Short description
An appreciation of the creative imagination and linguistic versality of the Zulu people.
Long description
A publication that contributes to the recording and understanding of a significant aspect of South Africa's cultural heritage. It is a title about human creativity. Not the creativity of the plastic arts, or of music, but rather that of the poet, the wordsmith. The title gives an overview of the history of the Nguni cattle and their economic, social, political and spiritual importance to the Zulu people, both past and present. It examines the vital role played by cattle and cattle-related imagery in the oral tradition of the Zulu people – in Zulu poetry, tales, proverbs and riddles. The colour and pattern of a hide or the shape of a pair of horns, is metaphorically linked to the names of animals, birds, plants and the everyday objects familiar to pastoralists in nature.