Xhosa literature (eBook)

Spoken and printed words

Jeff Opland (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
400 Seiten
Boydell & Brewer Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-80543-815-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Essays examining isiXhosa oral literature, novels and journalism and the interconnections between them in the nineteenth and twentieth centuriesXhosa Literature: Spoken and Printed Words consists of fourteen essays addressing Xhosa literature in three media - the spoken word, newspapers and books. Literary critics tend to focus on Xhosa literature published in books; some attention has been paid to Xhosa oral poetry and tales, but by and large the contribution of newspapers to the development of Xhosa literature has been overlooked. This book explores aspects of Xhosa literature in all three media, and their interconnections.Six of the essays treat historical narratives (amabali) and praise poetry (izibongo), setting out the social and ritual function of poetry and the poet (imbongi), mapping changes in the izibongo of three poets as South Africa moved towards democracy in the 1990s, and analysing recordings of two poems recited by S.E.K. Mqhayi. Three essays are devoted to the first Xhosa novel, Mqhayi's U-Samson (1907), to the publication of the greatest novel in Xhosa, A.C. Jordan's Ingqumbo yeminyanya (1940), and to the first published poem in praise of Nelson Mandela, D.L.P. Yali-Manisi's 'UNkosi Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela' (1954). There follow accounts of Xhosa literature in the nineteenth century and the appropriation of the press by Xhosa editors towards the end of that century, of Nontsizi Mgqwetho's fiery poetry published in Umteteli wa Bantu and of poems by Mgqwetho and Mqhayi published in Abantu-Batho, two Johannesburg newspapers. The volume concludes with an exposition of an imaginative response to David Yali-Manisi and his poetry.University of KwaZulu-Natal Press: Southern African Development Community

Inhalt

Preface
Foreword by Peter T. Mtuze

Prologue
1. Oral tradition, books, newspapers

Oral tradition
2. History as literature
3. Two recorded poems by S.E.K. Mqhayi
4. Izibongo as invocation
5. The imbongi as trickster (with P.A. McAllister)
6. Izibongo on the cusp of change

Books
7. The first Xhosa novel: S.E.K. Mqhayi's U-Samson (1907)
8. The publication of A.C. Jordan's novel, Ingqumbo yeminyanya (1940)
9. The earliest published poem on Nelson Mandela (1954)

Newspapers
10. Nineteenth-century Xhosa literature
11. Fighting with the pen
12. The newspaper as empowering medium: the case of Nontsizi Mgqwetho
13. Abantu-Batho and the Xhosa poets

Epilogue
14. A creative response to izibongo: The Dassie and the Hunter (2005)

Bibliography

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 9.12.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Publications of the Opland Collection of Xhosa Literature
• Zusatzinfo: 2 b/w illus.
• Verlagsort: Woodbridge
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 160 x 160 mm
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft
• Schlagworte: Abantu-Batho • A.C. Jordan • amabali • books • David Yali-Manisi • Democracy • D.L.P. Yali-Manisi • Essays • Fiery Poetry • First Xhosa Novel • greatest novel • historical narratives • imbongi • Ingqumbo yeminyanya • isiXhosa Oral Literature • Izibongo • Johannesburg Newspapers • Journalism • Literary Critics • Nelson Mandela • Newspapers • Nineteenth century • nineteenth century literature • Nontsizi Mgqwetho • Novels • Poet • praise poetry • Press Appropriation • recordings • Ritual Function • S.E.K. Mqhayi • social function • Southern African Development Community • Spoken Word • Tales • Twentieth century • Umteteli wa Bantu • University of KwaZulu-Natal Press • UNkosi Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela • U-Samson • Xhosa Editors • Xhosa Literature • Xhosa Oral Poetry
• ISBN-10: 1-80543-815-8 / 1805438158
• ISBN-13: 978-1-80543-815-1 / 9781805438151