Oral literature in Africa
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Folk literature -- Study and teaching -- Africa , Oral tradition -- Africa , Folklore and education -- Africa , Books -- Africa -- Reviews
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59355 , vital:27563 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2012.756804
- Description: I have in my possession a first edition, hard copy of Ruth Finnegan’s quintessential work, Oral Literature in Africa. It has a yellow cover, preserved by a plastic sheathe, it is a little frayed around the edges and has that old, musty library smell about it. I love and treasure this book. It is dedicated by Professor Finnegan ‘[t]o all my teachers’. Professor Finnegan is indeed one of my teachers. I properly met Ruth Finnegan at the second International Society for Oral Literature (ISOLA) conference in 1998, which I hosted at the University of Cape Town. She gave a keynote address which included reference to her seminal work and the future of oral literary studies. She has continually influenced our work as researchers following in her footsteps: Isidore Okpewho, Harold Scheub, Abiola Irele, Graham Furniss, Elizabeth Gunner, Karin Barber, Isobel Hofmeyr, John Foley, Olayibi Yai, Edgard Sienaert, Brian Street, Noverino Canonici, Mark Turin, Daniela Merolla, Jan Jansen, Jeff Opland, and many others; some younger, some older, some living, some departed, scholars influenced by this great and humble intellectual and her body of work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Folk literature -- Study and teaching -- Africa , Oral tradition -- Africa , Folklore and education -- Africa , Books -- Africa -- Reviews
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59355 , vital:27563 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2012.756804
- Description: I have in my possession a first edition, hard copy of Ruth Finnegan’s quintessential work, Oral Literature in Africa. It has a yellow cover, preserved by a plastic sheathe, it is a little frayed around the edges and has that old, musty library smell about it. I love and treasure this book. It is dedicated by Professor Finnegan ‘[t]o all my teachers’. Professor Finnegan is indeed one of my teachers. I properly met Ruth Finnegan at the second International Society for Oral Literature (ISOLA) conference in 1998, which I hosted at the University of Cape Town. She gave a keynote address which included reference to her seminal work and the future of oral literary studies. She has continually influenced our work as researchers following in her footsteps: Isidore Okpewho, Harold Scheub, Abiola Irele, Graham Furniss, Elizabeth Gunner, Karin Barber, Isobel Hofmeyr, John Foley, Olayibi Yai, Edgard Sienaert, Brian Street, Noverino Canonici, Mark Turin, Daniela Merolla, Jan Jansen, Jeff Opland, and many others; some younger, some older, some living, some departed, scholars influenced by this great and humble intellectual and her body of work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The amaXhosa ukuthwala marriage custom in fact and fiction: a contemporary critique
- Kaschula, Russell H, Huisamen, Tim, Mostert, André M, Nosilela, Bulelwa
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Huisamen, Tim , Mostert, André M , Nosilela, Bulelwa
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68344 , vital:29241 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2013.871454
- Description: publisher version , Ukuthwala is traditionally a marriage custom within the amaXhosa culture in South Africa which permits a ‘legal abduction’ of a bride-to-be. Similar customs of ‘bridal abduction’ exist, most notably in Kyrgyzstan, where it is known as ala kachuu. Research into these customs necessitates a more innovative approach to explore the impact of this social phenomenon. In this article the authors mobilise a fictional narrative to offer a backdrop for a comparative assessment of the impact of bridal ‘legal abduction’ and assess its contemporary status and role within a multicultural society which celebrates the rights of the individual while recognising the value and importance of maintaining cultural identity and traditions. Cultural dissonance has always been characteristic of modern and post-modern societies as they strive for a workable shared ethos. However, when customs such as ‘legal abduction’ (Mtuze, 1993:50) continue under the veil of cultural rights, the wider social sensibilities and perspectives can be at odds with the maintenance of such activities where these activities contradict the rights of the individual as enshrined for example in what can be seen as a liberal South African Constitution.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Huisamen, Tim , Mostert, André M , Nosilela, Bulelwa
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68344 , vital:29241 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2013.871454
- Description: publisher version , Ukuthwala is traditionally a marriage custom within the amaXhosa culture in South Africa which permits a ‘legal abduction’ of a bride-to-be. Similar customs of ‘bridal abduction’ exist, most notably in Kyrgyzstan, where it is known as ala kachuu. Research into these customs necessitates a more innovative approach to explore the impact of this social phenomenon. In this article the authors mobilise a fictional narrative to offer a backdrop for a comparative assessment of the impact of bridal ‘legal abduction’ and assess its contemporary status and role within a multicultural society which celebrates the rights of the individual while recognising the value and importance of maintaining cultural identity and traditions. Cultural dissonance has always been characteristic of modern and post-modern societies as they strive for a workable shared ethos. However, when customs such as ‘legal abduction’ (Mtuze, 1993:50) continue under the veil of cultural rights, the wider social sensibilities and perspectives can be at odds with the maintenance of such activities where these activities contradict the rights of the individual as enshrined for example in what can be seen as a liberal South African Constitution.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
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