Retelling the stories :the impact of Aesop's fables on the development of Xhosa children literature.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to trace how Aesop's fables impacted on the development of Xhosa children's literature from the 1920s. The questions which come to mind about Aesop's fables are: How were Aesop's fables incorporated into Xhosa children's literature? Why did the the poets write some of the fables in poetic form? What docs poetic form contribute which prose narrative docs not? In an attempt to answer the above questions, a brief account of Aesop's life is outlined. The appearance of his fables in Xhosa literature is traced from the emergence of the Stewart .Xhosa Readers in the 1920s. their translation from English into Xhosa in the 1950s up to a period when these fables appeared as narrative poems. Three poems selected randomly from the anthologies of Sinxo in Thoba Sikutyele 1959. Manyase in Umlii kaPhalo I960 and Jolobe in Indyebo Yesihobe 1970 are analysed. Eli nqaku lijolise ekuphicotheni indimayeentsomi zika-Ae.sop kuphuhliso loncwadi Iwabantwana IwesiXhosa. Imibuzo ethi qatha ngeentsomi zika-Aesop yile: Kwenzeka njani na ukuba ezi nt.somi zezibe yin.xalenye yoncwadi IwesiXhosa lwabantw;»na? Yintoni eyenza ukuba iimbongi zosiba zizibhale ezi ntsomi njcngemibongo? Yinloni na le ifumanekayo kwisihobe cngckhoyo kwibali nje? Injongo ycli nqaku iya kufezekiswa ngokuba kunikwe imbali cmfutshane ngo-Acsop. ekungacaci ncam nokuba wayekhona na. ukuze emva koko kulandwe umkhondo wezi ntsomi ukususela kwi.xesha leStcwart .Khosa Readers ngethuba lowe-1920. uguqulelo Iwazo csiXhoseni kwithuba knve-1950 kuze kuthi ga kwixesha lokubhalwa kwazo okwesihobo. Umbhali ugqibela ngokuhlalutya imibongo emithathu ekhethwe nje kwingqokclcia yemibongo yezi mbongi zosiba zilandelayo. u.Sinxo kuTlwba Sikutyele. uMiinyasc kuMlu kal'luito l960noJolobekwi(V£/v(.'/)o Yesihobe 1970.