Iintlombe Zamagqirha : an assessment of the meaning and value of Xhosa-speaking diviners' songs
Traditional Xhosa speaking diviners operate within the broad framework of traditional 'Nguni' thought patterns. They use standard methods and techniques of treating and involving practices in which the diviner works with the assistance of the ancestors. They also use diviners' songs either from the established repertory or their own, original songs based on these models. However, these people practice their profession at the beginning of the twenty-first century in city and rural localities, mingling with people of different cultural and educational backgrounds. As traditional healers, diviners use a whole range of treatments at hand, and the inevitable mixing of resources, languages and customs which occurs when coping with 'mixed' communities, means that the attitudes and methods of diviners are not exactly the same. Because of their different and individual experiences, diviners tend to develop different views and strategies to achieve effective healing, and this impacts on the music they use.
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