Publication Information The main body of the Publication Information page contains all the metadata that HRAF holds for that document.
Author: Author's name as listed in Library of Congress records
Kresse, Kai
Title:
IZIBOBGO -- the political art of praising: poetical
socio-regulative discourse in Zulu society
Published in: if part or section of a book or monograph
Journal of African cultural studies -- Vol. 11,
no.2
Published By: Original publisher
Journal of African cultural studies -- Vol. 11,
no.2
Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Carfax. 1998. 171-196 p.
By line: Author's name as appearing in the actual publication
Kai Kresse
HRAF Publication Information: New Haven, Conn.:
Human Relations Area Files, 2005. Computer File
Culture: Culture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC) with the alphanumberic OWC identifier in parenthesis.
Zulu (FX20)
Subjects: Document-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Theoretical orientation in research and its results (121);
Functional and adaptational interpretations (182);
Verbal arts (5310);
Personal names (551);
Status, role, and prestige (554);
Social control (626);
Abstract: Brief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This paper presents Zulu praise-poetry, IZIBONGO, as a
genre of fundamental political and socio-regulative relevance, an interpretation which with
Zulu society seems to have been continually valid until today [1990s]. The central feature
of IZIBONGO in this perspective concerns the ambiguous status of language in praising: in
one and the same poem, it can also be used for the sake of public criticism. This is not
only due to the logical possibilities of wordplay (i.e. using verbal artistry to ironize
etc.) but is also enforced by the principle of 'poetic licence' which applies to most
south-east African societies, granting freedom of expression to public statements made in
the form of praise poetry.…This principle, in combination with the poet's obligation (a) to
paint a full and true picture of the praised and the social life involved, and (b) to
contribute to a socially accepted, just progression of social life, leads to IZIBONGO being
regarded as documenting and forming a self-descriptive and normative social discourse of
Zulu society (p. 171).
Document Number: HRAF's in-house numbering system derived from the processing order of documents
58
Document ID: HRAF's unique document identifier. The first part is the OWC identifier and the second part is the document number in three digits.
fx20-058
Document Type: May include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs or chapters/parts of monographs.
Journal Article
Language: Language that the document is written in
English
Note:
Includes bibliographical references (p.194-196)
Field Date: The date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Evaluation: In this alphanumeric code, the first part designates the type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigene, and so on. The second part is a ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data
Ethnologist-4
Analyst: The HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection.
John Beierle ; 2004
Coverage Date: The date or dates that the information in the document pertains to (often not the same as the field date).
ca.1820-1990s
Coverage Place: Location of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa
LCSH: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Zulu (African people)
