Signifying practices : Amaxhosa ritual speech

• Main Author: Mndende, Nokuzola
• Other Authors: Chidester, David
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Subjects: Religious Studies
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7720

Bibliography: leaves 197-204. === As part of the process of South Africa's transition to democracy, the government, the media, and other institutions have recognized the need to understand and recover African Traditional Religion as the indigenous religion of this country. Much remains to be done to entrench this recognition. There is a growing demand for literature that will document and analyse African Traditional Religion not only as an indigenous religious heritage but also as a contemporary living religion in South Africa. This thesis seeks to address the need for recognition, documentation and analysis of African Traditional Religion with specific focus on the role of ritual speech in AmaXhosa religious practice way of religious practice. Written from the perspective of an academic and a practitioner, the thesis attempts to further a clearer understanding of amaXhosa practice of African Traditional Religion as well provide a useful resource for students of African Traditional Religion. In historical, anthropological, and other academic literature on African Traditional Religion in South Africa, scholars have tended to focus on one aspect of religion, such as sacrifice, the divination techniques of sangomas, or the veneration of ancestors in rituals dealing with death. This thesis argues, however, that a more comprehensive perspective on African Traditional Religion can be gained by focusing on the meaning, power, and performance of ritual speech that runs through all of these religious practices. Ukuthetha, or, ritual speaking which produces ukuvuma, ritual acceptance, agreement, or consensus, lies at the heart of amaXhosa religion. Distinguished from ordinary speech by its heightened intensity and its performance which occurs within a sacred time and place, ukuthetha, or ritual speech, is the medium linking the physical and spiritual world within the amaXhosa worldview. As this thesis focuses on the analysis of amaXhosa ritual speech, chapters on ukuthetha which occur during ritual performances associated with sacrifice, divination, and funerals provide a profile of different types of speech acts within the framework of African Traditional Religion. These speech acts are examined against the background of two theoretical perspectives. One theory, associated with Maurice Bloch, argues that ritual speech is a form of social control, limiting what can be said. The other theory, associated with Stanley Tambiah, maintains that ritual speech is creative performance, expanding the scope of what can be said. The thesis tests these theoretical perspectives against the evidence of amaXhosa ritual speech, finding aspects of both social control and creative performance in African Traditional Religion. Although the analysis of amaXhosa ritual speech in this thesis focuses primarily on religion in the traditional rural context, a chapter on tradition and change considers new challenges for ritual speech in sacrifice, divination, and funerals within urban environments. Adapting to new contexts, the signifying practices of ukuthetha maintain the integrity of amaXhosa religion. By focusing on the meaning and power of ritual speech in different ritual settings and social contexts, this thesis hopes to contribute to our understanding of the continuity and coherence of African Traditional Religion in South Africa.