This study investigates the use of modern and izibongo (praise poetry) techniques in representing women in selected isiXhosa poems. The main interest of the study is to determine whether the same techniques to depict men are used when writing about women. It is also the interest of the study to ascertain how gender issues are dealt with in the selected poems. Seminal studies on izibongo by eminent scholars in this field show a serious lack of critique and little recognition of women in African languages’ poetry in general and in isiXhosa in particular. Pioneering studies in Nguni poetry about women have thus recommended that serious studies on poetry about women be undertaken. The analyses of selected poems by established isiXhosa poets show that modern poetry conventions are significantly used together with izibongo techniques. These techniques are used without any gender differentiation, which is another point of interest of this study. There are however instances where images specific to women are used. Such use has however not been found to be demeaning of women in any way. Poems where modern poetry forms and conventions are used tend to deal with subjects who have international or an urban area background. Even though the modern poetry conventions are used with izibongo techniques the presence of the modern literary conventions is prominent. This is the case particularly with poems about women in politics. That some female poet seems to accept some cultural practices that are viewed to be undermining the status of women does not take away the voice of protest against this oppression by some of the selected poets. These two voices, one of acceptance and the other one of protest are used as a basis for a debate around a need for a literary theory that addresses the question of African culture with special reference to isiXhosa poetry about women. The success of the selected poets with both modern and izibongo techniques is a good sign for the development of isiXhosa poetry in general and isiXhosa poetry about women. It is strongly recommended that continued research of a serious nature concerning poetry about, and produced by women, be undertaken.

No description available.

Afrikaans: Hierdie proefskrif is ' n kommentaar op die anoniem oorgelewerde gedig De Laude Pisonis wat deesdae meestal aan Calpurnius Siculus toegeskryf word, 'n digter van ekloges uit die middel van die eerste eeu n.C. Die gedig van 261 heksameters is 'n lofdig op 'n sekere Calpurnius Piso, heel waarskynlik die bekende adellike wat in 65 n.C. as leier van 'n sameswering teen keiser Nero gesterf het. Die gedig verheerlik Piso as die nasaat van groot generaals, as 'n uiters welsprekende advokaat, 'n senator en consul (of oud-consul), maar ook as 'n baie vrygewige beskermheer van 'n kring van kunssinnige 'vereerders' en vriende, as 'n knap digter en lierspeler, en laastens as 'n baie bekwame balspeler en 'n kampioen in 'n bordspel genaamd latrunculi. In die laaste vyfde van die gedig bied die digter sy lofdig aan Piso as 'n 'liefdespand' en as proefstuk van sy digterlike bedrewenheid aan, en versoek hom vervolgens om hom in sy vriendekring op te neem en, SODS Maecenas van weleer met Vergilius en Horatius gemaak het, hom te help om as digter vooruit te gaan en beroemd te word; as dank hiervoor beloof hy aan Piso ewige roem in sy eie gedigte, waarin hy horn as sy Maecenas sal prys. Die jong outeur - hy sê dat hy nog nie eens twintig jaar oud is nie - is deur moderne geleerdes soms geloof vir sy tegniese bedrewenheid, maar ook herhaaldelik oor die konsep van die gedig berispe. Die eerste kommentaar op die De Laude Pisonis is in 1917 deur Gladys Martin geskryf; 'n heelwat breedvoeriger kommentaar, in Duits, is in 1969 deur A.Seel gepubliseer. Vergeleke met hierdie voorgangers is die onderhawige kommentaar heelwat meer omvattend wat die filologies-eksegetiese aspek sowel as sake van sosio-historiese belang betref. Daarbenewens word ook meer aandag gegee aan die waardering van die gedig se struktuur, die gedagteloop en oorgange tussen die temas, aan die rol van die metrum, en aan eksakte interpretasie; daar word ook 'n Afrikaanse prosavertaling aangebied. Die inleiding tot die kommentaar gee 'n oorsig van die tekstradisie en vroeër uitgawes van die gedig, behandel die vermoedelike identiteite van die digter en die geadresseerde, en bepaal kortliks die gedig se plek in die geskiedenis van die lofdig as 'n literêre genre. Die kommentaar is gebaseer op die teks van die Franse Budé-edisie van 1991. Daar word bevind dat die De Laude Pisonis 'n goed gestruktureerde en in alle opsigte fyn afgewerkte gedig is. Die versritme sowel as 'goue versreëls' word dikwels ingespan om die betekenis te onderstreep. Die taalgebruik stem grootliks ooreen met dié van ander digters van die Silwer Tydperk. Die verskillende temas van lofprysing is vindingryk en interessant aangebied in 'n verhewe maar aantreklike styl, opvallend ryk aan metafore. Ook die afsluitende versoek om die geadresseerde se steun is aandoenlik en oortuigend geformuleer. Daar kan sekerlik aanvaar word dat die ambisieuse jong skrywer se lofdig die gewensde indruk op die geadresseerde moes gemaak het. Bes moontlik was hierdie gedig inderdaad die begin van die jong ekloge-digter Calpumius Siculus se digterloopbaan onder die bevordering van die edele Piso. Die kwaliteit van hierdie gedig is waarskynlik tot dusver deur moderne navorsers onderskat. English: This thesis is a commentary on the anonymously preserved poem De Laude Pisonis which is now usually ascribed to Calpurnius Siculus, a pastoral poet of the middle of the first century AD. The poem of 261 hexameters is a panegyric on a certain Calpurnius Piso, most likely the well-known nobleman who died in AD 65 as leader of a conspiracy against the emperor Nero. The poem eulogizes Piso as the scion of a family of great generals, a most eloquent lawyer, a senator and consul (or ex-consul), but also as a very generous patron of a circle of artistic admirers and friends, a fine poet and musician, and finally as a spectacular ball-player and champion in the chess-like game of latrunculi. In the final part of the poem the author offers his panegyric to the noble Pi so as a pledge of his affection and a specimen of his ability, then proceeds to beg him to accept him into his circle and help him, like Maecenas did with Vergil and Horace, to gain literary fame; for this he promises him eternal glory in his poems, where he will praise him as his own Maecenas. The young author - he says he is still under twenty - has been praised for his technical competence, but also sometimes criticised for the poem's concept. The first English commentary on the De Laude Pisonis was written by Gladys Martin in 1917, a more extensive one in German was published by A.Seel in 1969. Compared with its predecessors, the present commentary, besides being more exhaustive on the philological-¬exegetic side and on matters of socio-historical interest, also pays more attention to the poem's structure, lines of thought, transitions between themes, to the role of the metre, and to exact interpretation; an Afrikaans prose translation is also presented. The introduction to the commentary gives a survey of the text tradition and previous editions of the poem, discusses the probable identities of the author and of the addressee, and deals briefly with panegyric as a literary genre. The commentary is based on the text of the French Budé edition of 1991. The De Laude Pisonis is found to be a well structured and in all respects well finished poem. Verse rhythm as well as 'golden lines' are often used to underline or emphasise the meaning. The language usage conforms to that of the other poets of the Silver Age. The various laudatory topics are imaginatively and attractively presented in an elevated but pleasing style, remarkably rich in metaphor. Also the concluding request for sponsorship is formulated rather movingly and persuasively. There can be little doubt that the ambitious young man's presentation poem must have duly impressed its recipient, and it is, in fact, very likely that this is the poem which launched the young pastoral poet Calpurnius Siculus on his career as a protegé of the addressee. Perhaps the quality of this poem has generally been underrated by modern scholars. / Thesis (DLitt (Latin))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the socio-cultural issues in the praise poems of three Xhosa chiefs, namely, Nkosi Whyte Lent Mbali Maqoma of the amaJingqi, Nkosi Doyle Mpuhle Jongilanga of Dushane of Ndlambe and Nkosi Sipho Mangindi Burns-Ncamashe of amaGwali of Tshiwo. What comes out clear in the poems of these chiefs is that they experienced power problems after and before 1994. Their poetry protests about these political influences and calls for the restoration of the dignity of the chieftancy. The socio-cultural aspects of the praise poems of each chief are devoted to a chapter: Nkosi Whyte Lent Mbali Maqoma in Chapter 2, Nkosi Doyle Mpuhle Jongilanga in Chapter 3, and Nkosi Sipho Mangindi Burns-Ncamashe in Chapter 4. Attention is paid to each chiefs genealogy, praise names, names of oxen because of traditional significance in the life of the chief, the chiefs mother, and place names which have historical importance in the life of the chief. As part of the theoretical framework of praise poetry, praise poetry theory is handled in Chapter 1 of the study. It is concluded in Chapter 5 that Xhosa paramount chiefs still play and will playa crucial socio-cultural role in their communities. They are not only concerned about being custodians of culture but also with the development of their nations. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek sosio-kulturele vraagstukke in die prysgedigte van drie Xhosa opperhoofde, naamlik opperhoof Whyte Lent Mbali Maqoma van die amaJingqi, opperhoof Doyle Mpuhle Jongilanga van die Dushane groep van die Ndlambe en opperhoof Sipho Mangindi Burns-Ncamashe van die amaGwali groep van die Tshiwo. Die beeld wat na vore kom na aanleiding van 'n analise van die opperhoofde se prysgedigte dat hulle 'n magsprobleem ondervind het sowel voor as na 1994. Deur hulle poesie teken hulle protes aan oor bepaalde politieke invloede en hulle doen 'n beroep daarop dat die waardigheid van die hoofmanskap herstel word. Die sosio-kulturele vraagstukke wat na vore kom in die prysgedigte van elke opperhoof word behandel in individuele hoofstukke. Hoofstuk 2 ondersoek die prysgedigte van opperhoof Whyte Lent Mbali Maqoma, Hoofstuk 3 die prysgedigte van opperhoof Doyle Mpuhle Jongilanga, en Hoofstuk 4, die prysgedigte van opperhoof Sipho Mangindi Burns- Ncamashe. Aandag word gegee aan die genealogie van elke opperhoof, prysgroetvorme, die name van beeste, op grond van hulle tradisionele betekenis in die lewe van 'n hoofman, die opperhoof se moeder, asook plekname wat 'n historiese belang het in die lewe van die opperhoof. As deel van die teoretiese raamwerk vir die studie word die teorie van die prysgedig behandel in Hoofstuk 1. Hoofstuk 5 gee 'n samevatting van die belangrikste aspekte van die studie en motiveer die gevolgtrekking dat opperhoofde steeds 'n essenstele sosio-kulturele rol speel en ook in die toekoms sal speel in hulle gemeenskappe. Hulle is nie slegs die bewakers van die kultuurwaardes van hulle gemeenskappe nie, maar is ook fundamenteel betrokke by die ontwikkeling van hulle gemeenskappe. / ISISHWANKATHELO Olu luphando ngemiba yentlalo nenkcubeko kwizibongo zeenkosi zamaXhosa ezintathu, uNkosi uWhyte Lent Mbali Maqoma wamaJingqi, uNkosi uDoyle Mpuhle Jongilanga wemiDushane kaNdlambe noNkosi uSipho Mangindi Burns-Ncamashe wamaGwali kaTshiwo. Into evela ngokucacileyo kwizibongo ezingezi nkosi kukuba ngaphambili komnyaka we-1994 nasemva kwawo zifumene ubunzima ekulawuleni abantu bazo. Kwezi zibongo ukukhalaza ngokuphazamisa kwezopolithiko kulawulo Iwazo nelizwi lokubuyiselwa kwesidima sobukhosi kuvela ngokuthe gca. Iveliswa kwisahluko ngasinye imiba ephathelele kwezentlalo nenkcubeko evela kwizibongo zenkosi nganye: uNkosi Whyte Lent Mbali Maqoma kwisahluko 2, uNkosi Doyle Mpuhle Jongilanga kwisahluko 3, noNkosi uSipho Mangindi Burns-Ncamashe kwisahluko 4. Kuqwalaselwe umlibo wenkosi nganye, izikhahlelo zayo, amagama eenkomo ezinentsingiselo kwinkosi leyo, unina wenkosi namagama eendawo ezinentsingiselo kubomi benkosi nganye. Isikhokhelo esiyithiyori yezibongo sinikwe kwisahluko 1 solu phando. Kwisahluko 5 kuphethwa ngokuba iinkosi zamaXhosa zisenenxaxheba enkulu kwaye zisaya kuhlala zinayo kwimiba yentlalo nenkcubeko yabantu bazo. Aziphelelanga nje ekubeni zigcine inkcubeko yoluntu koko zikwanoxanduva lokunyusa umgangatho wobomi babantu bazo.

This study aims to do a comparative analysis of the historical depiction of the Zulu kings namely: King Shaka, King Dingane, King Mpande and King Cetshwayo. In this study comparison is drawn between Dhlomo's historical novels and Nyembezi 's anthology of praise poetry. This research is based on Interpretive paradigm because it emphasizes a need for in-depth reading and analysis of the oral presentation. That is why qualitative research methodology has been employed because it has allowed the researcher to analytical skills on the content and interviews with community members. In the analysis of these books; the researcher read; interpreted, compared and contrasted the contents thereof. In the researchers comparative study; the researcher discovered that there are some similarities and differences of content in the historical novels and praise poetry writings. This research examined the publication (relevant to this study) written by other authors about Zulu kings (these as deemed relevant for this research). The study went on to verify authenticity around the contents of praise poetry regarding these kings. Structured interviews were arranged and conducted; wherein it emerged that most of king Shaka's, king Dingane's and king Mpande's history has somewhat faded from the interviewee's memories. A lot of information was gathered around king Cetshwayo. This study also revealed that most of Zulu king's history is somehow distorted.Theories of Post-Colonialism and Orality were greatly employed during this research. Post-Colonialism theory was deemed relevant because most of these writings were done after the Zulus had been robbed of their land. Since praise poetry is oral art; an oral historian had to be consulted to emphasize the rich heritage contained in orality or oral art. It clearly emerged from this research that there is a lot of deliberate distortions of Zulu kings' history. This distortion is not only by Whites but also some Black African writers who still continue distorting the kings' history. It is suggested that there be a revisitation and rewriting of the Zulu kings' history and this be done taking into consideration past writings and interviews with knowledgeable historians. A lot of knowledge is contained in this thesis that can be helpful to all and sundry interested in historical writings and other literary genres. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

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.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis utilizes the theory of feminism in all its implied branches in an attempt to critically review the subtle and sometimes deliberate subjugation of women in general and South Africa in particular. This occurs, in spite of the fact that there are laws in place that are meant to discourage women abuse. Juxtaposing this is the perspective conception of women, looking at themselves as subjects of virtue who deserve equal treatment to any other human being. It is through some oral forms that this reflection could be tested. Praise poetry, in the hands of a creative artist opens up a world of human emotions that could not be easily seen or felt, and yet it can simultaneously be used to manipulate situations. Language therefore could be seen as a powerful double-edged instrument. The patriarchal system, in this thesis, is exposed as that holy ideology turned unholy to achieve condescending agendas against women. The thin light of respect demonstrated by the traditionalist thinking is made to disappear into thin air, especially when contaminated by Western ideas. It is the resoluteness and the fair obstinacy of some both traditional and modern women that determinedly stood up to conscientise the world in terms of respect for human life irrespective. In this research, an exploration of literary elements within four Nguni languages, that is Siswati, isiZulu, isiNdebele, and isiXhosa reveals the singularity of purpose, for these elements to be manipulated to achieve domineering intentions. Be that as it may, tibongo (praise poems/ praises) of outstanding women who have served in traditional leadership in these language groups give reason to challenge any idea that women should by virtue be relegated to the back seat. Through these tibongo it becomes apparent that because of the women leaders’ stubborn fairness and unparalleled foresight, they have become personifications of democratic values and as such, role models and symbolic hope not only for the empowerment of women, but also for their total liberation from all negative perceptions and oppressions. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This thesis utilizes the theory of feminism in all its implied branches in an attempt to critically review the subtle and sometimes deliberate subjugation of women in general and South Africa in particular. This occurs, in spite of the fact that there are laws in place that are meant to discourage women abuse. Juxtaposing this is the perspective conception of women, looking at themselves as subjects of virtue who deserve equal treatment to any other human being. It is through some oral forms that this reflection could be tested. Praise poetry, in the hands of a creative artist opens up a world of human emotions that could not be easily seen or felt, and yet it can simultaneously be used to manipulate situations. Language therefore could be seen as a powerful double-edged instrument. The patriarchal system, in this thesis, is exposed as that holy ideology turned unholy to achieve condescending agendas against women. The thin light of respect demonstrated by the traditionalist thinking is made to disappear into thin air, especially when contaminated by Western ideas. It is the resoluteness and the fair obstinacy of some both traditional and modern women that determinedly stood up to conscientise the world in terms of respect for human life irrespective. In this research, an exploration of literary elements within four Nguni languages, that is Siswati, isiZulu, isiNdebele, and isiXhosa reveals the singularity of purpose, for these elements to be manipulated to achieve domineering intentions. Be that as it may, tibongo (praise poems/ praises) of outstanding women who have served in traditional leadership in these language groups give reason to challenge any idea that women should by virtue be relegated to the back seat. Through these tibongo it becomes apparent that because of the women leaders’ stubborn fairness and unparalleled foresight, they have become personifications of democratic values and as such, role models and symbolic hope not only for the empowerment of women, but also for their total liberation from all negative perceptions and oppressions. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Within a southern African literary-historiographical milieu, the corpse of the First World War (1914-1918) either wanders in the ‘darkling’ woods or wades in the ice-mirrored sea of a sinister psychological landscape. The veld, with its moon, flowers, bowers, animals and sea, is a potent South African metaphysical conceit in which both the white and black corpse – the horrific waste product of war – is seemingly safely hidden within euphemistic shadows. However, these shades are metonymic and metaphorical offshoots of an Adamastorian nightmare, which has its inception in a nascent South African literary tradition. This thesis explores these literary-historiographical leftovers within the war poetry of both civilians and soldiers. Both ‘white’ and ‘black’ poetry is discussed in a similar context of dressing the corpse in meaning: a meaning that resides deep within the wound of loss. In tracing this blood spoor in the poetry a highly eclectic approach has been followed. As the title illustrates, both literary and historical approaches were used in analysing the effect of the Great War on the poetry, and by implication, on the society from which it sprung. It is, therefore, a cultural history as well as an intellectual subtext of wartorn South Africa that has been scrutinised, and is revealed in its poetic literature. Archival research and the scouring of individual volumes were the sources of the poems for this study. This is true especially with regards to the ‘white’ poetry, where very few examples of poetry have been published in secondary histories. Various anthologies and studies on ‘black’ poetry considerably lightened the search for war izibongo. A variety of literary theoretical approaches have been most useful in extracting the subtext of early 20th century South African history. The psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung’s collective unconscious have been most insightful. The poststructuralist theory of Julia Kristeva has cast more light on the recalcitrant corpse, the main waste product of war. David Lewis-Williams’s recent archaeological-anthropological approach has also been crucial in understanding the indigenous izibongo by putting forward Neuroscience as an explanation of the universally held neuropsychological hallucinatory poetic experience. Finally, war poetry in this thesis is seen as verse written by both soldiers and civilians as a response to the reality – or rather surreal unreality – of conflict, in an effort to come to terms with the abjection of both body and mind. Thea Harrington‘s manqué reading of Kristeva’s poststructuralist corpse is used as a referent for the abject, or loss thereof, that is to be found in the war poetry. Throughout the thesis, the term manqué is used to refer to the corpse as a fluid linguistic-psychological signifier saturated with loss. It is the manqué that has essentially remained hidden behind the various political histories of the war. / English Studies