that we have not yet discovered and understood, and therefore there is nothing we can do about it. But his story does not support his argument of the influence of the church in the public life based on the church's artistic contribution in the national anthem.
Neither the old or the new national anthems have any Christian words. The old one sung praises to Frelimo (the ruling party) and to the nation, with Marxist philosophy tones. The new one sings praises to the nation, nation building, peace and progress.
After speaking of the national anthem, it is appropriate to follow this with the artist category, in which we analyse songs.
2.4.1 The perception of ntumbuluko in Movota's song "Tudo PMo Criador"
(Everything by the Creator)
Although Mavota's song has a Portuguese title (as given to me by Radio Mocambique), it has not used Portuguese at all, being entirely in Tsonga. I transcribed the song as follows:
Tsonga (Ronga)
Vonani a ntumbuluko aku xonga ka wone!
A ntumbuluko ni mutchumo hikwayo;
Vonani a ntumbuluko aku xonga ka wone!
A ntumbuluko in mutchumo hikwayo.
Nad/.o tilo na misava, tinyanyana tihahaka;
Hikwaso leswi swi vangiwe hi Xikwembu.
Swi vangiwe hi Xikwembu, Swi vangiwe hi Xikwembu.
Pimisa we makweru, pimisa ha kunene;
Loko ne wu xaniseka, Wuta kuma ku zula.
English translation
See how beautiful ntumbuluko is!
Ntumbuluko and everything;
See how beautiful ntumbuluko is!
Ntumbuluko and everything.
Heaven and earth, flying birds;
All these were caused by God Were caused (created) by God!
Were caused by God.
Think brother, yes think carefully, When you are suffering;
You will find peace.
(Mavota, CD)
This song presents and celebrates the beauty of ntumbuluko and everything, or the whole of creation. It is not very clear whether ntumbuluko here is part of created things or is part of the creating power. But, judging from the Tsonga understanding of ntumbuluko, one can see here that ntumbuluko is associated with the creation of everything and the concept here is closely related to the creating principle and power or Creator himself. In Tsonga, 'to create' is ku tumbuluxa (although the artist uses ku vanga [causing to be]) in this song. In Tsonga the creator, or a creator, is mu tumbuluxi.
Whichever meaning of ntumbuluko the author has in mind, the message is clear, ntumbuluko is beautiful. One thing that comes out here very clearly is the fact that the perception of ntumbuluko as expressed in mis song is completely different from that of the use of ntumbuluko in translating Pauline theology of "flesh" in Rom 8:3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 andl3; Eph 2:3 and Gal 5:13, 16 and 19; and 6:8. However, it accords with other Tsonga understanding of ntumbuluko as we can see from the above categories
and other categories to follow. But, in each category of my research, the understanding of ntumbuluko is diverse. The next song will give us another angle of perception of ntumbuluko.
2.4.2 The perception of ntumbuluko in "E Natural", a song by Rosalia Mboa
Tsonga/Portuguese
Goza a vida como ela e...a tun maneira...
Ni na mahanyela ya mina, na wena una mahanycla ya wena A ntirho wa swilo loko u swivoncla kulc sha hlamahsa
Voce naojulga loko unga swi tive, a ntirho wa swilo swa hlamalisa{loko uswi vonela bile}
Unga swi hleki loko swi ngahi ka wena, e natural (x6)
Voce naojulga a natureza 4 assim, vai lutando a vida e assim I ntumbuluko lowu (x8)
Toda gente conta naquilo que sabe, a vida e uma luta wa switwa.
A wunga yi lwi nyipi na wunga hi na matlhari Naofoge, vida 4 assim, e natural (x8) I ntumbuluko lowo (x8)
Mahanyela mahibinza hikwerhu, ko hambana matirhela (decisdo) ya hina I ntumbuluko unga ali leswo intumbuluko
Voce naofoge a natureza, a vida e assim 6 natural (x8)
Intumbuluko lowo (x8)
English translation
Enjoy life as it is...in your own way...
I have my own way of living, you have also yours;
It is always like that; when one sees things happening In someone's life from a distance, it is fun.
Don't judge what you don't know, Things look fun from far.
Don't laugh when things happen to others, it is natural (repeated x6) Don't run away, nature is like that, go striving, life is like that This is ntumbuluko (x8)
Everyone counts on what they know, life is struggle you know.
You cannot fight a war without weapons;
Don't run away, life is like that;
It is natural (x8) This is ntumbuluko (x8)
Life is heavy to everyone, what differs are our ways of working, or doing things And making decisions, it's ntumbuluko.
Don't reject it, this is ntumbuluko.
Don't run away from nature, life is like that,
It is natural (x8) This is ntumbuluko (x8) (M'boa, CD)
In this song Rosalia M'boa, a well-known Mozambican singer, answers her critics and justifies the way that she chooses to live her life. All that she does, she says, is according to the natural law of ntumbuluko. Ntumbuluko is inescapable and her actions should not be condemned because she is doing what is according to it. Her lifestyle, way of living, what happens to her (normal and natural things), the way she earns her living and how she goes about equipping herself in life are all to do with ntumbuluko and she cannot run away from it but must simply accept it and fight her way and survival through the course prescribed for her by ntumbuluko.
According to Chitlango and Balcomb:
In this song the word is quite clearly being used to create some ambivalence to the concept of tradition. She concedes that there is a natural order of things but is so bold as to suggest that the lifestyle she has chosen is that natural order and she does not need the criticism and judgmentalism of others who think differently. The conservative underpinning of the term is reinterpreted in a way that gives legitimacy to the way that she herself understands what is
"natural" in life. She concedes that this might be different to the way that others see it, but she is determined to define for herself what is good for life.
There is, therefore, an incipient rebelliousness here.
(Chitlango & Balcomb 2004:184)
While the first song ignores any negative aspect of ntumbuluko and celebrates its beauty, this song uses ntumbuluko firstly as natural law, from which, one cannot escape and must follow; and from which one must not try to run away, and secondly as natural order of things and life that pre-determines one's fate in life. The author's life is portrayed to be being lived under that inescapable natural law (no condemnation against her for she is living according to ntumbuluko) and that everything she does and whatever happens to her and her lifestyle are all an integral part of her fate and are according to the ntumbuluko state of affairs (no criticism is necessary). Ntumbuluko is given and taken here, no "buts and ifs."
The next and last song, however, by a young man, uses the word ntumbuluko in a quite different way and approaches it in a very complex way and totally differently from the other two songs.
2.4.3 The perception of ntumbuluko from "Natureza", a song by Conjunto Gezi
Tsonga
Va vansati ni va vanuna x2 A hi dyayeni a moya lowu x2 Hi taku i ntumbuluko Hi taku i ntumbuluko
A hi dyayeni a ntumbuluko lowu, Kuta sala a ntumbuluko
Lowu kulisaka tiko, (25) a lizandzo lisalako A misaven ku ni lizandzo (x2) A wa nsati a va xavi!
I mali muni?
A wa nsati a va xavi!
A wa nsati a va xavi (x4)
English translation women and men (x2) Let us kill that spirit (x2) We will argue, 'it's ntumbuluko'.
We will argue, 'it's ntumbuluko'.
Let us kill that ntumbuluko There will remain ntumbuluko Ntumbuluko that develops the nation (25x) love that remains.
On earth (world) there is love (x2) A woman cannot be purchased!
How much is she?
You cannot purchase a woman A woman cannot be purchased! (x4)
(Conjunto Guezi, CD)
In this song, by a young man, the word ntumbuluko is used to denote a tradition or a mindset that needs to be "killed" because it is destructive. The tradition or social practice being referred to here is the one that imposes lovolo (lobola) and justifies it as ntumbuluko. Once this "ntumbuluko" (mindset or social practice) is "killed" there will remain an ntumbuluko that is dignifying to women and serves to build the nation.
Here ntumbuluko needs to be qualified before it is celebrated or one succumbs to it.
Clearly, ntumbuluko is here associated also with bad and detrimental social norms and practices. It is part of the justification or supporting tools for the ills and evils of society. It is a word or concept used by the powerful to justify oppression of the powerless, and which is used by the rich to the poor, older people to the younger and men to women.
But this song does not only criticize ntumbuluko and make it look evil; it makes it clear that the same term can be used for evil and for good. He wants bad ntumbuluko killed and good ntumbuluko to remain. Here we clearly have a song that associates
ntumbuluko with good as well as evil. This calls for better definition of what one means when using the term ntumbuluko, in order to decide whether it is good or evil.
To summarise the perception of this category, we can say that ntumbuluko is perceived as:
1) the creation
2) everything (whole of creation or cosmos) 3) creative power
4) natural order of things 5) natural course of life (fate) 6) nature
7) tradition 8) mindset
9) social norms and practices
10) nation-building good practices and mindset 11) attitude and mindset that dignifies women
These perceptions of ntumbuluko are close to the dictionary's interpretation of the term ntumbuluko (the creation, cosmos, nature, origin and old custom). The themes of the three songs have each taken different meanings of the term ntumbuluko from the dictionary. The first has taken the creation meaning, the second the nature (natural) meaning, and the last, although its title is "Natureza" (nature), deals with ntumbuluko as traditional or social custom. It is precisely ntumbuluko as meaning 'old customs' that has an uneasy interaction with both modernity and Christian faith.
At this point it is important to find out what the Christian practitioner's perspective is of ntumbuluko and to determine the possible influence of ntumbuluko in the Christian life of Mozambique among the Tsongas. To find out about the Christian practitioner's perspective we must now turn to the Christian practitioners' category.