The Xhosa-speaking peoples of south-eastern South Africa have a long
tradition of oral poetry, extending back at least two hundred years.
This book, first published in 1983, was the first detailed study of that
tradition. Jeff Opland has assembled a large corpus of Xhosa oral poetry
making his the first analysis of an active South African oral poetic
tradition to be based on actual fieldwork. The book focuses in
particular on the poetry produced by the imbongi, or court poet, and
Professor Opland examines the poetry and careers of four such
individuals. He describes the imbongi's informal training, the diction
of his poetry and its improvisational character and the relationship of
the poet to the chief and the community, revealing that the role of the
poetry is essentially political. He also considers the nature of the
poetry in relation to ritual. His discussion of Xhosa poetry in relation
to theoretical constructs of oral poetry and of oral mental processes is
an important contribution to the debate about the nature and
distinctiveness of 'oral literature'. With its interdisciplinary
approach, it will appeal to readers from many disciplines as well as to
general readers interested in African culture.