AFRICAN WOMEN AND MEN AS PERFORMERS OF ORAL ART: A RE-EXAMINATION OF KODIYAMALLA AND MOKOROTLO
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/1016-8427/728Abstract
This paper explores knowledge of folklore as essential to understanding the image of African women. Folklore is much closer to the African consciousness than to the consciousness of an average European. It would not be an exaggeration to mention that all African writers use elements of folklore in their writings. Carl Jung’s archetypal theory is important for honing our analysis, as it provides a theory-based structure of the study. Through archetypal theory, kodiyamalla as oral performance is examined as part of the Basotho tradition and the creativity of its women. Because the various aspects of traditional culture are so tightly interwoven, the examination of oral literature will necessarily bring in mokorotlo, which is sung by men, because the content of mokorotlo and that of kodiyamalla have much in common.
Â
References
Aikant, S.C. 2000. From colonialism to indigenism: The loss and recovery of language and literature. Ariel: A Review of International English Literature 31(1&2): 337–349.
Barber, K. 1984. Yoruba Oriki and deconstructive criticism. Research in African Literatures 15(4): 497-518.
Chivaura, V.G. 2000. The art of dialogue on male-female relationships in African culture: Implications for black writers on human development and social progress. International Journal of African Studies 6(1): 22-29.
Finnegan, R. 1977. Oral poetry: Its nature, significance and social context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Guma, S.M. 1983. The form, content and technique of traditional literature in Southern Sotho. Pretoria: Van Schaik .
Joslin, I.V. 2011. Teaching about Africa through literature, film and music. In Teaching African literature today. Edited by E.N. Emenyonu. Suffolk: James Currey, 29
Jung, C.G. 1948. The phenomenology of the spirit in fairy tales. The Archetypes and the counconscious. London: Ark Paperbacks.
Kunene, D.P. 1971. Heroic poetry of the Basotho. London: Oxford University Press.
Molapo, J.M. 2004. A Christian analytic approach of marriage through abduction among the Basotho people of Lesotho: A challenge for pastoral care ministry. Unpublished MA dissertation, University of Pretoria.
Morrison, T. 1984. Rootedness: The ancestor as foundation. In Black women writers (1950-1980). Edited by M. Evans. New York: Anchor.
Ngara, E. 1982. Stylistic criticism and the African Novel. London: Heinemann.
Ntiri, D. 2007. Africana womanism: The coming of age. In Comparative Africana theory, thought and action: A guide to Africana studies. Edited by C. Hudson-Weems. Trenton: Africa World Press, 309-318.
Propp, V. 1928. Morphology of the folk tale. Texas: University of Texas Press.
The Holy Bible. 1984. Revised Standard Vision. Cape Town: WM Collins.
Walhout, C. 1995. The end of literature: Reflections on literature and ethics (lecture notes). South Africa: North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus.
North Coast Courier. 4 July 2012. Teenage pregnancy crisis. Available: http://www.kzneducation.
gov.za (accessed 22/07/2015).
Osborne, H. 2013. India: Hundreds of brides forced into virginity testing at mass wedding. Available: m.ibtimes.co.uk (accessed 01/07/2014).
Oxford English Dictionary. 2013. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scorgie, F. 2002. Virginity testing and the politics of sexual responsibility: Implications for AIDS intervention. University of Cambridge: Carifax. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00020180220140073
Seale, L. 24 October 2011. The Star: Soweto matrons fight teen pregnancy with virginity testing.
Available: http://www.iol.co.za (accessed 19/09/2014).
South African Human Rights Commission. Harmful social and cultural practices: Virginity testing. Available: http://www.sahrc.org.za (accessed 25/03/2015).
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. 1996. Available: http:// www.gov.za (accessed
/07/2015).
The South African Health News. 1 September 2000. Virginity testing cannot prevent HIV.
Available: http://www.health-e.org.za (accessed 01/07/2015).
UNAIDS. The Gap Report. 2014. Available: http://www.unaids.org (accessed 21/07/2014).
UNESCO. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Vincent, C. 2006. Culture, health and sexuality. Virginity testing in South Africa: Re-auditioning the post colony. Department of Political and International Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691050500404225
World Health Organization. 2012. WHO Global report on teenage pregnancy. Available: http//
www.who.inf (accessed 21/07/2015).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright will be vested in Unisa Press. However, as long as you do not use the article in ways which would directly conflict with the publisher's business interests, you retain the right to use your own article (provided you acknowledge the published version of the article) as follows:
- to make further copies of all or part of the published article for your use in classroom teaching;
- to make copies of the final accepted version of the article for internal distribution within your institution, or to place it on your own or your institution's website or repository, or on a site that does not charge for access to the article, but you must arrange not to make the final accepted version of the article available to the public until 18 months after the date of acceptance;
- to reuse all or part of this material in a compilation of your own works or in a textbook of which you are the author, or as the basis for a conference presentation.
Accepted 2016-06-29
Published 2016-09-21
