The Tongue Is Fire: South African Storytellers and Apartheid PDF
Preview The Tongue Is Fire: South African Storytellers and Apartheid
The Tongue Is Fire Theshadowsofmemory.Xhosawomenatdusk. The Tongue Is Fire South African Storytellers and Apartheid Harold Scheub The University of Wisconsin Press TheUniversityofWisconsinPress 1930MonroeStreet Madison,Wisconsin 53711 3HenriettaStreet LondonWC2E8LU,England www.wisc.edu\wisconsinpress Copyright© 1996 TheBoardofRegentsoftheUniversityofWisconsinSystem Allrightsreserved 2 4 6 7 5 3 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica "Chakijana,theTrickster"isreprintedfromHaroldScheub,TheAfricanStoryteller(1990) bypermissionofKendallfHuntPublishingCompany. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Scheub,Harold. Thetongueisfire :SouthAfricanstorytellersandapartheid/ HaroldScheub. 476p. em. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-299-15090-9(cloth:aIlepaper). ISBN0-299-15094~1 (pbk.:alk.paper). 1.Storytelling-SouthAfrica. 2.Oraltradition--SouthAfrica. 3.Folklore-Politicalaspects-SouthAfrica. 4.Apartheid-SouthAfrica. 5..SouthAfrica- Sociallifeandcustoms. I.Title. GR359.S34 1996 398'.0968-dc20 96-17774 I rememberagirlfrom Soweto, ayounghighschoolgirl, an African, determinedlymarchingin thaturbanghetto inJune of1976, withagroup of fellow students,acombination in heroffear and bravado, ofdaring todo somethingthatshe thoughtherparents shouldhavedone, takingheryoung life andfiercely thrusting itforward, hercoinfor thefuture. Didshesurvivethehorrors ofthat yearofyouthfuldeath in South Africa?I was presentataglorious questfor freedom. I knewherbriefly. We spokeasI stoodwatchingonashabbystreetin Soweto, fifteen milesoutsideJohannesburg. Her namewas Thembeka, shewasa Zulu, fifteen yearsold, andI had metherbrieflyatahomein Soweto theweek before, atapoetryperformance: poetrywas oneoftheweapons in thestruggle againstapartheid. Now shewas in the streets, herlifeherweapon, determined, as shehad toldme, tomakealand worth thefulfillment ofherlife. Without suchaland, shesaid, life wasemptyand not worth theeffort. How couldsuchayoungandfragile person makesuchawesomedecisions at suchatime in herlife? In this dreadful place that racehatredhadcreated, this Soweto, homeofthree million Africans livingin squaloranddespair, this fragile tendril roseand, for asplendid moment, madethe worldshine. Who was she? What happened toherduring thosedread months when over five hundredyoungteenagers woulddie, destroyed bythe bulletsofthe stormtroopers ofapartheid? Where is shenow? That imageaffectedmydestinyas surelyas theeventsof1976affected this splendidyounggirl, who mayneverhavegrown into womanhood, whose body mayhavebeen oneofthosefallen children the world sawon thefront pagesof its newspapersat the time. This volumeis dedicated toher, toThembeka, andalloftheotherThembekas who struggledfor freedom during threehundredandfifty years ofefforts to enslave them. Yes, this isGod's place,butGodisnot here right now. He shallarriveinhis owntime, Idon't knowwhenbecausehe tells no one that. He mayarrive today, ortomorrow.... Iwatchover the homesteadwhenGodis not here. -from"TheEndlessMountain," byNongenileMasithathuZenani Contents Illustrations xiii Preface xv Note xxvii Introduction: SomeMoments, Figures, and Themes in South AfricanHistory 3 PROLOGUE FOUNDERS OF THE INHERITANCE: "LETME GO BACK" Introduction 21 Ndumiso Bilotomane,Origins ofthe Xhosa 31 The DevelopmentoftheKingdom 31 The StateoftheKingdom 43 PART 1 CULTNATING THE PAST: "THIS IS GOD'S PLACE" Introduction . 51 NongenileMasithathuZenani,"The Necessary Clown" . 61 NongenileMasithathuZenani,#The Endless Mountain" 78 Hayibo, Mityi's Stepbrother 78 Mityi, theNeglected 97 Mityi, theCreator 119 ~~~~~ ~ PART2 AMBIGUOUS PROMISE: "IT KEEPS ON HAPPENING, IT KEEPS ON HAPPENING" Introduction 149 N0ElaniGxavu,Malikophus Daughter 163 EnulyNtsobane, The DeadlyPumpkin 187 PART3 THE THREATENED DREAM: "THE LANDWAS SEIZED" Introduction 205 MdukiswaTyabashe, SoTall HeTouched theHeavens 223 ix
The list of books you might like
