Rhodes hosts cutting-edge orality and innovation conference
For the first time the South African Folklore Society (SAFOS) has chosen to hold its prestigious annual conference in the Eastern Cape. The conference, which draws scholars from South Africa and several other African countries, is being hosted by Rhodes University’s School of Languages (African Language Studies) from 10 to12 September 2009.
Attesting to the significance of traditional culture and language in the Eastern Cape, the Honourable Premier of the province, Ms Noxolo Kiviet, will address conference delegates at the opening of the conference on Thursday, 10 September 2009, in the Zoology Building.
Bulelwa Nosilela, who heads the African Language Studies section of the Rhodes School of Languages, says this year’s conference is both a chance for delegates to experience the Eastern Cape’s linguistic, cultural and historical heritage as well as a great opportunity for Rhodes to display the wonderful academic and case work being done to develop isiXhosa through the university. [To find out more about African Language Studies go to: http://oldwww.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/languages/africlang/
The broad intent of this year’s conference is to promote African cultures and languages. A particular spotlight of the three-day event is contemporary ‘orality’, with two of the papers from Rhodes University examining how isiXhosa meets technology. Head of the Rhodes School of Languages Prof Russell Kaschula will be sharing his explorations on how cellular phone communication is affecting communicative rules of politeness in isiXhosa, while a joint paper by Lorenzo Dalvit and Msindisi Sam examines the attitudes of rural students to the use of isiXhosa in information and communication technology (ICT) domains.
Some papers focus on more ‘pure’ traditional forms and practices. Examples are L. Phopi’s paper “The significance and meanings communicated by Tshivenda female accessories”, and a paper by M. Wessels entitled “The /Xam narratives of the Bleek and Lloyd collection: What are they and when did they happen?” Other presentations focus more on how tradition functions in contemporary life. The papers in this category range enormously in subject matter, for example: “Sorcery in the academy: university and the occult practices of the corporate world” by F. Wood; “The analysis of diabetes, its symptoms and treatment: the case for Tshivenda traditional healing perspectives” by Tshivhengwa Zacharia Ramaliba; and “Folklore, politics and the democratic space in postcolonial Nigeria”, by James Tar Tsaaior.
The conference schedule is arranged into broad topic areas. The first day, Thursday 10 September, has a morning session devoted to “Orality, wisdom and lore”. The Xhosa cultural input is significant, with the first paper by T. N. Ntshinga (University of South Africa) examining the “Structural dynamics of isiXhosa proverbs” and the second, by A. Masola (Rhodes), looking at “Defiance, invasion of space and the quest for identity in The Nation’s Bounty: The Xhosa Poetry of Nontsizi Mgqwetho”. In a more commercial vein, R.O.B. Nhlekisana of the University of Botswana examines “The use of proverbs in advertisements in Botswana”, while the University of Venda’s L.E. Mphasha will presents a paper entitled “Just as European courtroom lawyers use previous cases, participants in Northern Sotho argue with proverbs.”
“Orality and the narrative” is the topic of the Thursday afternoon session. These papers examine mainly how storytelling is applied for educational and commercial purposes, while a paper by Nigerian, J.T. Tsaaior, (Pan-African University, Lagos) looks at the intersection of orality and politics. Thursday’s fare ends with a rather exotic-sounding session titled: “Orality, fashion and innovation”. The topics here are “The medieval hairstyling in a contemporary society” by S.R. Zulu of Ethekwini Municipality; “The significance and meanings communicated by Tshivenda female accessories” by L. Phophi of the University of Venda, and Kaschula’s paper on IsiXhosa ‘cellphone-speak’.
Day two starts off with two sessions on “Orality, innovation and the indigenous knowledge systems”. Four papers in this group look at the use of folklore within the education environment, including its use in developing linguistic competence. Three papers explore social values and norms and linguistic factors as applied to healing, with one of these including Aids. A. Mushwana (University of Venda) looks at “The art of makota – taking indigenous games from village streets to national and international level”; and a paper by N.P. Phiri (University of Venda) is entitled “Foster-parenting 6-18 year olds: cross-cultural challenges and opportunities”. The afternoon session covers “Orality and belief systems”.
On the closing day there are two parallel sessions, one covering orality and contemporary music, with papers from Botswana, Nigeria, South Africa and Swaziland, and a final session dealing with orality and gender.
Looking at the abstracts of the papers due to be presented, one can see the continued relevance of folklore, especially if one thinks of how SAFOS defines its mission, which is to encourage the preservation of folkloric tradition “both as a genre and an important area of critical inquiry that warrants the establishment of its own methods and approaches towards the articulation of knowledge and history”. [To find out more about the South African Folklore Society go to: http://safos.org.za]
The conference aims to place the study of oral literature at the centre of the intellectual and literary debates concerning African literature. Prof Kaschula says, “It places the field of folklore and oral literature firmly within the contemporary African and South African literary tapestry – as a vibrant field which is in no way anachronistic, but relevant to the everyday lives of people living in Africa.”
For more information about the conference go to:
http://www.ru.ac.za/static/conferences/safos/index.html
Story by - Mindy Stanford