Although the areas I intend to investigate are rather diverse, what unites them is a concern for the ancient and fascinating question of the relationship between language and thought. Assumptions concerning the latter are surely latent as the basis for any inquiry into language. One of my general purposes is to give some overt orientation to this problem which is all too often simply glossed over. More particularly, I am also concerned with shaping a new approach to Bantu linguistic inquiry in terms of an emphasis on discourse analysis. In the context of the burgeoning of discourse analysis internationally, the field has been seriously neglected in Southern Africa. Studies of discourse are, we believe, vital to advancing our knowledge of inter-ethnic communication and understanding, an area that cannot be ignored in Southern Africa. In more general terms, I hope that this thesis represents a challenge to linguistic inquiry in ways that we have already outlined above. Most importantly, is that while it appears that most South African linguists are satisfied with adopting a rigid monotheoretical approach, I differ, advocating a multitheoretical perspective. This, I believe, allows a greater and more holistic view not only of the 'data' in question but also in terms of the general nature of inquiry, as well as the 'world' it attempts to describe. The body of this thesis is divided into two sections which reflect the two central concerns we have outlined above. Section A, divided into three chapters, is chiefly concerned with the conceptual basis of Xhosa narrative and its linguistic manifestation. In this section we shall find cause to query and to redefine traditional approaches to the linguistic categories manifest in Xhosa narrative. In section B, also divided into three chapters, we shall be concerned with the development of a theory of narrative production with specific reference to intsomi production. In this section we include an in depth criticism of previous approaches to this problem before developing and applying our own theory. There are two appendices attached to this thesis. The first presents certain tables and figures relevant to chapter 4. while the second includes the narrative texts from which we draw our examples. (Introduction, p. 21-22)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Vita. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

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).