The aim of this study was to investigate and report on female initiation among the
Basotho of the rural eastern Free State and Lesotho. Triangulating the data gleaned with
multiple methods and techniques (participant observation, the use of key informants, in-
depth interviews, life histories), a descriptive account of the initiation process was
possible. With the empirical evidence, a number of issues could be addressed. Firstly,
the lacuna in the existing Southern African ethnographic literature concerning initiation,
particularly that of girls is filled. Secondly, applying Van Gennepâs (1909) tripartite
scheme for rites of passage, a theoretical framework, unlike abstaining only with a
detailed ethnographic description, on the one hand was used particularly in the
evaluation and analysis of the data, and on the other offered an opportunity to verify the
applicability of said scheme. Thirdly, not only did this study attempt to answer the
question of the occurrence of female circumcision among the Basotho, it argues that the
existing literature does not clearly distinguish between the two actions âto initiateâ and âto
circumciseâ, thereby placing their credibility in question.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-08102007-142005 |
| Date | 10 August 2007 |
| Creators | du Plooy, Shirley |
| Contributors | Prof HC Janse van Rensburg, Prof PA Erasmus |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-08102007-142005/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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