University/Organization
Department of English Studies
University of South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa
Title
Circumcision and Celebratory Orality among Some Black South African Cultural Groups
Synopsis
There is no adequate research on African poetic self-praise learnt at initiation. I intend to fill this gap by probing how this aspect of folklore survives beyond the arcane circumcision period. I confine myself to the traditional role of self-praise during initiation completion celebrations. I focus in my research of such a celebratory practice on the Northern Ndebele cultural group concentrated in the Vaaltyn-Moshate area of the town of Mokopane, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.