Orality in the Digital Age

doi:10.1017/9781108671088.016

14 - Orality in the Digital Age

from Part IV - Interlingual and Intercultural Cross-Fertilisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2020

Janet Hayward

Edited by

Russell H. Kaschula and

H. Ekkehard Wolff

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Russell H. Kaschula: Affiliation:
Rhodes University, South Africa
H. Ekkehard Wolff: Affiliation:
Universität Leipzig

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Summary

This chapter focuses on a particular aspect of South African history in which European men were incorporated into Bomvana and Mpondo societies living along the southeast coast of the former Transkei, where they subsequently founded new clans. With reference to the collection of oral traditions from contemporary members of these clans by various scholars including the author, the role of oral traditions as accurate repositories of historical information and as the products of dynamic social and historical processes is discussed and evaluated. Oral traditions are not only bodies of knowledge but also multidimensional in that they frequently include song, dance, gesture, intonation and other audiovisual elements. As such, they are particularly suited for digitisation and dissemination on the Internet. Oral traditions that have already been documented, and others yet to be accumulated, provide essential educational and scholarly resources in the development of decolonised curricula, and potentially serve as tools for the promotion of multilingualism and multiculturalism in the classroom and beyond.

Keywords

Oral tradition isiXhosa clans traditional isiXhosa ancestor religion critical thinking reflexivity decolonisation of curricula digital humanities multilingualism multiculturalism

Type: Chapter
Information: The Transformative Power of Language
From Postcolonial to Knowledge Societies in Africa
, pp. 277 - 303

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108671088.016 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

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14 - Orality in the Digital Age

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