Biografie in die pryslied: die bydrae van Antjie Krog naas twee Xhosa-pryssangers

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Periodical article

Title:	Biografie in die pryslied: die bydrae van Antjie Krog naas twee Xhosa-pryssangers
Author:	Van Niekerk, Jacomien
Year:	2007
Periodical:	Tydskrif vir letterkunde
Volume:	44
Issue:	2
Pages:	29-45
Language:	Afrikaans
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	praise poetry Xhosa biography
About persons:	Anna Elizabeth Krog (1952-) Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013)
External link:	https://doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v44i2.29789
Abstract:	This article explores South African praise poems as biographical documents. Antjie Krog's poem 'Pryslied' (Praise Poem), written in reaction to Nelson Mandela's presidential inauguration (1994), is compared to two Xhosa praise poems ('izibongo') performed at the inauguration. This comparison makes an appreciation of Krog's poem as a praise poem possible. The three poems are specifically analysed as texts in which the biography of Mandela is both reproduced and created. From the analysis it becomes clear to what extent Krog applies the conventions and means of the traditional Xhosa praise poem in her poem. Ultimately, the focus of the article is on the contribution Krog's poem makes not only to Mandela's biography, but also to the genre of the praise poem in South Africa and to South African literature. However, problematic aspects of Krog's use of the 'izibongo' tradition are also discussed, and a possible solution is suggested. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English, text in Afrikaans. [Journal abstract]