1.6 Lithoko Versus Praise Poetry
1.6.4 Poetic Aspects Questioned
26 | P a g e ______________________________________________
73. Greetings, Chief, Child of the Chief, Letsie!
74. You’re a chief, child of this country of Mokhachane!
75. Masopha says, Chief, forgive him, he’s erred.
76. Men often err and get forgiven.
Masopha’s plea is followed up by seroki’s own version when on Masopha’s behalf he also pleads for mercy and forgiveness from Letsie II thus:
81. Hata butle, Shoabahla ea Libata!7
82. Koena tšoela mathe mor’a Mokhachane!
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81. Tread gently, Great Soldier of the Beasts!
82. Crocodile, spit8, son of Mokhachane!
Over and above these other functions some of which have been illustrated above, lithoko are an oral narration, description and conveyance of historical information on the people’s heroes or heroines, events and philosophy, to the extent that praise appears to be just one aspect out of the many that form the text, thoko. To reiterate the inclusive functions of lithoko as opposed to praise-poetry, I want to echo Mathonsi et al (2003:1) in asserting with regard to izbongo, which also applies to lithoko, that the concept “embraces admiration, criticism, encouraging, and frightening / warning.”
27 | P a g e good sense and taste, to honour with the name of poetry that which modern writers call le vers désarticulé et invertébré, (Kunene, 1971:xi).
Kunene (ibid) interprets this remark as indicative of “an attitude of utter contempt for
… lithoko.” I wish to differ from Kunene’s take on not only Dieterlen and Kohler, but also those who still hold the view that lithoko are poetry. In my view, this is rather an expression of sheer lack of cultural background that translates into lack of appreciation for the traditional flavour and literary excellence, most importantly, the ability to realise the obvious truth that what constitutes poetry, according to the English or European standards and perspective, does not necessarily amount to the same when it comes to the African standards, particularly by the Sesotho context.
As Okpewho (1992:294) observes that it was typically un-African for some European collectors, who in their translation of the songs they encountered in African communities, tried to force those songs into schemes of versification that made music to European ears and it was equally characteristically un-African for Dieterlen, Kohler and all who share their view about lithoko to try and force them into the European poetic rhythm, syllabic metre and rhyming schemes. Therefore, referring to lithoko as poetry, is repeating the same mistake of using the European poetic name or definition which has its own poetic connotations, denotations and characteristics on the genre that is African and subsequently will not fit well into the poetic frames or outlines suggested by the word poetry.
In as much as it is not a literary sin to describe or explain African concepts using European languages, but as Okpewho (1992:294) proposes, it must be “in such a way as to bring out the poetic quality, the charm, of the original.” On the contrary, calling lithoko poetry or praise-poetry, tones down the literary quality and variety and the charm of the original. Okpewho (ibid) describes it as trying to be “fashionable”
that in the end our translation sounds just as un-African or un-Sotho as the ones the Europeans did.
Talking about rhythm, the lack of which, according to European critics, disqualified African lithoko as poetry, Kunene (1971: xii – xiii) indicates that it is described in
28 | P a g e terms of a galloping horse. Therefore, even rhythmically, lithoko is not poetry because of its “language whose main-stressed syllables are separated by widely varying numbers of syllables carrying secondary and tertiary stresses.” This is supported by Khaketla (1985: xxxiii – xxxiv) who after considering the use of rhyme in modern Sesotho poetry, concludes that because Sesotho is a tonal language, rhyme is not compatible with the Sesotho language (translation mine). Furthermore, Guma (1993:161) asserts that as opposed to Western poetry, lithoko do not only have an ever-changing rhythm but also an irregular one as the seroki composed them when they were highly charged with emotions of inspirations, exultation and did not have to observe any structural conventions that ensure a meticulously exact and balanced form. Contrary to poetry, especially Western, that relies on rhyme and regulated stanza and line structures, lithoko depend on regulated thought portrayed through balanced sentences accompanied by rhythm. While poetry relies on rhyme and metre, Guma (1993:163) attributes metaphor as the very soul of lithoko. These aspects of rhythm and metaphor, therefore, also make lithoko more of an oral recitation of its own kind than a literary associate or prototype of poetry.
It is against this background that calling lithoko praise-poetry, in my view, is not doing justice to the genre considering its diverse nature. It is in fact restricting and narrowing down their semantic scope and so giving people (especially those who are not well conversant with lithoko) a restricted and narrow impression about lithoko, misleading them into perceiving them as praise-poetry and nothing else. It is also my view that lithoko cannot be mapped onto some European or English poetic frame or structure because not all African concepts can be translated into English, lithoko being a typical example in this regard. The word poetry, therefore, appears not to be applicable to lithoko as Dieterlen and Kohler correctly point out that what is considered poetic pillars of poetry in English are not present in lithoko.
Therefore, this study adopts the term lithoko, rather than poetry or praise-poetry, to refer to the oral recitations of different forms as classified by the scholars of oral literature. In order to differentiate between each particular type of thoko / lithoko, the adopted term will be accompanied by the particular type in question at the time of
29 | P a g e usage where necessary; for instance, lithoko tsa litaola (lithoko for divining bones).