THE EBYEBUGO TRADITION AMONG THE HAYA

Some scholars have argued that the art of praise poetry in African will soon be extinct. In one hand, this assertion may seem to be true while on the other hand, it is not. This outstanding book provides a new outlook on how African praise poetry, especially the Haya ebyebugo tradition, should be conceived and perpetuated. The poems have been categorized in term of their three historical developments: pre-independence, post-independence and contemporary, by identifying evolutionary changes in their performance, imagery, content, form and context. This is the most comprehensive survey of one of the Haya oral traditions. This book, therefore, provides answers to such questions as, what ebyebugo are, who perform them, when and where they are performed, how and why the Haya performed them, what differences there are between pre- colonial, post-colonial and contemporary ebyebugo, and what the future prospects are like for this tradition. This volume is a contribution to scholars in field of African oral tradition and literature, or anyone else who may be considering pursuing his or her interest in Haya oral traditions and literatures.

Autorentext

Merchades Method Rutechura, MA: Studied African Languages and Literature at UW-Madison. He has a B.A. with Education degree (Swahili and English) from the University of Dar es Salaam. He has worked as an FLTA, teaching Swahili at SIT in Vermont and then at the UW-Madison. Currently, Mr. Rutechura is a Swahili lecturer at Stanford University.