Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 363-378).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-01-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:55:16Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 yahn_cac_me_assis.pdf: 676578 bytes, checksum: d9e422fd55697a618082f29fa06d7a6c (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Visa-se estudar as cantigas de Capoeira Angola e descobrir um pouco mais sobre seus mitos e ensinamentos que muitas vezes funcionam como instrumento de transmissão de uma tradição ancestral que resiste até hoje, que interage com a cultura e a oralidade brasileiras enriquecendo-as e, que diante dessa interação por meio de conhecimentos que são passados em situações múltiplas de comunicação forma novos capoeiristas angoleiros. Procura-se demonstrar como os cânticos da roda de capoeira denominados “ladainha”, “corrido” e “louvação” podem ser analisados como parte da poesia oral afrobrasileira, pois de antemão já se sabe que os mesmos possuem forma e conteúdo essencialmente enraizados na arte poética. Tais cânticos são providos de ritmo, rimas, musicalidades, gestos, olhares e ambiguidades de vários tipos inerentes ao contexto da roda onde se desenvolve o discurso do canto, revelando uma dupla faceta uma poética e outra dinâmica do mesmo fenômeno. Ainda procura-se ilustrar parte da representação que a Capoeira Angola tem no mundo atualmente. Convém destacar a cotidiana relação que se estabelece com o seu universo por meio de treinamentos e trocas coletivas. Experiências de grandes mestres e mestras da Capoeira Angola contribuíram para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, pois como aqui tratamos de um saber específico, inevitavelmente em muitas etapas debruçamo-nos diante de seus detentores para então se entender pequenos pedaços de sua magia, que como já se sabe de antemão, é simples, porém reflete sentidos profundos / The aim is to study the songs of Capoeira Angola and discover a little more about their myths and teachings which often act as instrument of transmission of an ancestral tradition that endures until today, that interacts with the Brazilian culture and orality and enriching them, interacting through knowledge that are passed in multiple situations of communication creating new players of capoeira angola. It seeks to demonstrate how the chants of wheel called ladainha, louvação and corridos can be analyzed as part of the oral poetry: struggling, because beforehand is already known that they have the form and content essentially rooted in the poetic art. Such songs are fitted with pace, rhymes, gestures, looks and ambiguities of various types inherent in the context of the wheel where develops the chant speech, revealing a dual facet a poetic and other dynamics of the same phenomenon. It still seeks to illustrate part of the representation that Capoeira Angola has in the world today. Everyday should highlight the relationship that is established with his universe through collective exchanges and trainings. Experiences of grandmasters and master of Capoeira Angola contributed to the development of this work, because here we treat a specific knowledge, inevitably in many steps focusing on their holders to then understand small pieces of their magic, which as already known beforehand, is simple, but reflects deep meanings

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.

This thesis examines Ngugi wa Thiong'o's later writings in order to establish the nature of his quest for a people's literature. It illustrates how the author attempts to break the barriers between traditional oral forms and the relatively new written forms in addressing a basically "illiterate" audience. The research begins with an exploration of Gikuyu oral literature as an essential background to Ngugi's later dramatic and fictional writings as distinct from his earlier literary works in which he initiates the dominant quest for a more just society. Ngugi's return to these roots constitutes the central "homecoming" that characterizes his search for new forms. The analysis is conducted through three significant chronological stages representing Ngugi's writings over a period of about a decade from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Each stage starts with a play and performance followed by a parallel novel, the first pair written in English and the subsequent ones in Gikuyu. The three stages - designated Transition, Homecoming and Realization - mark Ngugi's involvement in the promotion of Gikuyu culture and orature, both as a source of inspiration and as a cause to which he fully dedicates himself. The transitional stage depicts the convergence between conventional and traditional oral literary forms with which Ngugi begins to experiment. The second stage introduces significant departures as Ngugi begins to use the Gikuyu language as his primary medium of creative expression. The final stage demonstrates his ultimate assertion of the primacy of orality over the written word as a dynamic agent of transmission. The thesis concludes that Ngugi wa Thiong'o in these later works - while leaving the possibilities of his vision of a "New Earth" unfulfilled pioneers the African writers' climb down from an "ivory tower" to deal with the realities of the experience of the predominantly non-reading African masses, acknowledged as both recipients of and active participants in the relatively new written literature which purports to speak for their experiences and their times.

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.

ABSTRACT The orally transmitted tradition of Lobolo is a common and widely practiced cultural tradition and an established marriage institution within African societies in Southern Africa, differing only in terms and minor variations of practice. Lobolo therefore has the status of being an intangible heritage and is acknowledged as such by South Africa’s National Heritage Resource Act of 1999. Its role in society today on the one hand and its oral way of transmission on the other has placed it in the center of an ongoing post-colonial discourse, particularly around the standing of the African intangible heritage in post-1994 South Africa. The Heritage Transformation Charter, following its mandate by the National Heritage Council, intended to attend to and correct existing imbalances in the Heritage sector and its institutions. It also aimed to identify and establish ways for the preservation and continuation of African heritage. The study reviews the literature on Lobolo, highlighting the ways in which it has been described as a multifaceted cultural and social institution. In consideration of these findings it critically engages in a discussion of the Draft Heritage Transformation Charter, to assess its acknowledgement of the characteristics of living heritage. In doing so the study probes the ability of a policy guiding document such as the Heritage Transformation Charter, to accommodate and guide the survival of oral traditions such as Lobolo, as part of the intangible heritage of South Africa.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-232). Also available on the Internet.

Text in Afrikaans / Die verskillende pre-koloniale samelewings in suidelike-Afrika bet in die laat 18de en vroee 19de eeue reeds 'n herkenbaar moderne vorm begin aanneem, toe hulle identiteit deur koloniale intervensie 'gevries' is. Die verhouding wat met verloop van tyd tussen hierdie samelewings en die indringende koloniste ontwikkel het, is grotendeels gebaseer op persepsies en houdinge wat reeds sedert die 17de, 18de en veral die 19de eeu weens die kontak 'n definitiewe vorm begin aanneem het. Hierdie kan as 'n proses van historiese voorstelling ("historical imaging") beskryf word. In die proefskrif word die agtergrond van hierdie pre-koloniale samelewings geskets en die historiese ontstaan van een samelewing word as tersaaklike voorbeeld bespreek. Die verhoudinge wat plaaslik as gevolg van die proses van koloniale intervensie ontstaan bet, gee met verloop van tyd aanleiding tot die beleid van af sander like ontwikkeling, waarvan die toepassing oar 'n periode van nagenoeg 50 jaar in 'n groat mate bygedra het om die identiteit van hierdie besondere samelewing op 'n besonderse wyse te vorm. Om hierdie beleid van afsonderlike ontwikkeling suksesvol toe te pas, was daar vanaf die regering van die <lag vier mikpunte waaraan voldoen moes word. Dit is deur middel van wetgewing, oorreding en manipulering bewerkstellig. Die eerste mikpunt het die ontwikkeling van 'n afsonderlike politieke bestel vir die swartmense behels, sodat hulle op 'selfstandige' wyse beheer oar die 'state' wat vir hulle geskep sou word, kon uitoefen. Die tweede mikpunt was die daarstelling van 'n eie grondgebied waarbinne die iii mense saamgevoeg kon word en wat as basis sou dien vir die fisiese skeiding tussen swartmense en blankes. Die politieke mag wat vir hulle geskep is, sou net binne die grense van hierdie eie grondgebied uitgeleef kon word. Om die beleid suksesvol tot volvoering te kon bring, moes daar ook 'n strategie vir ekonomiese oorlewing gei'mplimenteer word. Die derde mikpunt was die ekonomiese self standigmaking van elk van die gebiede. Aangesien die grondgebied wat aan hierdie mense afgestaan is totaal onvoldoende was, moes daar verskillende strategiee ontwikkel word vir hul voortbestaan - enersyds deur die regering en andersyds deur die inwoners. Laastens sou al die mense binne 'n grondgebied tot 'n homogene eenheid saamgesnoer moes word. Daar is gevolglik gepoog om 'n eie identiteit vir die inwoners van elk van die gebiede te skep. Die strategie het grootliks op 'n etniese grondslag berus en was van sodanige aard dat dit die verskille tussen die groepe beklemtoon het. Die proses van die konstruksie van identiteit is aan die lig gebring deur navorsing wat onder die Hananwa, 'n Noord-Sotho-sprekende groep mense woonagtig in die weste van Noordelike Provinsie, gedoen is. Hierdie 'konstruksieproses' was egter nie eensydig nie en die Hananwa het, soos wat dit hulle gepas het, aktief daaraan deelgeneem. Die navorsingsproses het die toepassing van 'n multi-dissiplinere benadering behels, wat hoof saaklik van antropologiese, maar ook argeologiese en historiese metodologie gebruik gemaak het. / The various pre-colonial societies of southern Africa emerged in a recognizable modern form during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when they were 'frozen' in their identities by colonial intervention. The relationships that developed with time between these societies and the colonial powers, were largely based upon perceptions and attitudes that developed since the 17th, 18th and especially the 19th centuries as a result of this contact. This latter process has been described as a process of historical imaging. In this thesis, the background to these pre-colonial societies is given and the historical development of one such society is discussed as a relevant example. The relationships that resulted locally because of this process of colonial intervention eventually gave rise to a policy of separate development, the implementation of which over a period of close to 50 years largely contributed to the creation of the identity of this particular society. As prerequisite for this policy to be successful, four aims that had to be successfully implemented were identified by the government of the day. This was done by means of legislation, persuasion and manipulation. The first aim was the development of a separate political system for black people, by which they could 'independently' govern themselves in the 'states' that were to be created for them. Secondly, for this political mechanism to work, it was necessary to establish a separate area or 'state', where the black people could live and govern themselves. The political power created for them could only be used within the v boundaries of these states. Furthermore, these states would also serve to separate whites and black people from each other. Thirdly, for this policy to work, it was necessary to develop a strategy for the economic survival of the people in these states. As the areas set aside for them were totally inadequate, a number of strategies were developed for their economic survival - on the one hand by the authorities and on the other hand by the inhabitants of these areas themselves. The last aim was to unite all the inhabitants within each of these states into one group. It was therefore tried to establish an identity or image for all the inhabitants of each of these areas. This strategy was largely based on ethnic principles, with particular emphasis on the differences between the various groups. This process of the construction of identity is discussed with reference to a specific society, known as the Hananwa, a Northern-Sotho-speaking people living in the west of the Northern Province. Amongst the Hananwa, this 'construction process' was not one-sided and they took an active part in it as it suited their particular need at a specific time. The research strategy was based on a multi-disciplinary approach that employed mainly anthropological methods, but also included archaeological and historical methodology. / Anthropology and Archaeology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Anthropology)

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.

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.