Tshivenda stories translated into English

Date: 27 January 2014 By: News Correspondent

A former lecturer at the University of Venda, Prof Jaco Kruger, is the editor of a new collection of Venda ngano stories. Kruger is attached to the School of Music at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North West University (NWU).

Entitled The girls in the baobab: Venda stories from the Limpopo Valley (2013), the collection contains 43 ngano stories translated into English. Ngano are short stories that integrate speech with chanting and singing. The translations are accompanied by their original Tshivenda texts, song transcriptions and interpretations, while the entire collection is discussed in a comprehensive introduction.

The collection was documented from 2005 to 2011 in the Niani district by Kruger and Mr Mathuvhelo Mavhetha and translated by Rev Pfananani Masase and Mrs Tshifhiwa Mashau.

It is the third in a series on Venda verbal musical arts, focusing especially on the ngano genre. It has been produced under the auspices of a wider research project into local forms of musical art in South Africa, conducted by the School of Music at North West University (Potchefstroom Campus).

According to Kruger, the ngano project is an attempt to document as much as possible "of a rapidly disappearing art form. Ngano stories are of ancient, pre-colonial origin and have decreasing value in a changing world. Ngano performance no longer is a wide-spread communal activity, and very few people are able to recall ngano stories from their earlier lives. It appears as if current the older generation is the last to carry memories of this once vital performance art."

Contrary to popular belief, Kruger said, ngano are not mere “fireside tales” for children. "The ngano genre in Africa is one of the foundations of morality and social relations, since they confirm and critically evaluate social norms and roles."

He added that the ngano project welcomes aboard anyone concerned about the disappearance of ngano and asks interested persons to contact him at [email protected] or 072-539 1410.

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