imbongi
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪmˈbɒŋɡi/
ipa: /ɪmˈbɔŋɡi/
ipa: /-ˈbɑŋ-/
ipa: /ɪmˈbɔːŋɡi/
Forms: form: izimbongi
form: iimbongi
form: imbongis
Etymology: Borrowed from Zulu imbongi and Xhosa imbongi. The plural izimbongi is derived from Zulu, while iimbongi is from Xhosa.
Senses: examples: text: Let us consider the contemporary oral poetry of the Xhosa Bantu[…], and its highest form, the praise-poetry of male tradents, who were attached until recently to tribal chiefs. The tradents are imbongi ‘praise poets’ and the genre of their work is the izibongo ‘praise poem.’ “The lines of the imbongi’s oral izibongo do not display either syllabic or quantitative meter … though there is some reason to believe that one may be able to determine certain recurrent intonational patterns that function as meter” ([Jeff] Opland 1975: 194).
ref: 1980, M. O'Connor, “Hebrew Verse Structure”, in Hebrew Verse Structure, Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, published 1997, →ISBN, section 1.7.2 (Constriction in Other Languages), page 157:
text: […] Mbutuma and Manisi are both "traditional" iimbongi, but Manisi's oral poetry is more historical than Mbutuma's – so that the bearer of a tradition is an individual creative artist even though he shares attributes with other participants in the tradition. […] Few Xhosa iimbongi today are untouched by urbanization, literacy, and exposure to mass media. How have these forces affected the tradition? To what extent can modern iimbongi be considered traditional?
ref: 1983, Jeff Opland, “Change in the Tradition”, in Xhosa Oral Poetry: Aspects of a Black South African Tradition (Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture; 7), Cambridge; New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 234:
text: In the national figures this bawdy laughter seems hardly ever to be present; it is only slyly winked at once in the King's praises in the "pillow" reference, but on the whole it is suppressed or censored out by successive izimbongi.
ref: 1991, Liz Gunner and Mafika [Pascal] Gwala, translators and editors, “Introduction: Izibongo, Power, and the Popular Voice”, in Musho!: Zulu Popular Praises (African Historical Sources; no. 3), East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Press, →ISBN:
text: Sunday Times Managing Editor, Ray Hartley – a former political correspondent – is brutal about the state of political journalism. He questions the lack of analysis and debate about government policy and dismisses a lot of the writing about President [Thabo] Mbeki and the government as 'hagiography'. While the government may have its media imbongis (praise singers), much of the problem lies with inexperienced political reports and poor newsroom leadership.
ref: 2005, Angela Quintal, “Political Reporting”, in Adrian Hadland, editor, Essays on South African Journalism, Cape Town: HSRC Press, published 2006, →ISBN, pages 55–56:
text: Modern South African film directors and performers as bards, izimbongi or storytellers have only residues of existing 'traditional societies' to bring to the surface. Where primarily oral cultures elaborate their stories within the epic form, fables and extraordinary heroes and fantasies, the izimbongi in The People's Poet and Songololo are more concerned with cultural loss, oppression, colonisation and emancipation.
ref: 2006, Keyan G[ray] Tomaselli, “Orality in African Cinema: Reasoning, Representation and Relativism”, in Encountering Modernity: Twentieth Century South African Cinemas (SAVUSA Series; 4), Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers; South Africa: UNISA Press, →ISBN, page 92:
text: Mandhlakazi provided a description of the dress and actions of izimbongi (praise singers) as they recited and performed praises and told Stuart, / I, Mandhlakazi, once asked a son of Magolwana how it was that the Zulu izimbongi were able to remember the praises of kings to so extraordinary a degree[…]. He said it was because they were given always tripe to eat. Moreover, they used to eat the drug umklele, […]
ref: 2015, Elizabeth A. Eldredge, “Oral Traditions in the Reconstruction of South African History”, in Kingdoms and Chiefdoms of Southeastern Africa: Oral Traditions and History, 1400–1830 (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora; 64), Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press; Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 46:
text: An interesting exception to the generally formal, apprenticeship-based training assumed for the professions is that of the imbongi, or praise-poet, among groups such as the Zulu and Xhosa in southern Africa. The imbongi is in many ways a unique figure in traditional society; his role is part historian, part counselor, part social and political critic. The imbongi fulfills a role similar to that played by the medieval bard, relying both on the established oral tradition and his own ability to improvise in creating the appropriate izibongo (praise-poem) for the occasion.
ref: 2018, Timothy Reagan, “‘A Wise Child is Talked to in Proverbs’: Indigenous Educational Thought and Practice in Africa”, in Non-Western Educational Traditions: Local Approaches to Thought and Practice, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 83:
glosses: A praise singer, a traditional bard in Zulu culture.