African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 872
Tsumo-shumo (“sense” or “wisdom” accepted by all, as in proverbs), similes, and
idioms are sometimes referred to as zvirungwnutauro (utterances that add salt to speech),
and are highly regarded speech acts in Shona society. Their authoritative power emanates
from the supposition that they are the views and opinions of the ancestors, which is also
emphasized through the formulaic introduction “Vakuru vakati…” (as the elders say…).
Proverbs were traditionally used to inculcate Shona customary law and rules of conduct,
and even though they can be utilized in everyday speech, they continue to be employed
within jural or educational contexts. Structurally, tsumo-shumo have two distinct, or
parallel components, with a pragmatic emphasis on the independent use of the first part
as a truncated proverb.
Riddles are called chirahwe in Zezuro, while in Karanga they are chirabwe, and in
Manyika and Korekore they are called chipari and chirapi, respectively. Chirahwe are
not interrogative in form, but appear more commonly as declaratives. In the past,
Chirahwe were also used as a form of evening entertainment for children in between
ngano sessions. They are no longer considered children’s entertainment and can now be
commonly found in songs, poetry, narrative, and coded messages of adults.
In addition, under the rubric of Shona oral literature, there is a distinct genre of Shona
folk speech called “Deep Shona,” which is the ritualistic coded language used during the
Shona spirit-medium divination. Deep Shona is different from divination poetry, which is
an amalgam of archaic Shona lexicons and related Bantu contact or loan words that are
“not readily intelligible” (Bourdillion 1991, 236).
Songs, like riddles, are used as an important method of teaching children about
culture, society, and group identity. The most common form of song within oral literature
is the nzio dzokupunza, the category of songs that conclude a storytelling session (Hannan
1954). Another important subcategory of song is kudeketera, which Paul Berliner
describes as the sung poetry that occurs with mbira (thumb piano) music. Berliner
identified three distinct and mutually inclusive types of kudeketera: the fixedline, the
narrative, and the mosaic. The fixed line type has a core set of lyrics that are repeated
throughout the composition, while the narrative type is a “long and involved, rapidly
sung, storytelling style” that adheres to more conventional composition strategies (1978,
162). Finally, the mosaic style is an improvisational style of sung poetry, which can
include proverbs, praise poems, and oral history.
Material Culture
Shona material culture encompasses all physical objects produced in traditional ways,
which embody the broad categories of folk architecture, folk arts and crafts, and
foodways. Shona folk architecture is a symbolic spatial representation of Shona culture
and society. The traditional circular or womb-like building design corresponds with the
importance the Shona attribute to procreation in maintaining the growth and development
of the lineage. Within the musha (rural home compound) are other symbolic spaces
segmented by gender, such as the dare, which is an exclusively male social space, or the
chikhova, a display shelf for a woman’s pots (which are a sacred representation of
woman/motherhood).