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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:An exploration of J.J. Moiloa's 'Thesele, ngwana Mmamokgatjhane', the epic tradition, and the oral-written interface
Author:Swanepoel, C.F.
Year:1997
Periodical:Research in African Literatures
Volume:28
Issue:1
Pages:112-123
Language:English
Geographic term:Lesotho
Subjects:praise poetry
poetry
literature
About person:J.J. Moiloa
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819922
Abstract:J.J. Moiloa's Southern Sotho 'Thesele, ngwana Mmamokgatjhane' (1992) is a 70-page work in 'praise-poem style' that tells the full story of the life of Moshoeshoe I (1786-1870), founder and first king of the Sotho. The question is: Is this yet another praise poem, or is it an epic? If it is an epic, is it the continuation of an oral epic tradition, or is it a 'literary' epic couched in praise-poem style? This article addresses these questions, relying on three main theoretical sources: Isidore Okpewho (1979, 1983) as representative of an African perspective and as a guide to the epic reading of Moiloa's poem; Heda Jason (1988) for a preliminary conclusion about epic type; and Lauri Honko (1995) for a preliminary decision on the interaction between literary modes. In his 1979 work on the epic in Africa, Okpewho deals extensively with the hero, his image, and relevance; form and structure; and elements of the oral narrative style. The present author deals with each of these aspects in Moiloa's work and then includes both Jason and Honko to address key aspects of Moiloa's form, structure, narrative style, and the nature of the oral-written interface in poetry. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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