The Manipulation of Myth in a Tavara Chiefdom

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Periodical article

Title:	The Manipulation of Myth in a Tavara Chiefdom
Author:	Bourdillon, M.F.C.
Year:	1972
Periodical:	Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:	42
Issue:	2
Period:	April
Pages:	112-121
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zimbabwe
Subjects:	Tavara polity myths (form) Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External links:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1158980 http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pao:&rft_dat=xri:pao:article:4011-1972-042-00-000010
Abstract:	A study of two versions of a myth from the Tavara chiefdom in Choma in north-eastern Rhodesia, which describes how two major lineages have used other mythical sources, in order to create stories which should affirm the prestige of the lineage in question. The versions of the myth refer to the rights to existence of three early ancestors of the present chiefly dynasty. By re-interpreting the myth, by which the lineages claimed to be descended from the original owner of the land, mythical elements seemed to have been borrowed from the neighbouring Korekore. After assessing the fact that mental processes, involved in such re-interpretations, purpose to produce functional objects, the author advocates an analysis of the primary intentions of the narratives instead of an analysis in terms of aesthetic structures, such as made by Lévi-Strauss in his Mythologiques. Notes, ref., summary in french.