Browsing by Author "Mwakasaka, Christon Samuel"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The oral literature of the Banyakyusa.
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1977) Mwakasaka, Christon Samuel
    The study of literature in Tanzania, as in many parts of the world, has been, and still is, a half-done course because it has meant the study of only a few selected written literature texts, and even those from the point of view of western, bourgeois scholarship. But with the inception of the Arusha Declaration, aimed at moulding us along the socialist road, it has been imperative for us to reorganize the whole welfare set-up of our nation, Thus as a policy, in order to make the study of literature more meaningful and exhaustive, the Department of Literature of the University of Dar-es-Salaam decided to have the literatures of Tanzania, which are mainly oral, as the hub of study. My thesis is but a small part towards the fulfilment of that policy and ideal. Part One, the introduction, discusses my approach to the study of oral literature and gives a brief introduction to the Banyakyusa as a people, their historical background and their economic and social life. This creates the ground and environment for a better understanding of the literature of the Banyakyusa. For Literature always vividly and faithfully mirrors the life of a people and the processes at work in the society that has produced it. Part Two, is an analysis of selected prose narratives myths, legends and other tales in this order. Part Three, is an analysis of a selected poetry, particularly the representative samples in the chronological development of poetry in this century to date. Part Four, deals with riddles and proverbs. These parts are analysed with regard to their function in society and their aesthetic merit. Part Five, the last part, is a general conclusion which discusses briefly the relevance and importance of the study of oral literature to the general development of Tanzanian.