Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Southern Africa

by Jonathan A. Draper

Overview

Written by international academics representing a variety of disciplines, 12 contributions discuss the interrelated topics of orality, literacy, and colonialism in southern Africa. The volume (which lacks an index) is based upon the perception that literacy is a form of control—not only of information but also of people. The editor (along with several of the contributors) is affiliated with the U. of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. The Society of Biblical Literature publishes the book and distributes the paperbound edition; Brill distributes the clothbound edition. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589831179
Publisher:	Society of Biblical Literature
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Series:	Semeia Studies , #46
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

	Abbreviations	vii
	Script, Subjugation, and Subversion: An Introduction	1
Part 1	Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Historical Perspective
	Fighting with the Pen: The Appropriation of the Press by Early Xhosa Writers	9
	From the Bible as Bola to Biblical Interpretation as Marabi: Tlhaping Transactions with the Bible	41
	The Closed Text and the Heavenly Telephone: The Role of the Bricoleur in Oral Mediation of Sacred Text in the Case of George Khambule and the Gospel of John	57
	Making the Book, Performing the Words of Izihlabelelo zamaNazaretha	91
	The Land and the Word: Missions, African Christians, and the Claiming of Land in South Africa	111
Part 2	Dimensions of Orality and Resistance in Modern South Africa
	Frozen Assets? Orality and the Public Space in KZN: Izibongo and Isicathamiya	135
	"Where Shall I Wonder under the Thunder Who's that Black Boys Making that Black Noise Step a Little Closer to the Mic": Prophets of da City and Urban (South African) Identity	145
	Translation and the Vernacular Bible in the Debate between My "Traditional" and Academic Worldviews	171
	Listening Again: Finding Ways to Host the TRC's Oral, Auto/Biographical Space	189
	Oral History in a Wounded Country	205
	Becoming Ngaka: Coming to Terms with Oral Narrative Discourses	217
	Response
	Commentary	229
	Works Consulted	249
	Contributors	268