M.A. / This is a survey of the use of imagery in both traditional and modern Zulu praise poetry. For the purposes of this corpus, emphasis will be placed on izibongo (praise poems) of the Zulu kings, chiefs, prominent figures, and also minor characters. The following are the main figures of speech which are worth mentioning in this study: metaphor, personification, symbolism, metonymy, simile, and hyperbole. The definitions of the aforementioned images by various critics will be given in this chapter. The study does not involve a stylistic analysis of izibongo as a whole; its primary focus is to assess the utilization of certain animals, objects and natural phenomena, as the basis of metaphors. In this study, I will confine myself to two texts. These are IZIBONGO ZULU PRAISE-POEMS, by T. Cope and MUSHO! ZULU POPULAR PRAISES, edited by L. Gunner and M. Gwala. The former contains mostly traditional praise poems of kings, chiefs, headmen, and two promiment women: Mnkabayi kalama and Nandi kaMbengi; the latter consists of izibongo of political figures and of anyone who was deemed praise-worthy. In recent years political leaders have become very prominent. Gunner and Gwala (1991: 11) acknowledge this when they state that, "the freed leaders will be honoured like kings ... and one of the country's most gifted izimbongi (praisers) wants to make sure the released men hear the story of the people's suffering". Often, at political gatherings, where leaders of the different parties are present, praises are recited which are fit for kings. Take the case of the inauguration of Dr Nelson Mandela, where one witnessed the presence of two izimbongi, who were reciting the praises of Mandela. Images of fierce battles and heroism dominate traditional praises, while images of nostalgia and the verbal war characterise modern praises. Most of the images used however, imitate those used in the praises of traditional kings. There are also the izibongo of the ancestors. Such praises are related to clan praises. These are rich in images, for imagery is the essence of poetry: URadebe! uMthimkhulu! uBhungane! uMashwabada Owashwabadela inkomo nezimpondo! UMafuza afulele njengefu lemvula! (Mzolo, 1977: 190) (Radebe! Mthimkhulu! Bhungane! Mashwabada Swallower of a cow and its horns! The stripper and thatcher just like a cloud of rain!) For the purpose of this study however, only the praises of kings, chiefs, political . leaders, prominent figures, and other people in traditional and modern poetry in Zulu will be examined. As mentioned earlier, the figures of speech employed in traditional praises are characterised by images of battle prowess, especially during the Shakan era. In contrast, in modern praise poetry, there is a shift from the idea of physical war. The modern praises do recount deeds performed in the heat of battle, but only as a sentimental memory of things in the past. To a large extent the imbongi incorporates the praises of the praised one's predecessors. Albert Luthuli's izibongo are a case in point: U-u-uDlungwane kaNdaba Odlung' emanxulumeni kwaze kwasa arnanxuluma ebikelana (Gunner and Gwala, 1991: 81.) (Fe-e-erocious One, of Ndaba Who raged among the crowded kraals until dawn and the news spread through the large villages.) Thus Luthuli and Shaka share similar praises; Shaka is: UDlungwane kaNdaba! UDlungwane womBelebele, Odlung' emanxulumeni, Kwaze kwas' amanxulum' esibikelana (Nyembezi, 1958: 19.) (Ferocious one of Ndaba, Ferocious one of the Mbelebele brigade, Who raged among the crowded kraals, until dawn the huts were being turned upside-down.) King Shaka and Chief Luthuli are both known for their heroic actions, hence they share the same praises. The absorption of part of Shaka's izibongo in Luthuli's praises shows that Luthuli like Shaka, was striving to unify various nations. Like King Shaka, he died before he could complete this mission. This corpus has been broken down into five chapters so that one can look more fully at images. Chapter one focuses on the aims and scope of the study. The definitions of the images are given and other related concepts are discussed. Chapter two is concerned with the metaphor, while chapter three focuses on the simile. Chapter four discusses personification, symbolism, and hyperbole, which are dealt with concurrently. Chapter five compares the use of imagery in traditional and modern praise poetry in Zulu and features a general conclusion which states the significance of the study, restates the main idea, unifies the discussion and impresses the main points discussed in the preceding chapters.

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.

It occured to me that scholars who undertake to explore praises in Zulu have centred much analysis on praises of human beings and very little on those of domestic animals. Domestic animals are very close environmental company to any Black person in South Africa, especially to those who reside in farming areas. This study demonstrates that the domestic animal merits praise because it constitutes a kind of relative and colleague to a Black person. The first chapter gives a general layout of those to follow. What one has to note in the first chapter is the assessment of the extent to which scholars have made studies towards assessing praises of domestic animals. To be more precise, about six books have been identified containing some gleanings on the praises of domestic animals . This scarcity of documented sources for these praises together with the fact that praises of domestic animals are still mainly part of oral tradition constitute the main reason prompting this study. Chapter Two analyses hopefully in depth the social aspect of praises of domestic animals. We deduce from the numerous facts emerging from the inter-relationship between owner and animal that the main reason for the existence of the praises in question, is to forge links that bind poet and animal together. Aspects discussed in Chapter Two are, among others, the purpose of praising which examines the effect of praises on both the animals themselves and the community at large. The chapter also looks at the various poets in this field, the occasions during which domestic animals are praised, and the kind of audience anticipated when praising these animals. Though almost all the poets in this regard are wholly nonliterate, the praises they compose are nevertheless rich in literary constructions. They decorate the praises with all sorts of poetic expressions. One may even imagine that the praises of domestic animals were composed by modern learned poet who composed them by transcription and had all the skills to adopt the most impressive literary forms. Chapter Four sums up the role of praises of domestic animals on society as well as the literary richness that the praises possess. On the other hand this chapter Four is also to be taken as the summary and distillation of the previous ones. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1992.

In this dissertation, I argue that there is a pressing need in post-apartheid KwaZulu-Natal to re-assess the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century histories of the region from the perspectives of people whose ancestry was dispossessed and/or displaced in the wars that took place in that period, particularly those that elevated Shaka to dominance. I suggest that because of their retrospective manipulation by the vested interests of power politics, historical processes over the past two centuries, and in the last century in particular, have invested the figure of King Shaka and 'Zulu' ethnic identities with unitary meanings that have made them close to inescapable for most people who are considered 'Zulu'. I argue that there is, therefore, a need to recuperate the histories of the clans which were defeated by the Zulu and welded into the Zulu 'nation'. Following British-Jamaican novelist Caryl Phillips' strategy, I begin to conduct this recuperation through a process of subverting history by writing back into historical records people and events that have been written and spoken out of them. I argue that literary texts, izibongo ('personal' praises) and izithakazelo (clan praises) in this case, offer a useful starting point in recovering the suppressed or marginalised histories of some of the once-significant clans in the region. In the three chapters of this dissertation, I examine the izibongo of three late eighteenth-/early nineteenth-century amakhosi (kings) in the present KwaZulu-Natal region, Shaka kaSenzangakhona of the Zulu clan, Phungashe kaNgwane of the Buthelezi and Zwide kaLanga of the Ndwandwe. In the first chapter, I read Shaka's izibongo as an instance of empire-building discourse in which I trace the belittling representations granted Phungashe and Zwide. In the second and third chapters, I set Phungashe's and Zwide's izibongo, respectively, as well as the histories carried in and alluded to by these texts, and the clans' izithakazelo, alongside Shaka's and examine the extent to which the two amakhosi's izibongo talk back to Shaka's imperialism. I also follow the later histories of the two amakhosi's clans to determine which individuals became prominent in the Zulu kingdom under Shaka and after, as well as point to the revisions of the past that are being conducted in the present by people of the two clans. The versions of the izibongo I study and the hypotheses of history I present are drawn from sources that include the James Stuart Archive, A.T. Bryant, and oral historical accounts from several people I interviewed. Given the present imperatives in South Africa of bringing justice to the various peoples who were dispossessed under colonial and apartheid domination, I argue that recuperating the histories of the clans that were conquered by the Zulu under Shaka's leadership problematises questions of justice in KwaZulu-Natal: if it is legitimate to claim reparation for colonialism and apartheid, then the Zulu kingdom should be viewed under the same spotlight because of the similar suffering it visited on many inhabitants of the region. In that way, we can transcend divisive colonial, apartheid and Zulu nationalist histories that continue to have strong, often negative, effects on the crossing of identity boundaries constructed under those systems of domination. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

In this thesis I argue that recently recorded izibongo must be read as literary texts that articulate responses to the multiple forces of constraint and possibility at the urban-rural interface. I argue that when scholars transcribe and translate performance texts they release them into new contexts of reception, and that the mediation processes involved in this recontextualisation become an important part of the way in which the texts make meaning for their new 'audiences'. As such, it is imperative that analysis of print-mediated izibongo should take into account both the performance text and context as well as the intervention of literate intermediaries in the creation of a print text. I argue for maintaining a dialectic between performance textuality, which shapes the text as it is recited to a participating audience, and the textuality of transcription. We have thus to keep in mind at least two sets of receivers - those present at, and part of, the construction of the praise poem in performance, and the literate receiver, reading from a new moment and, often, a different social and cultural space. I argue that the scholar in English Studies has an important contribution to make to the recording and the study of izibongo as literary and performance texts. S/he must devise ways in which processes of translation and transcription can more adequately and creatively insist on performance textuality. The English Studies scholar must also read and write about izibongo as texts that have complex meanings and that speak to their changing contexts of reception. Such analysis necessitates attention to individual texts and requires of the critic a willingness to revise her/his learned ways of reading. There is a need in oral literary studies to challenge print-influenced academic discourses in order to make these theories more receptive to the actual ways in which many people make sense of their lives through creative expression. In this thesis I consider the ways in which contemporary postcolonial and poststructural theory might more adequately listen to what postcolonial people say about themselves and others. In this, I argue for an academic approach that privileges cultural interdiscursivity, interdisciplinary co-operation, and an attitude of respect for the different ways in which forms like izibongo construct meaning. This thesis thus has a dual focus: it examines how recently recorded praise poems address the problem of reconstructing identity at the urban-rural interface, while considering the ways in which they speak to the uncertain identity of the scholar who tries to read them. Drawn from a variety of sources, the poems comprise both official and popular praises to suggest not only the variety of the form, but also the ways in which individual and group identities speak to each other across texts. Given the importance of self-expression at the heart of the form of izibongo, I argue that scholars in English Studies must resist the possibility, both in transcription and in criticism, of eliding the individual subjects involved in mediating identity and textuality. I also suggest that English Studies has a duty to write the oral back into institutionally defined literary histories by considering how our writing and ways of reading can better accommodate oral textuality. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

This thesis sets out to examine the role of the poems in Echo (a supplement to the Natal Witness) that were published between 1986 and 1994. I will be exploring these poems in the light of the political conflict that was taking place between Inkatha, on the one hand, and the United Democratic Front/Congress ofSouth African Trade Unions (UDF/COSATU), and later on the African National Congress (ANC), on the other. The introductory chapter will deal with the scope ofmy research. It will outline what it is that I will be researching and the direction of my research. I will also begin to introduce some of the key theoretical assumptions around izibongo (praise poetry) and some of its key definitions as a dominant tradition that influenced some of the Echo poets. Chapter Two will deal with the history of the Echo Poetry Corner itself. It looks at its early beginnings, who conceived the idea and why, and what the editorial policy of this page was. It will also shed some light on how complex issues, such as the originality and authenticity of the poems, were dealt with. The third chapter deals with the background to the political conflict in the Natal Midlands and in Pietermaritzburg in particular. It will be an analysis of violence, its origins and its interpretations, and will show how violence affected the people and the poets around Pietermaritzburg. In Chapter Four I will begin to critically analyse the poems, looking at various themes that were expressed in the poems. I will also define the role that these poems played in the political conflict, looking at whether they engaged with the reality of the time or tried to escape it. In conclusion, Chapter Five deals with my findings on the role that the Echo poems played during the political conflict. It will also address the issue of the role of the poet or poetry in a violent society. The positive role of poetry during war will also be dealt with. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

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.