Musho!
Musho!: Zulu Popular Praises
Liz Gunner
Mafika Gwala
Copyright Date: 1991
Published by: Michigan State University Press
Pages: 250
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/j.ctt7ztdtv
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Musho!
Book Description:

InMusho! Zulu Popular PraisesElizabeth Gunner, an authority on Zulu literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and Mafika Gwala, a South African teacher and poet, have translated, transcribed, and annotated a wide variety of Zulu izibongo poetry. In so doing, they have revealed the incredible breadth of this traditional genre, which is usually equated with nineteenth-century epic traditions that celebrate the deeds of Shaka and the successor kings of his Zulu monarchy.

Musho!, with its extensive historical introduction, and literary commentary on Zulu poetry, is a major contribution to the field.

eISBN: 978-0-87013-922-2
Subjects: Language & Literature
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. [i]-[iv])
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. [v]-[viii])
  3. INTRODUCTION: IZIBONGO, POWER AND THE POPULAR VOICE
    INTRODUCTION: IZIBONGO, POWER AND THE POPULAR VOICE (pp. 1-52)
    Liz Gunner and Mafika Gwala

    Izibongo is a plural noun which can be translated as “praises”, “praise names” or “praise poems”. When viewed collectively, it can be spoken of in the singular as "praise poetry”.¹ It constitutes a genre of poetry widely used in Southern Africa by speakers of Zulu, Ndebele and Xhosa. It is also a genre related to Tswana praise poems(maboko)and Sotho praise poems(lithoko).²Yet to see izibongo as a fixed genre with fixed boundaries in the sense of western literary genres would be a mistake. In some cases as we point out later, izibongo cross genre boundaries; they also...

  4. NATIONAL FIGURES
    NATIONAL FIGURES (pp. 53-110)
  5. CHIEFS AND LINEAGE MEMBERS
    CHIEFS AND LINEAGE MEMBERS (pp. 111-156)
  6. [Illustrations]
    [Illustrations] (pp. None)
  7. LINEAGE MEMBERS
    LINEAGE MEMBERS (pp. 157-180)
  8. MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
    MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN (pp. 181-224)
  9. IZIGIYO
    IZIGIYO (pp. 225-237)
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