1. Lecture Code: PS_L.7
ENGL 559: Postcolonial Studies UNIT 1: KEY CONCEPTS “Orality and Literacy” Part 2: South Africa by Duncan Brown
Min Pun, PhD, Associate Professor
Dept of English, PN Campus
Pokhara
07 October 2018

2. Colonization of South Africa
From the 15th century onwards, most of the countries in Africa have been colonized by the European world powers: Great Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium.
The colonization of South Africa took place in the early 1800s by the British.
The Portuguese were the first to land in South Africa in in 1488, but didn’t claim a colony.
South Africa was first claimed by the Dutch East India Company in It began with the establishment of Cape Town for the Dutch Empire as colonization and slavery also came into practice.

3. Decolonization of South Africa
Following the second world war, rapid decolonization swept across the continent of Africa as many territories gained their independence from European colonization.
In South Africa, however, the transfer of power to an African majority was greatly complicated by the presence of the white South Africans who opposed the decolonization of South Africa.

4. Oral Literature and Performance as Neglected Genres in South Africa
According to the essayist Duncan Brown, for many years, oral literature and performance genres are neglected in South Africa by literary scholars.
So orality and performance are important issues that can be considered not only as theory and practice of postcolonial theory, but can also be taken as historical study of oral literature.

5. Traditional Dances (Performance) in Africa
These dances speak about the history, culture and customs of Africa, having oral traditions.

6. The Practice of Oral Literature and Performance in South Africa
Oral literature and performance have been important features of South African life since the development of the first human communities in the region.
In South Africa, one of the basic oral forms of literature was the praise poetry. It appeared in different forms such as,
1) Songs, 2) Christian hymns 3) poems by Migrant workers 4) poems by the trade union poets, 5) poems by the people’s poets, 6) poems by rap groups, and so on.

7. Contd…...
Prose forms of oral literature are folk tales and storytelling. The storyteller Gcina Mhlophe attracts large audience to her performances and widely read as oral-influenced written narratives.
Others forms of oral literature included oral narration by Ronnie Govender who combined drama and fiction into his work.
Similarly, Rap groups such as TRO and Brasse vannie Kaap who practiced hip-hop idioms/forms and localized performative genres of oral poetry and narrative.

8. Praise Poetry
A praise name is a colorful description (imagery) of some aspect of the person. The praise song could be chanted to a drum beat or performed as a song. The African call-and- response (a musical form based on dialogue) form can be used in a praise poem.
Zulu and Xhosa praise poems (poems as recited by Zulu and Xhosa-speaking communities; Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa) and Sotho praise poems (Sotho-speaking communities) are the most important forms of praise poetry.

9. Songs as Oral Literature
Songs are important oral forms of South African oral literature. Songs to the clan, family songs at weddings and funerals, love lyrics, children’s verse, work songs, lullabies, personal praises, religious songs, songs to animals and songs of divination are some examples.
Over the years, in South Africa, different oral forms of literature and performance were seen in the printed forms as well, using the Western technology of print.

10. Conclusion: Relations between Orality Studies and Postcolonial Studies
Orality studies (the study of oral literature) and postcolonial studies can benefit from each other.
For instance, orality studies is closely related to the study of oral tradition and postcolonial studies is the study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism that exploited the people of colonized countries and their lands.
Here, the oral tradition in South Africa is overshadowed by the colonial past, so postcolonial studies provides a framework that destabilizes dominant discourses in the West, challenges inherent assumptions and critiques the material and discursive legacies of colonialism.

11. Associate Professor, Dept of English Tribhuvan University
Min Pun, PhD
Associate Professor, Dept of English
Tribhuvan University
Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara
Website: