/JJ. L. S • NYEfJffiEZI' S USE OF TRADITIONAL ZULU FOLKTALES IN HIS IGODA SERIES OF SCHOOL READ~~S J BY NOEI1IO NOVERINO CANONICI A Thesis submitted for the Degree of M.A. at the University of Natal Durban January 1985 A C K NOW LED GE M E N T S I '!lis: to express my sincere thanks to: 1 * Professor C.L.8. Nyerebezi for collecting and writing the material on which this research is based, and for granting me an interview which bas been a guiding light throughout this whole work. * My supervisors, Professor A.T. Cope and t-1r A. Koopman, for encouraging and supporting me in this project, and for sharing with me their insight on the subject. * My wife Catherine for typing most of my script. * The Human Sciences Research Council for a grant to carry out my research. C.L.S. NYEMBEZI'S USE OF TRADITIONAL ZULU FOLKTALES IN HIS IGODA SERIES OF SCHOOL READERS CONTENTS Page FOHEWORD 1 CHAPTER 1 C.L.S. Nyernbezi's Life and Literary Work 1.1 C.L.S. Nyembezi's Life 5 1.2 Nyembezi's Literary Work 8 1.2.1 Novels 8 1.2.2 Collection of Traditional Cultural Elements 13 1.2.3 Teaching Material 15 1.2.3.1 School Publications 15 1.2.3.2 The IGODA Series 17 CHAPTER 2 The Folktale in the General Context of Folklore 2.1 What is Folklore? 26 2.2 Approaches to Folklore Studies 29 2.2.1 Diachronic Approach 29 2.2.1.1 The Solar Theory 29 2.2.1.2 The Evolutionary Theory 30 2.2.1.3 The Diffusionist Theory 30 2.2.1.4 The Psycho-Analytic Theory 31 2.2.2 The Synchronic Approach 32 2.2.2.1 The Functionalist Approach 32 2.2.2.2 The Structuralist Approach 36 2.2.2.2.1 The Morphological Approach 37 2.2.2.2.2 The Paradygmatic Approach 38 2.2.2.2.3 The Literary-Artistic Approach 39 2.3 Approach Adopted in this Dissertation 43 CHAPrER 3 Classification of Prose Narratives in IGODA 3.1 Myths 44 3.2 Legends 46 3.3 Folktales 46 3.3.1 Animal Tales 48 3.3.2 Trickster Tales 50 3.3.3 Human Tales 54 3.3.3.1 Human Beings Only 54 3.3.3.2 Human Beings with Cannibals 55 3.3.3.3 Human Beings with Animals 58 3.3.3.4 Human Beings with Fantastic Elements 61 3.4 Note on Aesop's Fables 63 3.4.1 Aesop's Orieinal Fables 63 3.4.2 Aesop's Fables in Africa 65 3.4-.3 C.L.S. Nyembezi's Adaptation of Aesop's Fables 66 3.5 Note on Violet Dube's Phoshozwayo 71 CHAPTER 4 The Folktale as a Cultural Event 4.1 Performance of Folktales 77 Th~ 4.1.1 Time and Place of Performance 78 4.1.2 The Performer 80 4.1.3 Composition and Participation of the Audience 89 4.2 Categories of Traditional Culture Recognized by the People 91 4.3 The Cultural Context of Folktales 94- 4.3.1 Details of Ceremonies 94 4.3.2 Social Institutions 95 4.3.3 Social Structures 96 4.3.4 The Expression of Beliefs and Attitudes 97 4.4 Educational Value of Folktales 99 4.4.1 Educational Aspects of Folktales as Literature 100 4.4.1.1 Folktales and the Theatre 101 4.4.1.2 Folktales as Imaginative Literature 103 4.4.2 Folktales as a Means of Social and Moral Education 107 4.4.2.1 Moral Directives in Folktales 108 4.4.2.2 Themes in Folktales 110 CHAPTER 5 A Structural Analysis of Folktales in IGODA 5.1 Basic Terminology 113 5.1.1 Function 114 5.1.2 Function Sequence 114 5.2 Zulu Functions and Sequences 116 5.2.1 Cope's Suggestions 116 5.2.2 Oosthuizen's Suggestions 117 5.2.3 Functions and Sequences in IGODA 119 5.2.4 Description of Some Zulu Functions and Sequences 123 Combinations of Zulu Functions and Sequences 130 5.2.6 Embedding and Sequential Depth 131 5.3 Hoves 134 5.4 Core-Images 135 5.5 Image Expansion 140 5.6 Core Refrains 145 5.7 Linking the Narrative Elements 152 5.8 Translation and Analysis of Chosen Folktales from TGODA 159 Yazilaya Imbila 161 uMaqinase 167 uMshayandlela 172 uNkombose noSihlangusabayeni 175 uMkhwekazi Namasi 181 uMamba kaMaquba 187 Wangiweza Phela 193 Imfene Nempungushe 198 uNanana Boselesele 203 uBhadazela 208 no~mingi CONCLUSION 213 APPENDIX: An Interview with C.L.S. Nyembezi 219 BIBLIOGRAPHY 225 FOREWORD The first Zulu books I ever possessed were Sibusiso Nyembeti's LEARN ZULU, A COMPACT ZULU DICTIONARY and the IGODA series of school readers. Through those books Nyembezi was my first Zulu teacher, guiding my first hesitant steps in the use of the Zulu language and introducing me to Zulu culture by means of the numerous folktales, idioms and proverbs disseminated in IGODA. Later, when I came into contact with more advanced Zulu literature, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that Sibusiso Nyembezi held a very high position also in this field as well as in the field of collections of Zulu cultural material. It is with a sense of gratitude to Sibusiso Nyembezi that I have undertaken this research into his use of traditional Zulu folktales in lGODA. The foremost aim in Nyembezi's work has been the preservation of Zulu culture, so as to foster a national identity among the Zulu people. The best place to start with this task is with the school children, because they are tomorrow's leaders and must feel steeped in the life and history of their people in order to know who they truly are. For centuries, folktales have been the textbook of African education. They have been used as a means of entertainment and as an attractive channel to pass on traditions and beliefs, ideas and customs. They are a mirror of life and of society. Although they do not present an organized system of philosophy or of morality, they are an effective means of education because they bring about that emotional involvement through which the child learns. Folktales are essentially an oral art form which must be performed. By re-creating this art in writing, Nyembezi has stifled a part of its life, because he has had to curtail - 2 - references to the atmosphere and the environment which make the performance of a folktale a natural event. He has, however, endeavoured to create the traditionally rural and familiar atmosphere in which folktales are born and kept alive. This oral art, in fact, has its roots in the past but the tree has grown through the centuries and its branches breathe to-day's air and are fed by our own sun. To cut them off from the past would mean to cut off their life-giving sap; to disregard the present situation would mean burning the leaves of this vigorous tree. Both aspects, the past and the present, are needed, to make the folktale a credible and viable art form and an effective educational tool. Richard M. Dorson (1972:3) remarks that only in recent years has the "rich, luxuriant folklore of Africa" been seriously studied. He offers the following reasons for this phenomenon: i. of national states in which not all the The~ergence population groups share in the same cultural background. "In the national culture, a schism divides the society.' . ii. The emergence of a cosmopolitan elite, keen, educated and well prepared for the task of recording and analyzing the rich heritage of their tribes of origin, of which they are rightly proud. iii. The rich folklore of Africa is increasingly used as a source for the new African literature in European languages. I iv. Traditional cultural elements are seen as a unifying factor for people trying to establish their political and cultural identity. In using folktales in IGODA Nyembezi has not posed as an external collector, a field worker whose main aim is to publish some interesting paper. He has assumed the role of the traditional storyteller, the traditional creator and performer of folktales, who is also regarded as the educator in traditional societies. - 3 - R.M.Dorson (1971:11) remarks: The text of a tale or song written down from an oral performance falls far short of conveying the ambience of the event. The bard and narrator facing their live audience employ gestures, eye contact, intonation, pantomime histrionics, acrobatics, and sometimes costumes and props, as the author of written words never does. Nyembezi, however, is not simply recording tale texts from some performer. Following on the rich tradition of Zulu folktales, he uses traditional motifs, episodes and stock characters to re-create a tale for his audience, composed of school children. This contextual situation forces him to use a language that is both idiomatic and easily understandable, while keeping in mind the educational value of folktales from the linguistic and the social/moral points of view. The result is both traditional and modern, is both entertaining and educational. In this way the "rich, luxuriant" oral traditional forms blend with the new medium of the written word to create a harmonious product, without fear of oral tradition encroaching on the path of written literature and yiceversa, to invest his writing with a truly Zulu sensibility and flavour. This dissertation comprises five parts, corresponding to the five chapters. In the first chapter I present C.L.S. Nyembezi's life and literary work, including a detailed expose of his IGODA series of school readers. In this part Nyembezi's important place in Zulu literature, as well as his educational work, are briefly examined. The second chapter presents the folktale in the general context of folklore, with a discussion of the main folklore schools and different approaches to the understanding and analysis of the folktale. 4- The third chapter considers a classification of the folktales in IGODA according to their content. There is also a brief presentation of Nyembezi's translation and adaptation of Aesop's fables as well as ot Violet Dube's Phoshozwayo story. The fourth chapter discusses the folktales as a cultural event in the light of the background information presented in IGODA. Since lGODA is a school series, the educational value of folktales is also discussed from both the literary and the social points of view. The fifth chapter contains a discussion in terms of the morphological structure and the semantic content of the folktales in IGODA. I also present a translation and analysis of some chosen folktales. The work concludes with an interview which Professor Nyembezi allowed me: this offers an insight into Nyembezi the man, and the way he feels about his literary work.