy of national parks and protected areas that were surrounded by local people dispossessed of their land and denied the rights to use the resources they had previously relied upon. Although conservation is now shifting towards a more participatory approach, research gaps still exist in determining the meaning of 'the environment' and the role of local means of conservation in rural communities in South Africa. This study focused on children's cultural environmental narratives from two rural villages in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Children from grades 4, 7 and 10 were involved in the study, and adult family members, local experts and village elders were included in the study to allow for comparison between children's and adult's narratives and to realise what Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) was being passed on. This thesis considers children's use of the environment for play and their sense of place as key methods in ascertaining children's environmental narratives and perceptions. At both field sites, local experts and community elders possessed a wealth of cultural environmental narratives, but these narratives were not necessarily being passed on. Changing household structures and other socio-economic factors influence cultural environmental practices, which in turn have an impact on the cultural environmental narratives being passed down. In many cases, parents' safety fears strongly impacted upon children's access to the environment, resulting in gendered environmental knowledge. The study compared differing vegetation types and degrees of environmental access. The differing environments produced similar cultural environmental narratives, leading to new understandings in community environment relationships. Children living near the state administered forest had significantly less environmental knowledge, bringing about questions of sustainable bio-cultural diversity in the future. The recognition of cultural environmental values is especially important in the rural areas of South Africa, where unemployment and increased poverty levels have led to greater dependence on natural resources for social, economic and cultural purposes. It is proposed that local cultural environmental narratives and landscape perceptions be included into community conservation and environmental education policies and programmes to provide local solutions to the problem of biodiversity conservation in local contexts.
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Horn, Karen. "South African Prisoner-Of-War experience during and after World War II : 1939-c.1950." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71844.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis narrates and analyses the experiences of a sample of South Africans who were captured during the Second World War. The research is based on oral testimony, memoirs, archival evidence and to a lesser degree on secondary sources. The former prisoners-of-war (POW) who participated in the research and those whose memoirs were studied were all captured at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941 or during the fall of Tobruk in June 1942. The aim of the research is to present oral and written POW testimony in order to augment the dearth of knowledge regarding South African POW historical experience. The scope of the research includes the decision to volunteer for the Union Defence Force, the experiences in North Africa, capture and initial experiences in the so-called ‘hell camps of North Africa’, the transportation to Italy and life in the Italian prison camps, events surrounding the Italian Armistice and the consequent escape attempts thereafter. For those POWs who did not escape, the experience of captivity continued with transport to Germany, experiences in German camps, including working in labour camps and the Allied bombing campaign. Lastly, the end of the war and the experience of liberation, which in most cases included forced marches, are dealt with before the focus turns once again towards South Africa and the experience of homecoming and demobilisation. The affective and intellectual experiences of the POWs are also investigated as their personal experience and emotions are presented and examined. These include the experience of guilt and shame during capture, the acceptance or non-acceptance of captivity, blame, attitudes towards the enemy and towards each other, as well as the experience of fear and hope, which was especially relevant during the bombing campaign and during periods when they were being transported between countries and camps. The thesis concludes with an analysis of the POW experience which looks at aspects relating to identity among South African POWs. The final conclusion is drawn that the POW identity took precedence over national identity. As a result of the strong POW identity and their desire for complete freedom and desire to claim individuality, the POWs did not, on the whole, display great interest in becoming involved in South African politics after the war even though many of them strongly disagreed with the Nationalist segregationist ideologies that claimed increasing support between 1945 and 1948.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis beskryf en ontleed die ervarings van dié Suid-Afrikaners wat tydens die Tweede Wêreldoorlog gevange geneem is. Die navorsing is gebaseer op mondelinge getuienis, memoires, argivale bewysmateriaal en, in ’n mindere mate, op sekondêre bronne. Die voormalige krygsgevangenes wat aan die navorsing deelgeneem het en wie se memoires bestudeer is, is almal in November 1941 by die Geveg van Sidi Rezegh of in Junie 1942 met die val van Tobruk gevange geneem. Die doel van die navorsing is om mondelinge en skriftelike getuienisse van krygsgevangenes aan te bied ten einde die gebrekkige kennis ten opsigte van Suid-Afrikaanse krygsgevangenes se historiese ervaring uit te brei. Die omvang van die navorsing sluit die besluit in om vrywillig diens te doen vir die Unie-verdedigingsmag, die ervarings in Noord-Afrika, gevangeneming en eerste ervarings in die sogenaamde “helkampe van Noord-Afrika”, die vervoer na Italië en lewe in die Italiaanse gevangeniskampe, gebeure rondom die Italiaanse wapenstilstand en die daaropvolgende ontsnappingspogings. Vir die krygsgevangenes wat nie ontsnap het nie, het die ervaring van gevangenskap voortgeduur deur vervoer na Duitsland, ervarings in Duitse kampe, waaronder strafkampe, en die bombarderings deur die Geallieerdes. Ten slotte word aandag gegee aan die einde van die oorlog en die ervaring van vryheid, wat in die meeste gevalle gedwonge marse behels het, voordat die fokus terugkeer na Suid-Afrika en die ervaring van tuiskoms en demobilisasie. Die affektiewe en intellektuele ervarings van die krygsgevangenes word ook ontleed, aangesien hul persoonlike ervarings en emosies ondersoek en aangebied word. Dit sluit die ervaring van skuld en skaamte tydens die gevangeneming in, die aanvaarding of nie-aanvaarding van gevangeskap, blaam, houdings teenoor die vyand en mekaar, sowel as die ervaring van vrees en hoop, wat veral belangrik was gedurende die bombarderingsveldtog en vervoer tussen lande en kampe. Die tesis sluit af met ’n ontleding van aspekte wat verband hou met identiteit onder die Suid- Afrikaanse krygsgevangenes. Die bevinding is dat die krygsgevangene-identiteit voorrang geniet het bo die nasionale identiteit. Verder het die sterk drang na volkome vryheid en die begeerte om hul individualiteit terug te kry daartoe gelei dat die voormalige krygsgevangenes na die oorlog oor die algemeen ’n ambivalensie jeens Suid-Afrikaanse politiek openbaar.
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Obsieh, Moussa Souleiman. "L'oralité dans la littérature de la Corne de l'Afrique : traditions orales, formes et mythologies de la littérature pastorale, marques de l'oralité dans la littérature." Thesis, Dijon, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012DIJOL016/document.
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La Corne de l’Afrique comme le reste du continent noir possède une littérature orale traditionnelle riche et variée, qui va de la mythologie pastorale à la poésie en passant par la légende et le conte. Avec les bouleversements sociaux intervenus avec l’arrivée des colons européens et l’introduction de l’écriture, la chaîne de transmission de la tradition orale est menacée. De nombreux Européens ont cherché à décrire les us et coutumes de ces populations. D’autre part, les écrivains de la Corne de l’Afrique s’inspirent souvent de l’oralité en lui octroyant ainsi une nouvelle virginité. Le présent travail de recherche s’efforce de rendre compte des formes traditionnelles de l’oralité et de leur impact sur la littérature moderneThe Horn of Africa has a traditional oral literature which is rich and varied as the rest of the continent, starting from pastoral mythology to poetry, legend and storytelling. But with the social upheaval which occurred with the arrival of European settlers and the introduction of writing, the chain of transmission of the oral tradition is threatened. Many Europeans have sought to describe the habits and customs of these people. Whereas on the other hand, the writers from the Horn of Africa are often inspired by giving it (orality) and a new way of doing it. The following research work strives to reflect traditional forms of orality and their impact on modern literature
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Clavert, Manisa Salambote. "Da densa floresta onde menino entrei homem saí. Rito Iromb na formação do indivíduo wongo." Universidade de São Paulo, 2010. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/47/47131/tde-30032010-162556/.
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Nos contextos de pesquisa sobre patrimônio imaterial da humanidade e sobre instituições educacionais e formação do indivíduo, e desejoso de contribuir com subsídios para a implementação da Lei 10.639/03, defino como objetivo da presente investigação verificar e descrever peculiaridades educacionais do iromb, rito de iniciação e passagem da adolescência para a vida adulta, praticado pelo grupo étnico wongo, da República Democrática do Congo (RDC). Enfatizo seu significado sóciocultural e o quadro de valores e virtudes por ele privilegiado. Os dados de pesquisa advêm de fontes bibliográficas e de fontes orais de informação. Os informantes foram entrevistados em Bandundu e Kinshasa, estados da RDC, por três pesquisadores a quem supervisionei via telefone, Internet e correio. Do vasto universo teórico utilizado para a análise e interpretação dos dados destaco a contribuição de Ki-zerbo (2006), Kisimba (1997), Kumarer (1979), Mudiji (1989), Mungala (1999), Martinez (1989), Hampaté Bâ (1982) e Vansina (1982). Tendo privilegiado o tema relativo ao significado sóciocultural do iromb e o quadro de valores e virtudes por ele privilegiado, concluo que esse rito de iniciação e passagem cumpre relevante papel na formação de indivíduos solidários e conscientes de seus deveres e direitos na coletividade por eles integrada. Ao nível individual o iromb pode ser visto como um conjunto de recursos que têm por finalidade orientar para o reconhecimento dos direitos e deveres de cada indivíduo em seu grupo; explicitar o status e os papéis que competem a cada um e, ainda, promover possibilidade de acesso a formas elevadas de espiritualidade e de criatividade. Ao nível grupal esse rito, realizado no interior de sociedades iniciáticas, promove um diálogo entre as forças do destino de cada um e as exigências da vida social, como se a sociedade tomasse em suas mãos os destinos individuais para melhor realização dos propósitos pessoais e coletivos. Caracterizado por um conjunto de procedimentos nos quais interagem o sagrado e o profano, o iromb visa assegurar unidade e continuidade ao grupo.In the context of the researches about the immaterial heritage of the humanity and about educational institutions and individual formation, we would like to bring subsidies for the introduction of the brazilian law 10.639/03. The objective of this research is to verify and describe educational particularities of iromb, an initiation rite which is the passageway from teen to adult life practiced by the wongo ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I emphasize its socio-cultural meaning, the values and vertues priveleged by the wongo people. The data are from bibliographic and oral sources. Our informers were interviewed by three researchers by phone, internet and by mail in Bandundu and Kinshasa, states of DRC. From the big theoretical universe used for our analysis and interpretation of our data, I would like to point out the contributions of the following authors: Ki-zerbo (2006), Kisimba (1997), Kumarer (1979), Mudiji (1989), Mungala (1999), Martinez (1989), Hampaté Bâ (1982) and Vansina (1982). As I have privileged the topic about the socio-cultural rite of iromb and its board of values and virtues, I conclude that this initiation rite and passage hás a very important function in the formation of supportive individuals, conscious of their rights and duties in their community. At the individual level, iromb can be seen as a collection of resources which intend to advise people about the recognition of their rights and duties in their community; it intends also to make clearer the status and the role of each other and even, to promote possibilities to get access to high forms of spiritualism and creativity. At the group level, as this rite is realized into initiatory societies, it promotes a dialogue between individual destiny forces of each group member and the requirements of social life, as if the society had taken into its hands the individuals destiny to make better the individual and common intentions. Characterized by a collection of procedures in which the holy and the non-believer interact, the iromb rite intend to ensure unity and continuation to the wongo group.
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Starzmann, Paul. "Inheritance and contact in Central Kenya Bantu." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/17686.
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Die Studie bietet Einblicke in die Geschichte des kenianischen Hochlands aus linguistischer bzw. dialektologischer Perspektive. Als Grundlage dient eine Fülle an empirischen Sprachdaten für alle Varietäten, die unter dem Label Central Kenya Bantu (E50) zusammengefasst werden, darunter Gikuyu, Kamba und Meru. Die Dissertation gliedert sich in drei Teile: Mithilfe von Dialektometrie und multidimensionaler Skalierung werden die Sprachdaten in einem ersten Schritt einer umfassenden quantitativen Analyse unterzogen (dialektologische Vermessung). Dadurch lässt sich die phonologische und lexikalische Ähnlichkeit zwischen den Sprachen und Dialekten ermitteln. Dies ergibt eine Klassifikation des Zentralkenia-Bantu, die eine synchrone Dreitteilung in „Western“, „Eastern“ und „Kamba“ zeigt. Die qualitative Analyse untersucht in einem zweiten Schritt, inwiefern Vererbung und Sprachkontakt zum synchronen Profil der zentralkenianischen Bantusprachen beigetragen haben. Ein letzter Schritt gleicht die linguistischen Ergebnisse mit historischen Erkenntnissen aus den oralen Traditionen der Region ab. So können einige der sozio-historischen Prozesse spezifiziert werden, die in den vergangenen 500 Jahren prägend für die Region rund um den Mount Kenya waren.This study provides insights into the history of the Kenyan Highlands from a linguistic (dialectological) perspective. It relies on a vast amount of empirical language data that covers all varieties subsumed under the label Central Kenya Bantu (E50), among them Gikuyu, Kamba, and Meru. The thesis is divided into three parts: The first part offers a thorough quantitative analysis (dialectological survey) by means of dialectometry and multidimensional scaling. Here, it is assessed to which degree the different varieties share their phonological and lexical inventory. This allows us to establish a synchronic classification of Central Kenya Bantu showing a split into the groups Eastern, Western, and Kamba. Second, the qualitative dialectological analysis investigates the ways in which inheritance and language contact contributed to the synchronic profile of Central Kenya Bantu. Finally, the linguistic findings are correlated with historical accounts gathered through a study of local oral traditions. This enables us to specify some of the socio-historical processes that shaped the various communities in the vicinity of Mount Kenya over the past 500 years.
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Paynter, Eleanor. "Witnessing Emergency: Testimonial Narratives of Precarious Migration to Italy." The Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1582996945730084.
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Mboyi, Moukanda Laure Cynthia. "La pratique des échanges commerciaux dans la société précoloniale du Gabon : XVIe-[XIXe] siècles." Phd thesis, Université Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux III, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00984318.
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Cette thèse porte sur la pratique des échanges et du commerce dans la société précoloniale du Gabon. L'enjeu est d'étudier cette pratique en privilégiant un angle d'approche général au départ, et en mettant en œuvre une démarche analytique progressive, afin de saisir les acteurs, les modes de production mais également les produits faisant l'objet de ces échanges. L'objet " La pratique des échanges commerciaux dans la société précoloniale du Gabon : XVIe-XIXe siècle " se situe à la croisée des relations internationales, de l'analyse des contacts avec les peuples de " l'extérieur ", de processus d'européanisation et peut donc faire l'objet d'approche différentes selon les variables qu'on entend privilégier. Nous avons choisi de l'étudier selon une démarche non seulement historique mais anthropologique et sociologique qui nous conduisent à privilégier certains concepts clés : historique des peuples, étude de leur milieu et mode de vie, configurations de relations entre acteurs structurant un nouvel espace social d'interactions. D'un point de vue méthodologique, cette étude s'appuie sur une démarche qualitative et privilégie l'usage des entretiens : le corpus de compose d'une cinquantaine d'entretiens, complétés par l'audio-visuel, la littérature spécialisée et grise sur le sujet. Elle se compose de deux parties, découpées en six (6) chapitres totaux. Dans une première partie, la thèse se concentre sur l'historique des peuples du Gabon précolonial en prenant en compte les facteurs, les circuits et les dénouements des migrations, en l'occurrence les implantations de ces groupes ethniques dans leur habitat actuel. Elle s'étend ensuite sur l'étude de l'organisation sociale politique et culturelle des peuples à travers l'analyse des structures parentale, matrimoniale, juridique et culturelle. Enfin, cette partie précise le contexte et le jeu des différents acteurs à l'origine du développement de ces échanges : la production agricole et artisanale favorisée d'une part par la division sociale du travail et la spécialisation des groupes et d'autre part par les failles écologiques (l'inégal répartition de ressources, aridité des sols, animaux dévastateurs des cultures). Dans un second temps, la thèse fait porter l'analyse sur le déroulement des activités d'échange d'une part et de commerce d'autre part. Elle met en relief les différents circuits empruntés par les acteurs et les produits ainsi que les zones d'aboutissement. D'abord, elle fait une description des échanges en milieu local mettent en scène les membres des mêmes milieux ou des milieux proches les uns des autres. Cette interdépendance observée au sein des groupes avait comme base les liens de familiarité ou d'amitié entre ces différents groupes d'acteurs concernés. Ensuite, est évoqué le système d'échange hors des territoires, quoi que le concept territoire ne soit qu'employé de façon péjorative. Cette catégorie d'échange fait naître des contacts entre les populations avec celles des localités environnantes du nord au sud, de l'est à l'ouest. Enfin, le poids de l'abolition de la traite des noirs joue à un niveau macro comme obstacle des activités économiques des européens, ce qui soulève dès lors des enjeux capitalistes pour ces derniers. La naissance de cette économie de traitre, mais également son déroulement et son ascendance sur l'économie traditionnelle préexistante font l'objet de notre troisième et dernier chapitre de cette seconde partie. Entre héritage et ajustements de nature, ces politiques économiques vont mettre en place de types de monnaies, de produits et d'habitudes. Là encore, le poids des cultures et des habitudes étrangères à ces peuples, limitaient la pratique des échanges traditionnels, développant les effets d'apprentissage aux métiers pourvoyeur du gain.
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Katuvadioko, Ndombe Gabriel. "De la poïesis au drama : ou de la dimension dramatique de la mythologie négro-africaine, à partir de deux exemples précis." Paris 3, 2008. http://www.theses.fr/2008PA030071.
Full textAbstract:
Cette thèse s’est donné pour objectif de répondre à une question : la mythologie négro africaine, dont les textes tiennent essentiellement de l’oralité, peut-elle servir de support et/ou de substance à une écriture dramaturgique ? Pour y répondre, nous avons tenté - à partir de deux exemples, à savoir le mythe peul de Kaydara et un extrait de l’épopée fang du mvet de Zwè Nguéma - d’ouvrir des perspectives pour un éventuel travail de mise en forme théâtrale, à travers les articulations de l’intrigue de chaque récit. Nous en avons extrait les virtualités visuelles, sonores et corporelles susceptibles d’être mises en scène et transformées en langage scénique. Nous avons, pour ce faire, mis en valeur leur spécificité et leur intensité dramatiques. A travers la mise en relief d’éléments de structure dramaturgique, nous avons essayé d’élaborer un discours qui correspond aux exigences de la communication théâtraleThis thesis had to answer a question: can the negro-african mythology, whose accounts are essentially from oral tradition, be used as support and/or substance for dramaturgic writing? To answer this, we tried - starting from two examples, namely the Peul’s myth of Kaydara and an extract of the Fang’s epopee of the mvet of Zwè Nguéma Ŕ to offer perspectives for a possible work of theatrical setting through the articulations of the intrigue of each account. We extracted from them visual virtual settings, sound and body likely to be staged and transformed in staging language. We, with this intention, emphasized their dramatic specificity and intensity. Through the setting-up of the dramaturgic structure, we try to work out a speech that fits the requirements of theatrical communication
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Ayibatin, Alphadio Modesto. "L'influence du griot et des médias dans le processus démocratique : le cas du Bénin et de la Guinée." Thesis, Paris 2, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015PA020068.
Full textAbstract:
Tout au long de notre recherche, nous avons prouvé que le griot est celui qui parvient à remonter le cours du temps par la parole. Ce qui permet aux historiens de refaire l’histoire du continent africain restée longtemps dans l’oralité. Cette communication orale portée par le griot requiert un manque d’objectivité mais a tout de même une importance capitale dans la société africaine. Tout comme les médias rapportent des faits, le griot, grâce à sa maîtrise de la parole et par le truchement des éléments expressifs et les instruments de musique publie lui aussi les faits marquants sa cité et parvient ainsi à participer au processus démocratique de la Guinée. Prenant de plus en plus en charge le commentaire politique, le griot marie l’histoire pour produire de l’idéologie, en établissant une continuité historique conforme au présent. Le griot n’hésite pas à s’inclure dans la peau des personnages, à louanger les promesses du chef pour lequel il travaille. Exactement comme le font les médias africains qui ont eux aussi tendance à louanger les acteurs politiques. L’humour du griot dans les critiques faites contre les politiques, contribue au processus démocratique. Mais la conception de la liberté des médias, est un objectif à atteindre en Afrique, pour aider son développement durable. Force est de reconnaître que le concept de la liberté des médias est constitutionnalisé en Guinée et au Bénin, dans le but d’une perspective de volonté de changement de la culture des médias mais n’est pas totalement garantie. Au Bénin comme en Guinée, la crainte est toujours palpable chez les citoyens qui veulent faire valoir leurs droits. Surtout le Bénin qui se veut un modèle et qui avait suscité l’admiration des grandes démocraties entre 1990 et 2006 et fait des émules partout en Afrique est tombé de son piédestal. Malgré une relative longue pratique de la démocratie libérale et pluraliste, des inquiétudes pèsent sur l’évolution de la vie politique et des médias dans ces pays. Les manifestations pacifiques organisées pour dénoncer les dérives du pouvoir et exiger le respect des libertés démocratiques, sont violemment dispersées par les forces de l’ordre. Sur des dossiers sensibles, les citoyens ont peur de s’exprimer. Même rassurés, ils craignent des représailles des forces de l’ordreThroughout our research, we proved that the griot is the one who manages to travel back in time through speech. This allows historians to rewrite the history of the African continent remained long in orality. This oral communication carried by the griot requires a lack of objectivity but still has major importance in African society. Just as the media report the facts, the griot, thanks to his mastery of speech and through expressive elements and musical instruments published also highlights his city and thus able to participate in the democratic process in Guinea. Taking more care of political commentary, the griot marries history to produce ideology, establishing a historical continuity in conformity with this. The griot does not hesitate to include in the skin of the characters, to praise the chef's promises for which he works. Exactly as do African media also tend to praise the political actors. The humor of the griot in criticism against the policies, contributes to the democratic process. But the concept of media freedom is a goal in Africa, to help its sustainable development. We must recognize that the concept of media freedom is constitutionalized in Guinea and Benin, to a change of perspective of the culture of media will but is not completely guaranteed. In Benin, as in Guinea, the fear is still palpable among citizens who want to exercise their rights. Especially the Benin which wants a model and had the admiration of the great democracies between 1990 and 2006 is emulated across Africa has fallen from its pedestal. Despite relative long practice of liberal and pluralist democracy, concerns weigh on the evolution of politics and media in those countries. The peaceful demonstrations to denounce the abuses of power and demand respect for democratic freedoms were violently dispersed by security forces. On sensitive issues, citizens are afraid to express themselves. Even reassured, they fear reprisals from security forces
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Brown, Duncan John Bruce. "Orality, textuality and history : issues in South African oral poetry and performance." Thesis, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/6364.
Full textAbstract:
A vigorous oral tradition has existed throughout South African history, and in many ways
represents our truly original contribution to world literature. Despite this, oral literature is
largely absent from accounts of literary history in this country. While the particular oppressions
of South African political life have contributed to the exclusion of oral forms, the suppression of
the oral in favour of the printed text is a feature of literary studies worldwide, and appears to be
related to the critical practices that have been dominant in universities and schools for most of
this century. In this study I consider ways of recovering oral forms for literary debate, and offer
what I consider to be more appropriate strategies of 'reading'. My aim is to re-establish a line of
continuity in South African poetry and performance from the songs and stories of the Bushmen,
through the praise poems of the African chiefdoms, to the development of Christianised oral
forms, the adaptation of the oral tradition in 'Soweto' poetry of the 1970s, and the performance
of poems on political platforms in the 1980s.
Recovering oral poetry and performance genres for literary debate requires the
development of an appropriate critical methodology. Through a consideration of advances in the
study of orality, I aim to suggest ways of reading which grant credence to the specific strategies
and performative energies of oral texts while locating the texts in the spaces and constrictions of
their societies. A great many oral texts from the past survive only in printed, translated forms,
however, and a key aspect of such a critical project is how - while acknowledging the particular
difficulties involved - one 'uses' highly mediated and artificially stabilised print versions to
suggest something of the dynamic nature of oral performance in South African historical and
social life. This thesis also considers how texts address us across historical distances. I argue for
maintaining a dialectic between the 'past significance' and 'present meaning' of the poems, songs
and stories: for allowing the past to shape our reading while we remain aware that our
recuperation of history is inevitably directed by present needs and ideologies.
These ideas are explored through five chapters which consider, respectively, the songs and
stories of the nineteenth-century /Xam Bushmen, the izibongo of Shaka, the hymns of the
Messianic Zulu evangelist Isaiah Shembe, Ingoapele Madingoane's epic 'Soweto' poem "black
trial", and the performance poetry of Mzwakhe Mbuli and Alfred Qabula in the 1980s.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.
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Madlala, Nelisiwe Maureen. "Madlala-(Bhengu) izithakazelo at Ebabanango, Enkandla, Ephathane, Emtshezi and Emfundweni in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa." Thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/5434.
Full text
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Musvipwa, Faith Mary. "Oral narratives of selected female migrants in South Africa: the case of Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province." Diss., 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11602/705.
Full textAbstract:
MA (Sociology)Department of Sociology
The study aimed to explore on the oral narratives of selected female migrants in South Africa. It was a case study of Thohoyandou in the Limpopo Province. Female migrants are faced with integration challenges such as political and socio-economic challenges. The study focused on reflecting on stories of selected female migrants who reside in Thohoyandou. The study was qualitative in nature and utilised a qualitative exploratory research design because it was aimed at exploring perceptions on oral narratives of selected female migrants. The researcher made use of non-probability sampling in the form of purposive sampling method and snowball. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Data was then sorted, coded, organised and indexed in a manner that made it easier for the researcher to interpret, analyse and present in content analysis. Text was summarised by checking key themes, phrases or passages that were used in a more detailed analysis. The process was guided by the original aim of the study. Findings of the study postulated that most female migrants came for economic reasons and discrimination is perceived to be an important barrier to integration. Other significant integration barriers include linguistic, educational, and institutional factors. Internal factors (social, cultural, and religious norms, immigrants' own opinions about themselves, lack of motivation and intergenerational mobility) are also serious barriers to integration.
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Maiwashe, Adzilani Gladys. "Ndeme ya u losha ha vhanna na vhafumakadzi nga mvelele ya Tshivenda tshitirikini tsha Vhembe, Limpopo." Diss., 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11602/1119.
Full textAbstract:
MA (Tshivenda)Senthara ya M. E. R. Mathivha ya Nyambo dza Vharema , Vhutsila na Mvelele
Musi ḽifhasi ḽoṱhe na lushaka lwoṱhe vho sedza u losha sa u tambudza vhathu vha mbeu ya tshinnani na ya tshifumakadzini, kha mvelele ya Tshivenḓa u losha hu tou vha u ḓiṱongisa ngazwo. Vhavenḓa ndi lushaka lune lwa dzhia u losha tshi tshone tshithu tsha ndeme kha mvelele yavho ya Tshivenḓa zwine zwa bvukulula tshivhumbeo na vhuvha, u ṱhonifha, u hulisa, u ṋea tshirunzi, u tenda mulandu na vhuthu nga u angaredza. Ngauralo, ṱhoḓisiso iyi i khou ṱoḓisisa u losha ha vhanna na vhafumakadzi kha mvelele ya Tshivenḓa. Ṱhoḓisiso iyi i ḓo dovha ya ṱoḓisisa nḓila dzo fhambanaho dza u losha vhukati ha kuloshele kwa kale na kuloshele kwa musalauno hu u itela uri ṱhoḓisiso iyi i dzie kana i angalale zwavhuḓi. Muṱoḓisisi u ḓo shumisa ngona ya khwaḽithethivi hune muhanga wa thyori wo ḓisendeka nga Afrocentrism kana Afrocentricity Framework. Iyi ndi thyiori ine ya khwaṱhisa u ombedzela kana u khwaṱhisedza mvelele ya Vharema na u bveledza mvelaphanḓa kha u alusa mvelele ya Vharema. Ṱhoḓisiso iyi i ḓo dovha ya ṱalutshedza siangane, tshitatamennde tsha thaidzo, ndivho, zwipikwa na ndeme ya ṱhoḓisiso khathihi na ṱhalutshedzo dza mathemo a ndeme.
NRF
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Hadebe, Josiah Sillo. "Izwe alithuthuki by Phuzekhemisi as sung in KwaZulu-Natal : maskandi song as social protest analysed as an oral-style text." Thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/5721.
Full text
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Zondi, Nompumelelo Bernadette. "Bahlabelelelani : why do they sing? : gender and power in contemporary women's songs." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/656.
Full textAbstract:
Certain cultural practices present unspoken questions to women. While women may
not be free to state these concerns upfront I argue that they have always had some
means of expressing themselves in creative ways about issues that affect them. One
issue that is investigated in this dissertation is the question of why women sing. This
study, therefore, examines one of the channels, which are songs, that women and
rural women in particular employ to deal with their day to day living. To this end I
have selected cultural songs as one of the ways of demonstrating how women
negotiate their spaces in the culture. The study is based on a community of women
from Zwelibomvu near Pinetown, South Africa but goes beyond this as I believe that
women in general speak for the majority of other women especially with regard to
issues around gender and power inequalities. Songs have been selected as a genre and
as a special form of expression that women in particular find easier to use to raise
issues that affect them in their daily lives. The three hour DVD rendition that forms
part of this study captures a synoptic view of the amount of raw data found in this
study. Through the medium of song, and strengthened by the stories that they share,
Zwelibomvu rural women are able to get a sense of relief and consolation from the
burdens that they have and which they would like to share.
Presented as a two part field work process, the first process involves the collection of
songs in ceremonies and occasions and observing an d being part of the occasions and
ceremonies where the songs that are sung by women are performed. This process
culminates in the production of the three hour DVD rendition that forms part of this
study and which captures a synoptic view of the amount of r aw data found in this
dissertation. The second part mainly involves interviews of categories of respondents
in similar settings/districts observed where ceremonies were attended and attempts to
provide some insight into why women sing and the question of gender and power in
contemporary women’s songs. Finally, the last chapters involve an analysis of songs
with regard to themes that emanate from these songs as well as a review on their oral
composition.Thesis (Ph.D)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.
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Khuzwayo, Anthony S'busiso. "Ukuvezwa komlando ezibongweni zamakhosi amabili akwazulu, uDingane nomPande." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/1631.
Full textAbstract:
This research is entitled "The historical representation of the praise-poetry of
the two Zulu kings, Dingane and Mpande." In this study the researcher is
trying to explore the ways in which history is portrayed in these two above
mentioned kings. This is done firstly by looking particularly at their historical
outlooks and secondly by looking at their praises. In traditional Zulu society,
every Royal king has to possess praises. Therefore the praises basically contain
historical events.
The analysis of the findings reveals that king praises contain largely of the heroic
deeds, body features and characteristics of the kings. Based on this statement it
therefore stands to reason that the king praises cannot be considered merely as
a complete history of the Zulu kings. The data collection was carried out through
interviews and through reading books for each king.
It must be noted that the king praises are only performed by a bard/imbongi. The
king praises serve as a mirror that detects how the king live and perform the
duties of the nation.Thesis (M.A)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.
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Johnson, Simone Lisa. "Defining the migrant experience : an analysis of the poetry and performance of a contemporary southern African genre." Thesis, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/3014.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation focuses on the migrant performance genre isicathamiya, a genre which was popular amongst migrant workers in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the nineteen thirties and forties. It explores contemporary isicathamiya and asks whether there have been paradigmatic shifts in its content in post-apartheid South African society. By way of introduction, the origins and development as well as some of the themes and features of isicathamiya are highlighted. Hereafter scholarly accounts of migrant
performance genres are discussed in conjunction with the cultural re-orientation of migrants in urban centers. The introduction is intended to contextualise the genre by alluding to the politics and aesthetics of isicathamiya performances. Leading on from the introduction, the first chapter of this body of research is a reflection upon the characteristics of oral literature; from the point of view of a literary scholar, I also discuss the problems of interpretation I experienced in this study of mediated isicathamiya lyrics. I propose that isicathamiya performances and texts are elements of
oral literature and begin to define them as such. My intention in chapter two is to explore how local performances have influenced global culture. I ask if oral literature from South Africa has contributed to the global market. I ask what Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the internationally acclaimed isicathamiya choir, has invested in "First World culture" and suggest that there is in existence a transcultural flow of energy between the "so-called centre" and "so-called periphery". In chapter three I suggest that the local and global are in a state of dialogue. I hope to establish a dialogue between local isicathamiya choirs and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In essence, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has exported a musical form that has its foundations in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. This chapter takes readers back to the source of the genre. I take into consideration Veit Erimann's scholarly studies of isicathamiya in Nightsong: Performance, Power and Practice in South Africa. Focus falls
upon the paradigm of rural/ urban migration in isicathamiya song and the importance of "home" in sustaining migrants in the city. The notion of "homeliness" as a trope in isicathamiya performances is discussed. By extension, in chapter four, I ask whether the notion of "home" emphasized by Veit Erlmann is of significance in contemporary isicathamiya performance. Consequently, I adopt a comparative approach and set out to identify the changes and continuities in contemporary isicathamiya performances in response to transformations within postapartheid society. I ask why isicathamiya is significant in post-apartheid South African society. What is its importance for personal and collective identity? What is being articulated within contemporary performances? Does isicathamiya provide a cultural
space, a forum in which public debate (regarding leaders, policies and concerns) can be staged? Most importantly, is the thematic paradigm between the rural and urban world still visible in contemporary isicathamiya? Is contemporary isicathamiya still grounded on the notion of "homeliness", or have new thematic paradigms emerged in contemporary isicathamiya performances? I propose that South Africa in the present, is itself the site of multiple cultures and fragmented histories. The country and its people are searching for a new unitary meaning in the post-apartheid era. My argument is that isicathamiya texts are elements of postcolonial and post-apartheid literature. I suggest that language, through isicathamiya performance, can show a way back into reinterpreting the past and stitching together a
different present. Isicathamiya texts give hints of journeys and point to identities, shared histories and cultural landscapes. Isicathamiya makes possible the sharing of knowledge and knowledge systems, and is an opportunity to hear un-erased histories and un-silenced voices.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.
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Scholtz, Pieter J. H. "Theatre for young audiences and the Commedia dell'arte : the living tradition of the Commedia dell'arte in theatre for young audiences, with specific reference to selected original texts and performances." Thesis, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/8694.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis affirms the relevance of "Theatre for Young Audiences" as a valid
and distinctive genre; a performance genre that should entertain, educate and
provide meaning in terms of its creative interaction with personal, social, artistic and
cultural issues. The practice of playwrighting is removed from the assumption that
it relies exclusively on inspiration, intuition and spontaneity; it is placed within a
creative, experiential and discursive mode in which dramatic, theatrical,
performance and structural issues can be researched, analysed and evaluated
culminating in the crafting, making and presentation of innovative and challenging
theatre.
The research component of the thesis attempts to identify the social and moral
responsibility of the playwright writing for young audiences. It is asserted that
knowledge about the maturation of young people is crucial in the creative processes
of writing plays and making theatre. The second chapter in Part One of the thesis,
asserts that knowledge about the physical, emotional and intellectual maturation of
the intended audience should clearly impact on the delineation of plot, action,
character, language, audience participation, ethics and morality. The thesis clearly
identifies the importance of this knowledge for the Arts Educator.
However, "Theatre for Young Audiences" does not function solely in the realm
of education. The thesis distinguishes this genre from those of "Theatre-in-Education"
and "Drama-in-Education". The thesis firmly supports this distinction
and affirms the status of "Theatre for Young Audiences" as a performing art. This
argument is given further credence by the creative interaction of original scripts with
the "living tradition" of the Commedia dell' Arte. The Commedia dell' Arte is
examined from an historical perspective; pertinent features are addressed, selected,
utilised and transformed into a dynamic theatrical experience for young audiences in
contemporary South Africa.
The Commedia dell' Arte serves as a theatrical model and becomes a creative
device for further and renewed innovation. The inclusion of three original plays in
Appendices 1, 2 and 3, plus numerous references to selected, original texts and
performances provide an illustration of the concept that playwrighting for young
people can effectively and imaginatively transpose theoretical inquiry into
imaginative and challenging theatre experience.
The thesis attempts to utilise a clear conceptual basis for the development of
argument - the educational and psychological perspectives provide a foundation for
ideas and critical writing. The theatre heritage becomes a catalyst for innovative and
pertinent theatre that affirms the status, purpose and nature of "Theatre for Young
Audiences" in contemporary South Africa.Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.
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Kaschula, Russell H. "Oral literature in Africa." 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59355.
Full textAbstract:
I have in my possession a first edition, hard copy of Ruth Finnegan’s quintessential work, Oral Literature in Africa. It has a yellow cover, preserved by a plastic sheathe, it is a little frayed around the edges and has that old, musty library smell about it. I love and treasure this book. It is dedicated by Professor Finnegan ‘[t]o all my teachers’. Professor Finnegan is indeed one of my teachers. I properly met Ruth Finnegan at the second International Society for Oral Literature (ISOLA) conference in 1998, which I hosted at the University of Cape Town. She gave a keynote address which included reference to her seminal work and the future of oral literary studies. She has continually influenced our work as researchers following in her footsteps: Isidore Okpewho, Harold Scheub, Abiola Irele, Graham Furniss, Elizabeth Gunner, Karin Barber, Isobel Hofmeyr, John Foley, Olayibi Yai, Edgard Sienaert, Brian Street, Noverino Canonici, Mark Turin, Daniela Merolla, Jan Jansen, Jeff Opland, and many others; some younger, some older, some living, some departed, scholars influenced by this great and humble intellectual and her body of work.
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Le, Roux Magdel. "In search of the understanding of the Old Testament in Africa : the case of the Lemba." Thesis, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/17188.
Full textAbstract:
This project seeks to determine, to what extent the culture of early Israel (1250-1000 BC) is
similar to African cultures, more specifically, to that of the Lemba. However, a comparison
between the cultures of early Israel and those of certain African tribes is not the primary
objective in this case. This project is neither an anthropological study nor does it intend to
mainly focus on the Lemba as such -though this may appear to be the case. This endeavour primarily
fits into the ambit of Old Testament Studies. The investigation into the Lemba is meant to be
subsidiary to the point of contingence between their culture and Old Testament customs and
traditions, and how this information affects the interpretation of the Old Testament and its
teaching in Africa. A number of comparisons between the early Israelite religion as reflected in
the Old Testament and the Lemba are drawn. Though the qualitative research (inductive approach) is
employed in the field work, the greatest part of the data on religious perspectives and practices
is mediated by the theory of a phenomenological approach as advocated by Ninian Smart on matters of
experience, mythology, ritual, and ethical/judicial dimensions. Therefore, the approach is also
deductive.
The Lemba is a very specific group with claims about Israelite/Judaic origins. Their early
departure from Israel (according to them ca 586 BC) can mean that there are remnants of a very
ancient type oflsraelite religion, now valuable when juxtaposed to that of early Israel. This study
takes Lemba traditions seriously, but finally does not verify or falsify Lemba claims - but the
outcomes in this thesis may take this debate a step further.
Their claims make them special and extremely interesting to study from the point of view of oral
cultures. Their oral culture is constitutive of their world-view and self-understanding or
identity. It incorporates the role of oral traditions, history and historiography and parallels
are drawn between orality in early Israelite and Lemba religions. The reciprocity between orality
and inscripturation of traditions, yielding valuable information on what may have happened in the
developent of traditions in Israel, are also attended to in this project.
Nevertheless, this project is primarily a search for the understanding and relevance of the Old
Testament in Afiica and is, therefore, a selective and not an exhaustive comparison between the
Lemba and early Israel. And so, taking cognisance of the hermeneutic of contextualisation in
Africa in particular, a teaching module syllabus for Old Testament Studies is developed, of which
the very strands of religion among the Lemba and early Israel are constitutive for teaching Old
Testament Studies in present-day African cultures (and perhaps elsewhere).Biblical and Ancient Studies
D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)
45
Le, Roux M. "In search of the understanding of the Old Testament in Africa : the case of the Lemba." Thesis, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/17188.
Full textAbstract:
This project seeks to determine, to what extent the culture of early Israel (1250-1000 BC) is
similar to African cultures, more specifically, to that of the Lemba. However, a comparison
between the cultures of early Israel and those of certain African tribes is not the primary
objective in this case. This project is neither an anthropological study nor does it intend to
mainly focus on the Lemba as such -though this may appear to be the case. This endeavour primarily
fits into the ambit of Old Testament Studies. The investigation into the Lemba is meant to be
subsidiary to the point of contingence between their culture and Old Testament customs and
traditions, and how this information affects the interpretation of the Old Testament and its
teaching in Africa. A number of comparisons between the early Israelite religion as reflected in
the Old Testament and the Lemba are drawn. Though the qualitative research (inductive approach) is
employed in the field work, the greatest part of the data on religious perspectives and practices
is mediated by the theory of a phenomenological approach as advocated by Ninian Smart on matters of
experience, mythology, ritual, and ethical/judicial dimensions. Therefore, the approach is also
deductive.
The Lemba is a very specific group with claims about Israelite/Judaic origins. Their early
departure from Israel (according to them ca 586 BC) can mean that there are remnants of a very
ancient type oflsraelite religion, now valuable when juxtaposed to that of early Israel. This study
takes Lemba traditions seriously, but finally does not verify or falsify Lemba claims - but the
outcomes in this thesis may take this debate a step further.
Their claims make them special and extremely interesting to study from the point of view of oral
cultures. Their oral culture is constitutive of their world-view and self-understanding or
identity. It incorporates the role of oral traditions, history and historiography and parallels
are drawn between orality in early Israelite and Lemba religions. The reciprocity between orality
and inscripturation of traditions, yielding valuable information on what may have happened in the
developent of traditions in Israel, are also attended to in this project.
Nevertheless, this project is primarily a search for the understanding and relevance of the Old
Testament in Afiica and is, therefore, a selective and not an exhaustive comparison between the
Lemba and early Israel. And so, taking cognisance of the hermeneutic of contextualisation in
Africa in particular, a teaching module syllabus for Old Testament Studies is developed, of which
the very strands of religion among the Lemba and early Israel are constitutive for teaching Old
Testament Studies in present-day African cultures (and perhaps elsewhere).Biblical and Ancient Studies
D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)
46
Moollan, Barbara Allison. "Sacramental symbols and the oral tradition." Thesis, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/6168.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation is an attempt to draw a connecting link between Marcel Jousse's theory of MIMISM as found in his book The Oral Style and the symbols used when celebrating four of the sacraments celebrating in the Roman Catholic Church. These symbols are water used in the sacrament of baptism, the bread and the wine as used in the celebration of the Eucharist, and the oil which is used in the sacraments of Confirmation and the Anointing of the Sick. Jousse was the first anthropologist to discover that all action or gestes as he called it, is constantly being replayed and re-enacted by man. The second chapter in this thesis will give a comprehensive summary of this theory of MIMISM. Since man is constantly
attempting to get closer to God whom he falls short of when he sins, this practice of the sacraments is a means of getting man back in touch with God and the symbols used in this procedure is what actually makes it real.
After a chapter on symbolism and the role that symbols play in the
celebration of sacraments, the next chapter deals with the rites, rituals and religion in society. It is the symbols together with the rights, that in effect bridge the relationship between God and man. The final chapter then looks into the symbols themselves, which are oil, water and the Eucharist and fits the entire subject into perspective.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1994.
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Archary, Kogielam Keerthi. "The transmission of oral tradition in religious and domestic contexts among South African Tamil Indians." Thesis, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/6281.
Full textAbstract:
This study attempts to discuss the transmission of oral tradition in religious and domestic contexts among the Indian Tamil Hindu people of South Africa.
In chapter one, the focus of this study, as well as some reasons for choosing the Tamil group are discussed. The focus of this essay is to highlight the transmission of oral tradition in communities that have been physically separated from the original homes of those particular communities. Thereafter, in chapter two, examples of surviving domestic rituals are analysed. Life cycle rituals and calendrical rituals that are
performed in the home are discussed with examples. Examples of
surviving public rituals are considered in chapter three. An account of the rituals that are performed in the temple [either calendrical or of a personal nature] is given. In chapter four Tamil Hindu mythology which has survived in this country is given consideration. Lord Siva, in particular, is discussed to a greater extent. An overview of how some of the tradition has survived concludes this essay.Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Durban. 1993.
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Kaschula, Russell H. "Imbongi and griot: toward a comparative analysis of oral poetics in Southern and West Africa." 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59379.
Full textAbstract:
This article takes up the challenge of comparative research in Africa by analysing and comparing the oral art of West African griots and Southern African iimbongi or oral poets. Similarities and differences between these performers and their respective societies are highlighted through the use of an ethnographic methodology. A distinction is drawn between the more traditional performers such as Thiam Anchou and D.L.P. Yali-Manisi, and the more modern performers such as M’Bana Diop, Bongani Sitole and Zolani Mkiva. The rich use of genealogy and history in the more traditional performances is highlighted. In comparing the work of the more contemporary, urban poets such as M’bana Diop of Senegal and Zolani Mkiva from Southern Africa, similarities are found in their performances on post-independence leaders such as Senghor and Mandela. Political pressures which have been brought to bear on the performer are also discussed. This article explores the continuity between the past and the present in relation to aspects such as the following: how performers gain recognition, their continued survival, their relationship with politics and religion, the orality- literacy debate, and the stylistic techniques used by these performers. Wherever possible, examples of performers and their work are provided.
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Scholes, Alexandra Alice. "Speak memory: an Oral History Centre in Braamfontein, Johannesburg." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/22077.
Full textAbstract:
This document is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree:
Master of Architecture [Professional]
At the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2016Sound, in the form of speech and song was celebrated in all preliterate societies. Oral history has recently come back into prominence, with the realisation that it can be more inclusive than traditional academic history and contribute to a shared experience within a group. In Post-Apartheid South Africa it played an important role in the TRC hearings. Organisations such as StoryCorps, have discovered the important therapeutic value gained by the sharing of stories between individuals and groups. The Speak Memory Oral History Centre aims to encourage historians to engage with oral history as a medium for memory recollection and to create a body of populist oral history testimonies. Oral history deals with memory and so the relationship between architecture and memory was investigated, with a particular focus on the neurological mechanisms involved in memory. An approach to the design of an Oral History Centre used these neurological mechanisms as design tools for a building that would facilitate the recording and recall of memory.
EM2017
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Mathebula, Mandla Darnece. "Genealogy and migration of the Va Ka Valoyi people of Limpopo Province, South Africa." Thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/2258.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D. (History)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018The purpose of this study was to investigate the genealogy and migration of the va ka Valoyi people of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Qualitative, narrative research was used to study the oral history of the va ka Valoyi to determine the origin, migration routes and the genealogy of the 20 (twenty) communities of the va ka Valoyi in Limpopo. Data collection was done using semi-structured questionnaires. An initial list of 20 (twenty) respondents was drawn and through Snowball Sampling, the list was increased as per referrals made by the 20 (twenty) respondents during their individual interviews. At the end of the research, 67 (sixty-seven) respondents had been interviewed and secondary sources also consulted. The study has reconstructed the history of the va ka Valoyi, which had not been written before and managed to fill some gaps in the history of their associate groups that historians had not been able to fill in the past. The findings revealed that all the 20 (twenty) communities of the va ka Valoyi in Limpopo are related and identified the various relationships among them. It also revealed how the va ka Valoyi are related to ancient dynasties of the Munhumutapa, Changamire and Torwa and how they reached the Limpopo Province. KEY CONCEPTS Genealogy; Migration; va ka Valoyi; Arrival in Limpopo Province; Oral history.