South African Heritage Day: Consider Praise Poetry

Recently I was watching Called by Birds - South Africa's Cultural Heritage a YouTube video from @thenatureboxfilms. Always one to learn something new, I went down a rabbit hole searching for examples of animals in praise poetry. In South Africa specifically, praise poetry is a genre of oral literature by speakers of isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, Setswana, Sesotho and others. Imisioluwa Ogunsunlade in Praise Poems in Africa wrote that praise poetry ...

" ... appreciates the quality or captures the essence of a human, superhuman or an inanimate object ranging from towns, plants, animals, rivers to events. It is used to celebrate achievements and it is one of the most common and established oral poetic forms in Africa." (emphases added)

Praise poetry exists throughout Africa. Academia has given much attention to praise poetry. A quick search led me to a lot of references with the presence of animals (wild and domestic) in them - join me in my rabbit hole by searching too.

I can recommend reading Totems and the Art of Shona Praise Poetry - the Lost Language of our Ancestors where the author Tafadzwa Tichawangana blogs about finding his personal totem praise poetry. Also consider reading Africa is slowly losing the power of praise poetry

by Paballo Chauke who writes about the important role of praise poets and praise poetry.

Have you considered including poetry in your nature journaling?

I recently found The Rhinoceros by Credo Mutwa where the poet calls the animal:

...you are the thunder of the valleys

You are the roar among mountains

You are the noise upon the plains...

You can read the poem in its entirety in the book form: Isilwane: The Animal - Tales and Fables of Africa (Struik: 1996). Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa was a prolific writer and controversial figure. His books draw upon African mythology, traditional Zulu folklore, extraterrestrial encounters and his own personal encounters. You can also read his life history on South African History Online.

Learn more about poetry in South Africa from the scholarly writings of South Africa's first Poet Laureate, Mazisi Raymond Kunene, who is known as a champion of African oral language traditions and literature "... conveying their inherent value in his writings which were originally in Zulu before being translated into other languages."

Does poetry inspire you in your nature journal?

Do you create spoken or written poetry?

Do you include this in your nature journal?

Share your thoughts and favourites in the comments.