Basotho Oral Poetry at the Beginning of the 21St Century
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BASOTHO ORAL POETRY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY (VOLUME 1) by William Moruti Tšiu Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject AFRICAN LANGUAGES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF C.F. SWANEPOEL DATE OF SUBMISSION: OCTOBER 2008 DECLARATION I declare that BASOTHO ORAL POETRY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY is my own work and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ____________________________ ___________________________ WM Tšiu Date ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My grateful thanks and profound appreciation are expressed to the following people: My supervisor, Professor C.F. Swanepoel whose wisdom, experience and broad knowledge of the subject I was writing about, helped me throughout the entire writing of the thesis. I wish to thank him for his unconditional advice, patience and assistance. I wish to thank him in particular for occasions on which we travelled together to Clarens in the Free State, for accommodation in his house there and in Cape Town; the many hours we spent discussing various aspects of my thesis, his untiring efforts to keep me informed on any useful publication, and a numerous number of his own books relevant to my research which he loaned me. All these cannot be adequately matched by any expression of gratitude on my part. To him I say Ruri, ke a leboha! ‘I am truly thankful!’ I am also deeply indebted and thankful to the National Endowment for the Humanities of the United States who sponsored a project aimed at producing multi-media programs through which educational material and CD-ROMS will be created for the learning and tuition of the students in the Department of French and African-American Studies at the Ohio State University. This project made it possible for me to do research for this thesis. In particular I wish to thank Professor Abiola Irele, the principal investigator on behalf of the Ohio State University and Professor ’Makali Mokitimi from the National University of Lesotho, from whom I have learned so much during our tour. My appreciation also goes to Unisa consultants and the camera team under the auspices of the sound and video production unit at Unisa for producing a set of six video tapes representative of the recordings at the six centres we visited. The video tapes and the cassettes were valuable to my research work. My special appreciation goes to Professor J.M. Lenake for transcribing and translating the texts of all oral recordings. iii My sincerest thanks go to the informants, Ernest Monyane Mathibeli, a former school inspector; Daniel Teboho Koekoe, a former Sesotho radio announcer and head of Lesedi F.M. Radio; and Professor Thapelo Selepe of the North-West University Vaal Triangle Campus, for your valuable contribution. Correct is the saying, Motho ke motho ka batho! ‘A person is a person by virtue of others!’ I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my wife, Mmamonaheng, for her constant motivation and moral support throughout my endeavor, even during moments depressing. Finally, my God, without whom the undertaking of this magnitude would not have been started, let alone finished. iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to all the poets engaged in the revival and maintenance of the Basotho oral literature. My hope is that their oral products will continue to flourish and become one of the richest in the African heritage. v SUMMARY Largely based on material recorded during an internationally sponsored inter-university research tour through the Sesotho speaking area of southern Africa in August 2000, this thesis explores the state of the Basotho oral poetry, the dithoko ‘praise poems’, the difela ‘mine workers’ chants’ and the diboko ‘family odes’ at the beginning of the 21st century. Unlike the classical dithoko which were inspired by the wars or the battles in which the Basotho fought as well as cannibalism, those composed at the beginning of the 21st century are inspired by socio-economic and political situations of the poets. Lack of wars has resulted in the poets turning the praising to their chiefs and themselves. Changing socio-economic conditions inspired the difela compositions. The diboko though still a living tradition among the rural Basotho are not adhered to by some who are affected by modernism. Performance of the three oral genres has shifted from the natural settings such as the battlefield, working parties, traditional courts, assemblies, etc., to organized annual festivals such as Morija Arts & Cultural Festival which constitute the Basotho’s ‘popular culture’. The subject-matter and themes of the dithoko have shifted from warfare to traditional chiefs, current heroic deeds of the poets, current political situations and religion. The difela are characterized by inclusion of new subject-matter. The diboko still play an important function as carriers of the names of the ancestors, the tribal idiosyncrasy of the clan and the history associated with the clan’s establishment. The three Basotho oral genres demonstrate an emergence of a new phenomenon whereby one genre penetrates another, a phenomenon which may be called ‘migration of texts’. The last chapter explores the insights emanating from the entire research, and discusses suggestions on what should be done to ensure that the Basotho oral genres are maintained and improved. The video footage of the poets recorded at various places of the Free State and Lesotho have contributed to the success of the research. vi The thesis serves as a contribution to the Basotho’s dynamic oral poetry on which scholars will hopefully do further research in the near future. KEY TERMS Thoko ‘Praise poem’ Dithoko ‘ Praise poems’ Sefela ‘Mine workers’ chant’ Difela ‘Mine workers’ chants’ Seboko ‘Family ode/Clan praise’ Diboko ‘Family odes / Clan praises’ Seroki ‘A poet’ Diroki ‘The poets’ Mosotho ‘A Mosotho’ Basotho ‘The Basotho’ Performance Subject-matter Theme Penetration/migration Oral genres vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii DEDICATION v SUMMARY vi KEY TERMS vii CHAPTER 1 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Aim and scope of study: Statement of need 1 1.2 Research Methodology 2 1.2.1 Data collection 2 1.2.2 Data Analysis 4 1.3 Theoretical Underpinning 6 1.4 The formation of the Basotho nation 9 1.4.1 The name ‘Basotho’ 11 1.5 Historical origin of the oral poetry of the Basotho 12 1.5.1 Historical sketch of the dithoko 12 1.5.2 Historical sketch of the difela 17 1.5.3 Historical sketch of the diboko 21 1.6 Conclusion 25 CHAPTER 2 26 PRESSURES ON THE ORAL POETRY OF THE BASOTHO 26 2.1 Introduction 26 2.2 Politico-economic struggles 26 2.2.1 The battle of Oetsi (Ntwa ya Oetsi) 1856-1857 27 2.2.2 Senekal’s War (Ntwa ya Senekale) 1854-1858 29 2.2.3 The Seqiti War (War of the cannon) 1865-1868 33 2.2.4 The Gun War (Ntwa ya Dithunya) 1880-1881 36 2.2.5 The First World War 1914-1918 38 2.3 Cannibalism 41 2.3.1 The missionaries: Religion 48 2.3.2 The missionaries: ‘Civilization’ 53 2.3.3 The missionaries: Literacy 57 2.4 Early, intermediate and contemporary political developments in Lesotho 60 2.5 Modernism: major socio-economic developments 62 2.6 Media: Radio and Television 64 2.7 Conclusion 65 CHAPTER 3 66 BROAD CONTOURS OF GENERIC SHIFT: PERFORMANCE 66 3.1 Introduction 66 3.2 Characteristics of the dithoko, the difela and the diboko 67 3.2.1 Characteristics of the dithoko 67 3.2.2 Characteristics of the difela 78 3.2.3 Characteristics of the diboko 86 3.3 Performance of the dithoko, the difela and the diboko 88 3.3.1 The poet (seroki) 89 3.3.1.1 Voice 90 3.3.1.2 Gestures and facial expressions 100 3.3.1.3 Accoutrement 108 3.3.1.4 The text 112 3.3.2 Audience 125 3.4 Conclusion 130 CHAPTER 4 132 BROAD CONTOURS OF GENERIC SHIFT: SUBJECT-MATTER 132 4.1 Introduction 132 4.2 Subject-matter and theme 132 4.2.1 Subject-matter and theme of the classical dithoko vs 2000 dithoko 135 4.2.2 Subject-matter and theme of the difela in the 1950’s 172 4.2.3 Subject-matter and theme of the difela in the 1980’s 177 4.2.4 Subject-matter and theme of the difela at about 1995 181 4.2.5 Subject-matter and theme of the difela at about 1998 182 4.2.6 Subject-matter of the difela in 2000 183 4.3 Subject-matter of the Basotho diboko 187 4.4 Conclusion 192 CHAPTER 5 194 MIGRATION OF THE ORAL GENRES 194 5.1 Introduction 194 5.2 The dithoko (the praise poems) 196 5.2.1 Dithoko compositions including lines from the classical dithoko 196 5.2.2 Sizable memorized classical dithoko extracts including the diroki’s own compositions 199 5.2.3 Dithoko compositions including lines from the difela 205 5.3 The difela (mine workers’ chants) 208 5.3.1 Difela compositions including lines from the dithoko 208 5.3.2 Switching between two genres (thoko→sefela→thoko) 211 5.3.3 Difela compositions including lines from the other difela 220 5.4 The diboko (the clan praises): Genre transition 226 5.5 Conclusion 234 CHAPTER 6 236 CONCLUSION 236 6.1 Introduction 236 6.2 Wrapping up the findings 236 6.3 The Emerging Alternative: Popular Culture 244 6.4 The Future of Basotho Oral Poetry 246 6.4.1 Changing socio-economic and political situations: Material 247 6.4.2 Emergence of women and young boys as poets 247 6.4.3 Creation of opportunities 248 6.4.4 Performing arts societies 248 6.4.5 Pressures impacting on the future texts 250 6.4.6 Role of the government: Revival of oral tradition 251 6.5 Conclusion 251 BIBLIOGRAPHY 254 PHOTOS OF THE POETS 260 APPENDIX 266 Texts of the poets, interview sessions and page numbers: (1) Sello Rapeane 266 (2) Mahlomola Thamae 291 (3) Baptist Komello Mahanetsa 301 (4) Mphutlane Mofokeng 303 (5) ’Mampho Chopho 311 (6) Sello Lethusang Nthuloane 318 (7) Semai Moloi 323 (8) Francis Nkoli (mine workers’ chant) 326 Francis Nkoli (poem) 332 (9) Mokolane Mosikili 335 (10) Qabanyane Mothai 345 (11) Qekise Moeletsi 351 (12) Joshua Makara 358 (13) T.K.