Analysis of the language techniques and thematic - University of the ...

oeleleoelele when one takes a break from the lengthy lifela. The information he obtained
from different quarters of Basotho is that this music is considered and accepted as
Sesotho music. He writes:
…Seoeleoelele is a nearest thing to a contemporary
Basotho national music. ….Today seoeleoelele music is
popular to some extent with virtually all segments of
Lesotho’s resident and non-resident population. For the
exclusively Sesotho speaking, this is their favourite music;
but even the highly educated enjoy it, no longer look down
upon it, and appreciate its sagacity, pointed humor and
Sesotho aesthetic and cultural qualities.
This last quotation summarises and strengthens the argument that Basotho accordion
music is currently seen and accepted as Basotho traditional music. The view shared by
Coplan is closer to the study in that it poses a challenge to the researcher to investigate
why Basotho accordion music is seen as Sesotho music. Coplan’s contention that it is
nearest thing to contemporary Basotho national music is the idea that is shared by most
Basotho, illiterate and educated alike, both inside and outside the country. It is not
unusual to hear students from Lesotho studying abroad observe that accordion music
brings them closer to home because of its nature and that it covers various aspects that
relate to Basotho lives in general, and hence they regard it as a dynamic Basotho
traditional music. That is, this type of music changes with times, for instance, from famo
to focho and from focho to its current status where it is accepted as ‘mino oa Sesotho or
‘mino oa koriana thus traditional Sesotho music.
1.7.2 BASOTHO MIGRANT LABOURER’S LIFELA/TRAVELLERS’ SONGS
Academics like Coplan (1985 -1995), Mokitimi (1982) and Wells (1994) link travellers’
songs to Basotho accordion music as they consider it as a modified lifela as it is
accompanied by instruments. This link led the researcher to read some books and journals
on lifela-tsa-litsamaea-naha. It is argued that migrant labour experiences contributed
much towards the birth of Basotho accordion music. The researcher would, in a nutshell,
try to establish the relationship looking at the similarities and differences of lifela and
Basotho accordion music. Among the works read only three will be mentioned, those of
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