TRADITIONAL (ORAL) IZIBONGO AND MODERN (WRITTEN) POETRY IN ZULU AND XHOSA

This paper touches very briefly upon the development of complex praise poetry from simple praise names. Comment is made on past speculation on the trends in traditional praise poetry. The effects of Westernization, the concomitant introduction of new themes in written poetry and the distinction between traditional (oral) izibongo and modern (written) poetry is discussed. The article concentrates on assessing previous research findings concerning Zulu and Xhosa poetry. Certain of these research conclusions are mutually contradictory and this paper underlines the need for such misconceptions to be re-evaluated in the light of present and future knowledge.