text, context and texture in tsonga oral studies

68 S.A.Jnl. Folklore Studies 1996 (7)

TEXT, CONTEXT AND TEXTURE IN TSONGA ORAL STUDIES

Mary C BillDepartment of African Languages, University of Witwatersrand, PO WITS 2050, South Africa

This essay begins by describing the development of scientific disciplines in general, and of oral studies in particular. The pioneering work of Henri-Alexandre Junod in laying the foundation stone for studies of the oral genres of the Tsonga languages is outlined The concepts 'text', 'context' and 'texture' as these refer to performance studies are then defined. Discussion on the place and importance of the concepts within the history of scholarly woric in the field of Tsonga oral studies completes the chapter. An annotated chronological bibliography is added as an appendix.

L'&iifice de la science s'eleve par le concours de tous (The building up of science is achieved by the combined efforts of all.) - Henri-Alexandre Junod Grammaire Ronga, 1896.

INTRODUCTION

In any scientific discipline, certain schools of thought emerge at a certain time. They lead to penetrating investigations of areas of knowledge which previously may have been considered unimportant, or had been neglected through time, or may not even have been accessible to scholars for purely technical reasons. Varying approaches to a subject, or various trends in scientific endeavour may predominate during a given period of time, or within a given geographical area. For instance, the theories of the solar mythologists, and the controversies which their ideas evoked, characterised the latter part of the 19th century in much of western Europe, but not in the Scandinavian countries, where during roughly the same period, the diffiisionist theories of the historico-geographical school held sway. Some approaches are associated with the name of one particular scholar. For example, structuralist studies comprising analyses of the formal features of oral narratives, and which focus on functions performed by different characters within the narratives, and the sequencing of these functions, are known as Proppiari after Vladimir Propp, the Russian folklorist who was the first to describe these elements in Russian fairy tales. It is true also that one person's theories or approaches to a subject, often have an appeal and an immediacy which attract other scholars so that over a certain period, the majority of researchers seem to be completing post-graduate research and publications within one particular perspective.

There is a sense in which one approach must logically, almost inevitably, follow another. The next step in the process of the 'building up of science’ is often predicted by previous work, and it requires only that someone, somewhere, should apply effort in a particular direction for that step to be made. Theories and ideas and the application of these to available or new data thus happen when 'their time has come'. Generally speaking, analytical studies follow on descriptive studies, which themselves follow on the work of collection, collation, and classification. This can be illustrated by the example of the massive work of Aame and Thompson which describes and arranges in a vast taxonomy the tale-types and the motifs of oral narratives. However, this would have been impossible without the many published collections of folktales all over Europe and over

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S.A.Jnl. Folklore Studies 1996 (7) 69

many centuries. It matters but little that collectors were inspired by what Jackson (1987:37-39) has called a 'salvage folklore* mentality, and that they went about their task rather like taxidermists, gathering specimens and preserving them on the shelves of their literary museums. What does matter is that these collections provided the raw data for the on-going work of description and analysis.

In southern African oral studies at the present time, one can easily discern a 'Proppian school' characterised by formal analyses of folktales; there is also an identifiable group of researchers working in the structural and linguistic analyses of the more informal genres of proverbs and riddles; there are scholars following the structuralist approach of Levi-Strauss, exploring the psychological meanings revealed by the deep structures of folktales; there are the beginnings of performance studies, based on description and analysis of the event of performance in its totality. What appears to be still lacking is the ethnolinguistic emphasis displayed by scholars in Francophone Africa, who seek to understand the deeper meaning of folktales which can be revealed through a reading of the narrative within the socio-cultural and linguistic setting of the people whose tales they are. None of these approaches would be possible without the efforts of generations of scholars, many of whom were not folklorists, except in the widest understanding of the term. These early collectors were mainly 19th-century explorers, traders, settlers, missionaries and colonial administrators. It has become fashionable in revisionist circles to deride their efforts, and even the persons themselves, as being the fore-runners of apartheid ideology. It is obvious, however, that without their dedication in what were often appalling conditions of climate, health, hostility and isolation, and without the convenience and efficiency of the technical means available today, there would, quite simply, be nothing much for modem folklorists to work on.

Secondly, there is also an inter-relationship between approaches, the overall development of related scientific studies and the actual means available for such studies. Levi-Strauss, for instance, drew many insights from the phonemic analyses of the Prague School of linguistics for his work in the understanding of myths, which is marked by the use of concepts like 'features', 'binary oppositions' and 'deep' and 'surface structure'. Likewise, performance studies would be impossible without the astonishing technical developments flowing from the electronic revolution.

Thirdly, progression through thesis-antithesis-synthesis, or, to use Popperian language, through successive 'scientific revolutions', and/or through paradigm shifts, is a constant theme running through the history of any discipline. Consider for instance the question of'collective authorship' versus 'individual creativity'. Many claims were made early on in the history of Southern African oral studies about oral transmission from generation to generation of fixed texts, presumed to have been the product of some ancestral group of the 'folk' whose 'lore' it is - their names are by now, forgotten. Callaway, discussing Zulu traditions, made a hypothesis, interpreted by Junod, to the effect that 'our tribes have passed through a stage of greater literary production than now apparent' (Junod 1913:202). This implies that the present manifestations of traditional literature are but degenerate oral copies of some original oral text, distorted through the process of oral transmission, and blurred through faulty memorization. Contrasted with this thesis, is the antithesis that oral production is entirely characterised by individual creativity, which may, to a lesser or greater extent, draw freely upon traditional motifs, formulae, or core-cliches and core-images, to use the terminology of Scheub. The truth, or synthesis, probably lies between these two poles, and is obviously related to the genre in question - some genres are more 'fixed'

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and must be memorized, while others are 'free' and the performer/narrator has more liberty to be creative during the performance of an instantiation of the genre. Even though a narrator may claim that her story is 'exactly as I heard it told by my granny1, the evidence clearly shows that both diachronically and synchronically, each version is unique - yet, the story is recognisably the 'same1.

All the above remarks should not be read to imply that science only grows or develops along these lines. The magic 'Aha!' moment, the fortuitous discovery of unexpected new (or old) factual data, the flash of new insight, the unforeseen movement of an emergent genre in an unexpected direction, the continual dynamic interface between literature and culture, and between language and society - all of these can give new impetus to the study of verbal art. The new is continuously being born out of the old, the new shoots of growth and development in oral tradition are but signs of life in the old roots. And, as Junod so rightly claimed, it is the co-operative work of many scholars which contributes to the building up of science in general, and of oral studies in particular.

THE PIONEER OF TSONGA ORAL STUDIES

Within the field of Tsonga oral studies, the outstanding figure among all the rest is that of the Swiss protestant pastor, Henri-Alexandre Junod (1863-1934). He worked among the scattered groups of African people speaking what he called the Thonga language, from the Zoutpansberg mountains of the northern Transvaal to the eastern coast of what was then Portuguese East Africa. He arrived in Lourenfo Marques in July 1889, and spent four periods of missionary service in Africa. From 1889 to 1896, he was in charge of the mission-run school for the training of evangelists at Rikatla in southern Mozambique. During his first leave in Switzerland (1896-99), he oversaw the publication of his Grammaire Ronga (1896); Les Chants et les Contes des Ba- Ronga de la Baie de Delagoa (1897); and his first major ethnographic work, Les Ba-Ronga (1898); at the same time, he was working on the translation of the Bible into Ronga. On his return to Africa, in 1899, he was sent to the Swiss Mission station of Shiluvane, near present-day Tzaneen, to start another school for the training of evangelists there. After a further period of leave in Switzerland (1903-4), he was sent back to Rikatla, with the brief of setting up a school for the training of ministers. During the time of his activity, he lost both his wives (1901 and 1917) and three of their children. Junod himself died in Switzerland, but his ashes are buried in Rikatla near Maputo. His life was inspired by his sense of calling to bring the Christian Gospel of love, o f knowledge and of healing to this comer of Africa. From the perspective of the late 20th century, and viewed for instance from a Marxist perspective, his work can, and has been criticised (see Harries 1981,1988,1989). Be this as it may, Junod saw reality from his perspective, conditioned as he was by his upbringing, his education and his vision as a devout reformed protestant. He learned to love and understand the Tsonga people through living his life with them, and to share their vision of nature, society and culture. To a large extent, Tsonga oral studies began with him, since the interests of the Portuguese adminstration, established along the eastern African coast from the 16th century, lay elsewhere. Junod's collections of oral narratives, songs, riddles and proverbs, gathered throughout his ministry, and published mostly within the context of ethnographic descriptions of the Tsonga people, provide material which is invaluable for later generations of oral scholars. His Tsonga collections were complemented by subsequent contributions by Henri Berthoud, Dora Earthy, Henri-Phillipe Junod (son of Henri-Alexandre), Alexandre Jaques, Daniel Marolen, Doris Beuchat, Cornelius Marivate, Isaac Mathumba and the present author. There is far less material available for the other Tsonga languages, but small

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collections by H. Bishop, Aaron Mukhombo and E. Mucambe have been published in Ronga and Tshwa.

TEXT, CONTEXT AND TEXTURE

The title of the present brief exploration of Tsonga oral studies may be mistakenly read as conveying the idea that a historical development from textual, to contextual, to textural studies, is implied. (The reader is referred to the annotated chronological bibliography appendixed to this article.) Some of the earliest works are indeed textual, being simple collections, without any commentary, and often not even in one of the Tsonga languages. Today, however, such collections are still being published. The targeted readership of the early collections was the fellow-missionary, the anthropologist, the historian, the geographer of the late 19th century. But today, the reading audience is the Tsonga school-going child, who is now being introduced to what the educational authorities call literary culture' - by which is to be understood 'transcriptions of oral texts'. On the other hand, textural concerns, by which is meant the aspects of performance observable during the performance event, but invisible to the reader of the transcribed text, were not ignored by the early collectors, and certainly not by Junod. In his first major ethnographic work (Junod 1897), which describes the texts, contexts and textures of Ronga songs and folktales from the Delagoa Bay, Junod outlines the performance features which give to the traditions their 'plasticity, their malleability' (Junod 1897:75; my translation). These are

- elements referring to the circumstances and localities in which the tales are told;- mention in the text of the main districts of the Ronga area, and of the names of local Ronga

chiefs;- comparison between a character in the tale and a well-known local personality, to give, for

instance, an idea of the character's size and age;- the inclusion of objects which the ancestors would not have known, like money, clothes and

perfumes.However, Junod claims that these additions or transformations are completely external to the story, or plot, which is, as the African narrators themselves confirm, of great antiquity. He carries on to describe some of the narrative techniques used which include

- the regrouping of traditional elements;- identical functions (in the Proppian sense) being carried out by different characters in

different tales;- the rules of composition, which include repetition and the singing of songs within the

narrative;- onomatopoeic expressions, the use of body movements, expressive facial movements, and

modulated intonation (op. cit.:76-78).

By the time Junod's next major work, Les BaRonga (1898), was published, his interest had moved towards comparisons between the traditions of the Tsonga and those of the neighbouring Zulu and South Sotho speakers. He concludes that this folklore 'belongs to the whole (African) race and not to certain particular tribes' (Junod 1898:278). For him, the Ronga folklore represents a form 'transitional between that of the Zambezi region and that of the Zulus' (op. cit.:279). The first edition of his next major work was a revised and enlarged version of Les BaRonga, written in English, and entitled The Life of a South African Tribe (1912 Vol. I; 1913 Vol. II). Here Junod

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returns to a consideration of composition in performance. He bases his conclusions on his, by then, vast collection of tales, and he includes in his description the following features:

the different versions of the 'same' tale, i.e. there is no single, 'correct' version; differing performance styles.

According to the 1912/13 work, the tales are

examples of the language as spoken by so and so in such and such a district, and therefore have a linguistic value, just as any report or address they may make or deliver. But they are by no means stereotyped texts, transmitted as such from the olden times (1913:199)

And, most importantly, says Junod,

some sentences also, especially when they are quotations, bear the same character and are reproduced by different narrators under an identical form ... I have heard this sentence repeated in almost exactly the same terms by two Thonga, one from Khosen, the other from Rikatla (ibid.).

The sentence to which Junod refers is a remark made by a small toad in a tale, as he places his eggs on the road 'Let the passer-by pass. If he crushes them, let him crush them. If he spares them, let him spare them.' But, Junod concludes, 'these fixed elements are rare, and as a rule, Natives change the words with the greatest freedom' (ibid.). One could ask if Junod had perhaps recognized in these 'fixed elements' a glimpse of the formulae claimed to characterise oral narratives? He concludes that the tales are still a plastic matter unconsciously undergoing constant and extensive modifications in the hands of the story-tellers ... This production is essentially collective: tales are not created on all sides, by individual authors; but they are modified, altered and enriched, as they are transmitted from one person to another, from one tribe to another, from one race to another, to such an extent that new types, new combinations, are adopted and a true development takes place (1913:202).

Junod's insights, nearly 100 years old, are precisely the concerns of those who today pride themselves on being at the forefront of the latest 'revolution' in oral studies, viz. the performance approach. It would be important at this point to clearly define the concepts 'text', 'context' and 'texture' as they are used in this and in other recent works in southern African oral studies.

TEXT can be used to refer both to genres and to the language of a specific instantiation of a genre which is being described or analysed. In this sense, it provides an answer to the question 'What is oral literature?' One answer to the question might be that oral literature consists of folktales, praise poetry, riddles, proverbs - and these are genres, each of which has its own forms and features. A 'textual' study may therefore be a study of a genre. It is with this meaning of the term that collections consisting only of transcriptions of the oral genres of a language, even if only in a Europhone language, or of examples with translations to another language, with or without annotation and commentary, are here called 'textual' studies. However, 'text' can be understood as that oral language which makes up the genre. The language of a folktale, a genealogy, a proverb, a praise poem can be the focus o f study. The study may be comparative, descriptive, or analytical, and it may have a further emphasis on syntax, morphology, phonology, prosody or stylistics - such studies are also 'textual' studies. ,

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There is a sense in which any study of oral literature is textual, since the language of the text is presented in some form or other, even if only in translation. These are, in fact, the least useful textual studies, since not only the original version but also its stylistic features have disappeared. They are useful to later generations of oral scholars only in so far as content is concerned. The 'best' text would be one consisting of a transcription of the oral text, together with translation, annotation and any other commentary deemed appropriate.

The Tsonga terms for the indigenous genres are mentioned at this point for reference:

1. Folktale(s) - ntsheketo (s)/mintsheketo (pi); nkaringana (s)/minkaringana (pi); nsungu (s)/minsungu (pi). All of these being Tsonga terms, but the third set is only used in Mocambican Tsonga;

karingani (s)/tikaringani (pi) Tshwa;

xihitana (s)/swihitana (pi) Ronga.

2. Personal praises - xithopo (s)/swithopo (pi) Tsonga and Ronga;

Clan praise poem - xiphato (s)/swiphato (pi) Tsonga and Ronga.

3. Proverb(s) - xivuriso (s)/swivuriso (pi) Tsonga and Ronga;

xihlaya (s)/swihlaya (pi) Ronga only.

4. Riddle(s) - xitekatekisana (s)/switekatekisana (pi) Tsonga and Ronga;

xitekatekana (s)/switekatekana (pi) Mocambican Tsonga;

tekatekani (s)/titekatekani (pi) Tshwa;

mhumhana (s), used to refer to the game which is part of the riddling session, seems to be an archaic word, used by Ronga speakers (see Beuchat 1958).

CONTEXT is used to refer to any work which describes or analyses the socio-cultural setting within which the genre is used as communicative means; also works which describe the temporal and spatial setting of performance, or which describe the roles of performer(s) and audience. Put another way, contextual statements answer the questions dealing with the when? where? and who? of the performance of oral genres. Another question which finds its answer in contextual studies is the why? of oral performance. The reasons given by the language speakers concerning the action of performance, provide a broader socio-cultural framework for contextual studies. Scholars working in this area might well describe themselves as 'functionalists', although we note that for Dundes, function is distinct from context (Dundes 1980:23-4). Functionalist studies seek to explore the function of the genre within a given socio-cultural setting, be it entertainment, education, legitimization of political power, upholding of culturally acceptable norms of behaviour and so on. At an even deeper level, however, answers to the question why? lead us into the realm of aesthetics, symbolism, psychology, and the belief system of the group. While ordinary members

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of the society can provide superficial answers to the (why?) question, usually only the specialist- the priest, the healer, the diviner - will be able to verbalise answers at a deeper semantic level. Scholars doing contextual studies may also consider aspects like the power, prestige and privilege afforded to the performer because of performance; they may seek to explore the emergent nature of the performance, that is, its ability to comment on or to effect change within society. Put in another way, oral literature is more than the mirror of a society's values and norms, it may reveal not only where the society finds its meaning, but what its ideals and fears are.

TEXTURE as originally defined by Dundes refers to language usage, it is

... the specific phonemes and morphemes employed...textural features are linguistic features...rhyme and alliteration...stress, pitch, juncture, tone and onomatapoeia...the study of texture in folklore is basically the study of language. (Dundes 1980:22,23)

Dundes' focus was an answer to the question How is language used?', and a description of linguistic texture results. However, in recent oral studies in southern Africa (Opland 1983, Bill 1989b), 'texture' is used more broadly to mean those 'non-verbal aspects audible and visible to audiences'; textual' is taken to refer to 'aspects revealed by a study of the words', and 'contextual' considerations are 'social aspects concerning the situation of the performance' (Opland 1983:239; Bill 1989b:78).

Scholars working in the textural area defined in this way, are attempting to capture the ephemeral, the evanescent, the uniqueness of the performance of an oral genre as an artistic event and artistic action. They try to describe verbally the non-verbal, the paralinguistic, the gestural, the facial and the kinetic features of performance. The primary text which is described and analysed is usually a visual recording (or, failing this, an audio recording) of the performance. They will describe the use of space by performer and audience, the type of clothing worn and the objects carried or used during performance. They may also explore the aesthetics of performance, the stylistics of performance, or the 'ground rules' (see Bauman 1975) of performance, that is, the set of mutual expectancies which governs the behaviour of both performer and audience. This set is obviously both culture and genre specific. Should either of the participants move beyond these expected patterns of behaviour, then the performance will, at the least, not be appreciated, or even perhaps, suspended by the performer, or rejected by the audience. Examples of such occurrences are when a performer stops narrating a tale in order to teach the audience the words and melody of a song, so that the texture of the performance may be enhanced; or when a narrator pauses to remind the audience to respond with a fixed phrase, or when members of the audience start to drift away because the performance is not well received. The audience as the interpretive community evaluates the performance, just as the performer evaluates the audience's reaction and responds to it appropriately.

Text, context and texture are all essential aspects of oral literature and of orality. As Dundes emphasised, 'it is unlikely that a genre of folklore could be defined on the basis of just one of these' (Dundes 1980:22).

TEXT, CONTEXT AND TEXTURE AS REFLECTED IN TSONGA ORAL STUDIES

How are these three essential features represented in the attached annotated bibliography of Tsonga oral studies? It will be noted that the bibliography includes such studies in Ronga and

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Tshwa, the 'sister' languages of Tsonga, as could be found, besides publications focussing on Tsonga as spoken in South Africa. In fact, the early publications of Junod refer to Ronga and Tshwa as dialects of Thonga (Tsonga in the standardised orthography) and it was only in 1949 that finality was reached on the linguistic status of these as languages (see the Introduction to Bill 1983, Harries 1988, for more details).

Certain striking features emerge in an examination of the bibliography entries. Firstly, there has been an emphasis on textual collections throughout the period of 100 years which is covered. Collections of transcribed oral material, either in a Europhone language or in a Tsonga language, predominate. Textual studies, being mainly collections with some contextual description are the next most frequent category, while analytical works on texts, apart from Junod's comparative study of 1924, are a more recent phenomenon. A welcome development is the slowly growing number of Tsonga-speaking scholars contributing to oral studies in Tsonga. Secondly, contextual studies, largely from an ethnographic perspective, were characteristic of the the period 1890-1960. Finally, textural studies, apart from those aspects mentioned in Junod's works, are largely a feature of the last two decades, with the notable exceptions being the works of Marolen (1954 and 1966) and Beuchat (1958).

Generic coverage is surprisingly unequal. Oral narratives in the folktale genre receive the most attention, followed by proverbs and songs, with riddles and praise names being relatively neglected, apart from the collections of Junod and Jaques (1936) and Jaques (1938). Proverbs have recently been described within their socio-cultural context by Mathumba (1988). The absence of praise poetry as a topic of investigation is possibly the most surprising aspect of the bibliography, considering the large number of such studies in the neighbouring languages of the Nguni and Sotho groups. Apart from mention of a few praise poetry performances in Junod (1898:151-2; 1912:398), the praise poem as object of study has received minimal attention. It would appear that the development of clan praises into long praise poems was a result of the imperialistic thrust of the Nguni leader Soshangane Manukosi into the area of Portuguese East Africa in the 1820's, and the subsequent establishment of the KwaGasa Empire which lasted until the defeat of Soshangane's grandson, Ngungunyane, by the Portuguese, in 1895. (More details can be found in Bill 1991a.) In modem times, oration of pre-composed praise poetry at specific occasions may have as the object of praise the opening of parliament, the return of the Chief Minister from an overseas visit, the installation of a church minister, and many other local and topical events, as focus. Modem Tsonga praise poets regularly compose such praise poetry, and the emergent nature of the genre is worthy of further study.

The question of fixed versus free texts, and of memorised versus remembered texts was briefly mentioned above. Marolen is the only Tsonga author to have mentioned this aspect of performance, in the introduction to his collection of oral narratives (1966). His views contradict those of Junod. For Marolen, the texts of the folktales are memorized, and the 'good' narrator is not supposed to display any creative skills at all. In fact, mutsheketi wa Xitsonga u fanele ku landzelela hi vurhonwana nongoloko wa marito hinkwawo ya ntsheketo; i ku hoxa ku hlaya ntsheketo hi ndlela leyi mutsheketi a anakanyaka kumbe ku tsundzuka ntsheketo hakona. Ntsheketo wu fanele wu hlayiwa wu nga hundzuluxiwi ni kutsongo hi wona nawu wakona. (Marolen, 1966:16) (the Tsonga narrator must follow with great care the sequence of all the words of the tale; it is a mistake to tell the tale in any way which the narrator thinks of, or in any way she remembers it. The tale must be told without the slightest change this is its

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law.)

Marivate's 1974 collection of tales about the python doctor, or the countless versions of tales about the children of Nyabangakhulu, the cannibal, have adequately disproved such a prescriptive conclusion. Riddles, personal praise names and clan praises are also fixed in form. The memorized personal and clan praises are transmitted as formulaic expressions of social respect and praise (see Marivate 1978). Proverbs, although traditionally conceived as being fixed, are more syntactically sensitive to the surrounding discourse, and certainly respond semantically to their context.

CONCLUSION

This brief overview of Tsonga oral studies has revealed several essential features of the discipline which pertain to its growth and development within one language group in Southern Africa. Although the Tsonga speakers are often considered as a minority within the South African context, through tracing this development within the wider Southern African context, it has been possible to show not only historical trends, but also changes within the discipline. There are still many gaps in the investigation of oral genres in Tsonga, and much work remains to be done so that an ethnography of speaking, both of the performed and the non-performed genres may be built up. The overview, through a consideration of text, context and texture, has highlighted not only the enduring features which characterise oral traditions, but also changes within these traditions.

REFERENCES

* Only works referred to, which are not included in the attached chronological bibliography, are indicated below. Bauman R. 1975. Verbal art as performance. American Anthropologist 77.Dundes A. 1980. Text, context and texture. Interpreting Folklore. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Harries P. 1981. The anthropologist as historian and liberal: H-A. Junod and the Thonga. Journal of Southern African Studies 8.1.Harries P. 1988. The roots of ethnicity: discourse and the politics of language construction in South-east Africa. African Affairs 346.Harries P. 1989. Exclusion, classification and internal colonialism: the emergence of ethnicity among the Tsonga-speakers of South Africa. In: Vail, L. (ed) The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa. London: James Currey. Jackson B. 1987. Fieldwork. Urbana, Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Opland J. 1983. Xhosa Oral Poetry: Aspects of a South African Tradition. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.

Addendum

An annotated chronological bibliography of Tsonga Oral StudiesJacottet,E. 1895. Contes du pays de Gaza. Revue des Traditions Populaires. Tome XI.7:377-392 and XI.8.463-476.

- nine folktales, in French, the originals being in the dialect of Mocambican Tsonga spoken near Magude. Junod, H-A. 1896a. Grammaire Ronga. Lausanne: Georges Bridel. 218pp.

- plus a conversation manual and dictionary in Portuguese, Ronga, French and English. The appendix is made up of four folktales in Ronga, or 'Djonga', with parallel French translations.Junod, H-A. 1896b. La tribu et la langue Thonga avec quelques echantillons du folklore Thonga. Lausanne: Georges Bridel. 40pp.

- a facsimile reproduction of the ethnographic introduction and the four folktales in Junod 1896a.Junod, H-A. 1897. Les chants et les contes des Baronga de la baie de Delagoa. Lausanne: Georges Bridel. 273pp.

- contains 24 folktales and many short songs, in French.Junod, H-A. 1898a Les Baronga. published as the Bulletin de la Societe Neuchateloise de Geographic. Tome X. 500pp.

- an ethnographic description, containing in the Fifth Part a collection of 'enigmas' (proverbs and riddles), songs and tales, in Ronga, with French translation.

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Junod, H-A. 1898b. Nouveaux contes Ronga. Neuchatel: Paul Attinger. 79pp.- a facsimile reproduction of the tales in Junod 1898a.

Junod, H-A. 1904. Zili. Journal of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science III.- one T songa folktale.

Junod, H-A. 1912/1913. The Life of a South African Tribe. First edition; Vol I (1912), Vol II (1913). Neuchatel: Attinger Fr&res.

- the English translation, plus some revisions and additional material, of Junod 1898a. In Vol II, the Fifth Part contains ethnographic description and transcriptions of Thonga proverbs, riddles, songs and folktales.Quintao, J.L. 1917. Gramatica de Xironga (Landim). First edition. Lisbon: Centro Typografico Colonial.

- a Ronga grammar, explained in Portuguese, which contains texts of Ronga folktales with Portuguese translations. Farinha, A.L. 1946?. Elementos de Gramatica Landina (Shironga). Lisbon: Typografia do Comercio.

- includes the texts of Ronga folktales with Portuguese translations. The first edition was probably around the same time as Quintao (1917).Earthy, D. 1920-30. Unpublished collection of 60 tales from the Lenge area (lying between the eastern bank of the Limpopo River and the Indian Ocean). The tales are in Ronga, Mofambican Tsonga, Tshwa and Chopi, with parallel English translation. (In the collection of M.C. Bill).Bishop, H.L. 1922. A selection of Sironga folklore. South African Journal of Science. 19:383-400.

- a collection of 6 animal tales in Ronga.Bishop, H.L. ibid. :401-415. A selection of Sironga proverbs.

- a collection of 94 Ronga proverbs with textual explanation in English.Junod, H-A. 1924. La gendse des contes africains. Folklore LXXXV. IV:324-345.

- a comparative textual description of three versions of the same Ronga folktale, collected in three different places, over a period of 25 years; texts and analyses in French.Junod, H-A. 1927. The Life of a South African Tribe. Second edition. Vols I and II. London: MacMillan.

- revised and enlarged edition of Junod 1912/1913.Berthoud, H. 1929. Thonga-Marchen aus Transvaal. Zeitschrift fur Eingeborenen Sprachen XX:241-256.

- six Thonga folktales, with parallel German translations.Berthoud, H. 1930. Weitere Thonga-Marchen. Zeitschrift fur Eingeborenen Sprachen XL54-74 and 122-158.

- 12 Thonga folktales, with parallerl German translations.Berthoud, H. 1931. Ein Thonga-Marchen. Zeitschrift fur Eingeborenen Sprachen XII: 114-120.

- one Thonga folktale, with parallel German translation. All Berthoud's tales were collected between 1903 and 1904, and the posthumous translation and publication were the work of NJ van Warmelo.Junod, H-P. 1931. Quelques proverbes Thonga. Published as Actualites Missionnaires No. 10. Lausanne: Mission Suisse dans l’Afrique du Sud. 20pp.

- 67 Tsonga proverbs, translated into and explained in French. H-P Junod was the son of H-A Junod.Earthy, D. 1933. Valenge Women. London: Frank Cass, facsimile reproduction, 1968.

- an ethnographic description of the life of the Lenge women; Chapter 16 contains six folktales, in English, with a selection of 'double engimas' or 'proverbs' which are more properly described as riddles. The 'old Kilenge' language, says Earthy, is spoken by the women, but 'Thonga-Shangaan, the dialect most used by the Lenge, approximates most to Gwamba, but contains words of Ronga, Chopi, Lenge, Nguni and Ndau origin' (p.4). It is not clear which is the source language of the tales contained in this work.Junod, H-P; Jaques, A.A. 1936. Vutlhari bya vaTonga (MaTshangana). Cleveland (Transvaal): Central Mission Press. 285pp.

- Tsonga, Tshwa and Ronga proverbs, riddles and personal names, with English translation. Republished since 1957, but without the riddles and names, as Vutlhari bya Vatsonga.Jaques, A. A. 1938. Sivongo sa Matshangana. Johannesburg: Swiss Mission in South in South Africa. 100pp.

- Tsonga clan and family names with their praises, with English commentary. Republished since 1958 as Swivongo swa Machangana (Vatsonga).Junod, H-P. 1938. Bantu Heritage. Johannesburg: Hortors (for the Transvaal Chamber of Mines).

- contains two chapters on Bantu folklore, includes material from many of H-A Junod's publications.Junod, H-P. 1940. N'waMpfundla N'waXisana. Pretoria: Wallachs. 172pp.

- Fifty Tsonga animal tales, set in Western verse form, in Tsonga.Ndhambi, E.P. 1950. Swiphato swa Xitsonga. Johannesburg: Swiss Mission in South Africa.

- Tsonga children's poetry, both transcriptions of traditional material and modem poems.Marolen, D.P.P. 1954. Mitlangu ya Vafana va Vatsonga. Johannesburg: Swiss Mission in South Africa.

- a contextually based description of the games and songs of Tsonga boys.Beuchat, P. 1957. Riddles in Bantu. African Studies 16:133-149.

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- description and analysis of form, social setting, function, rhythm and performance features of Bantu riddles. The article also includes many Ronga and Tsonga riddles. Reprinted in Dundes, A. (ed.) 1965. The Study of Folklore. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.Beuchat,P. 1958. Notes on some folklore forms in Tsonga and Ronga. African Studies 17.4:185-191.

- analytical and descriptive study of folktales, riddles and proverbs.Mucambe, E. (ed.) 1958?. Tikaringani ta Vanhu va WuTshwa. Cleveland (Transvaal): Central Mission Press.

- a collection of 21 folktales in Tshwa.Beuchat, P. (ed.) 1960. (Date of Preface is 1935). Munghana wa Zivanana. 4th Edition. Cleveland (Transvaal): Central Mission Press.

- a collection of 20 animal tales in Tshwa.Ntsan'wisi, P.E. 1960. Xikatsa xa Switlhokovetselo. Johannesburg: APB. 51pp.

- a collection of children's poetiy, both traditional and written.Rasengane, E.R. 1963. Mitlhokovetselo ya Xitsonga. Pretoria: Van Schaik. 40pp.

- a collection of children's poetry, both traditional and written.Marolen, D.P.P. 1955. Garingani-wa-Garingani. Pretoria: Beter Boeke. 149pp.

- an introduction on performance style is followed by a collection of 20 tales, in Tsonga.Mukhombo, A.S. (ed.) 1968. Nwavundlani ni Bangana bakhe. 8th Edition. Cleveland (Transvaal): Central Mission Press.

- a collection of 26 animal tales in Ronga.Nkondo, E.M. 1969. Emahosi. Pretoria: Van Schaik.

- a collection of Nkondo's written poetry, with the inclusion of the praise poem of the Bankuna group (pp49-51) 57 pp.Johnston, T.F. 1971. The Music of the Shangana-Tsonga. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand (unpublished Ph.D. thesis).

- an ethnomusical description, containing also the lyrics of songs, in Tsonga with English translations. Original taped recordings of the songs are held in the Archives, University of the Witwatersrand.Kaemer, J.E. 1972. Tone riddles from Southern Mocambique: titekatekani of the Tshwa. Research in African Literatures 3 :15-20. Also in: Lindfors, B. (ed.) 1977. Forms of Folklore in Africa. University of Texas Press.

- an analysis of the tonal patterning of 27 Tshwa tone riddles.Baumbach, E.J.M.; Marivate, C.T.D. 1973. Swihitana swa xiRonga. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

- a collection of 18 Ronga folktales with parallel English translations. Original taped recordings held, by Professor C.T.D. Marivate, University of South Africa.Marivate, C.T.D. 1974. Tsonga Folktales: Form, Content and Delivery. Two volumes. Pretoria: University of South Africa, Pretoria (unpublished MA thesis).

- an analytical application of Proppian formalism to Tsonga folktales. The second volume contains the texts of 15 tales, in Tsonga with parallel English translations. Original taped recordings held by Professor C.T.D. Marivate, University of South Africa.Gowlett, D.F. 1975. Two Lenge folktales. African Studies 34.1:3-7.Bill, M.C. 1976. Imagery in two Tsonga poems. LIMI4.1 -2:79-84.

- discusses imagery in two written Tsonga poems, illustrating features of orality in one of these.Marivate C.T.D. 1978. Clan praises in Tsonga. LIMI 6.1 & 6.2 :31 -43.

- describes the formal and language features of Tsonga clan praises, as well as their social significance. Nkuna, P.B. 1979. Nhanga ya Gavaza. Braamfontein (Johannesburg): Sasavona.

- a collection of children's poetiy, both traditional and written. 24pp.Bill, M.C. 1982a. The blanket of darkness: problems in translating from a Bantu language into English South African Journal of African Languages. 2.3:91-117.

- features of orality in the two prayers contained in the passage translated, are described.Bill, M.C. 1982b. Unpublished fieldwork collection of 12 Tsonga folktales.

- both audio and video recordings.Bill, M.C. 1983a. The structure and function of the song in the Tsonga folktale. African Studies 42.1:1 -56.

- discusses the literary and musical structure, and the operative functions of songs occurring in 4 Tsonga folktales from the collection of Marivate (1974).Bill, M.C. 1983b. Mbita ya Vutivi - Tsonga Bibliography 1883-1983. Johannesburg: Sasavona.

- bibliography of 100 years of publications in Tsonga, includes complete reference to works dealing with oral studies, but excludes journal articles. 216pp.Bill, M.C. 1984. 100 years of Tsonga publications, 1883-1983. African Studies. 43.2:67-81.

- an abbreviated version of the introduction to Bill, 1983b.

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Rikhotso, F. 1985. Tolo a nga ha vuyi. Braamfontein (Johannesburg): Sasavona.- a socio-cultural description of customs and folklore of the Tsonga speaking people, in Tsonga.

Mayevu, G.S. 1986. N'wampfundla Maxisana. Johannesburg: Sasavona.- a new version of Junod (1940), recasting the tales into T songa poetry, and omitting the moralising concluding

verses of Junod.Mishiyi, J.R. 1986. Switekatekisana swa Xitsonga. Sovenga: University of the North (unpublished Honours extended essay).Schneider, T.R. 1986-1987. From wisdom sayings to wisdom texts. Parts I and II; in The Bible Translator 37.1:128-135, and 38.1 -.101-117

- considering translation as a verbal art rather than a mere linguistic technique, this study explores the oral stylistic features of repetition, parallelism, compactness and imagery, shown in both Hebrew and Tsonga proverbs. Harries, P. 1987. A forgotten comer of the Transvaal: reconstructing the history of a relocated community through oral testimony and song. In: Bozzoli, B. (ed.) Class, Community and Conflict. Johannesburg: Ravan Press, pp.93-134.

- based on field recordings of the oral history and songs of the Makuleke community, relocated from Nakuleke to Ntlhaveni. Original taped recordings and photographs in the collection of Professor P. Harries, University of Cape Town.Mathumba, D.I. (ed.) 1987. Xiseluselu xa Vulombe. Johannesburg: Sasavona.

- a collection of short stories, folktales and one-act plays, in Tsonga. 127pp.Mathumba, D.I. 1988. Some Aspects of the Tsonga Proverb. Pretoria: University of South Africa (unpublished MA thesis).

- describes the form, meaning and usage of Tsonga proverbs as a mirror of Tsonga philosophy.Bill, M.C. 1989a. Litterature, langue et politique: le cas du Tsonga. Nouvelles du Sud 12:172-184.

- French translation of Bill 1990c.Bill, M.C. 1989b. The Prosody of Tsonga Children's Oral Poetry. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand (unpublished MA thesis).

- develops an empirical argument for the rhythmical patterning observed in performances of Tsonga traditional children's poetry. Original audio and visual taped recordings held by the Archives, University of the Witwatersrand. Mtsetweni, R.S. 1989. Thuu...Choyoyo! Johannesburg: Sasavona.

- transcriptions of 8 folktales, in Tsonga. 56 pp.Bill, MC. 1990a. The textual reflection of texture: the transcription of Tsonga children's poetic performance. African Studies 49.1:95-118.

- describes the transcription process, and the inter-semiotic translation of body movements accompanying performance into a taxonomy incorporated into the transcribed text.Bill, M.C. 1990b. How universal are children's verse rhythms?: some Tsonga evidence. South African Journal of African Languages 10.4:275-87.

- outlines universalistic claims about the rhythmical features of children's 'nursery rhymes' and adduces evidence from the Tsonga data in partial support of some of these claims.Bill, M.C. 1990c. Literature, language and politics: a case study of Tsonga. In: Nethersole, R. (ed.) Emerging Literatures. Beme: Peter Lang, pp. 102-116.

- considers the definition of 'national' literature, and traces the influence of historical events and political decisions on the literary system of oral and written Tsonga.Maluleke, S.S. 1990. A hi garingeteni! Johannesburg: Sasavona.

a collection of 37 folktales, in Tsonga. 72 pp.Mavikane, D. 1990. Mintsheketo ya Xitsonga. Pretoria: HAUM.

- a collection of folktales, in Tsonga.Schneider, T.R. 1990. The Sharpening of Wisdom: Old Testament Proverbs in Translation. Pretoria: University of South Africa (unpublished D.Th. thesis).

- describes the oral poetic style of Hebrew proverbs, and the challenging process of capturing this style in the translation of proverbs into Tsonga, which has its own rich body of gnomic sentences.Bill, M.C. 1991a. The oral poet as eye-witness and praiser: Ndhambi-ya-Mati and his world. Oral Tradition and Innovation: New Wine in Old Bottles?, Sienaert, E.; Bell, N.; Lewis, M. (eds.) Durban: Natal University Oral Documantation and Research Centre, University of Natal.

- considers the emergent nature of the performances of the oral poetry of J.P. Ndhambi, and describes his poetic style.Bill, M.C. 1991b. The rhythmical patterning of Tsonga children's oral poetry. South African Journal of African Languages 11.4: 133-143.

- describes the development through an empirical argument of a generalised prosodic statement representing the rhythmical organisation of verse lines of the genre of children's traditional poetry in Tsonga.

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text, context and texture in tsonga oral studies

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