TY - JOUR
KW - Changing culture
KW - Children s literature
KW - Form and content
KW - Orature
AU - T. Nyoni
AU - M. Nyoni
AB - This research sought to look into the form and content of children s poetry and games in Shona. It was premised on the view that these aspects are part and parcel of the rich African heritage of orature and are an important component of Shona indigenous knowledge systems, hence these cannot be simply ignored more so when it comes to the process of socialization. The objective was to analyze critically these so-called play poems and games in terms of their form and content and see what is embedded in them. Data was gathered through observation as children went about their business of play. The research concluded that these poems and games cannot be simply treated as child s play as their content is  loaded . They are actually a silent but powerful vehicle for the inculcation of certain values and attitudes that influence the children s own lives later whether positively or negatively, at home or away from their comfort zones in the global village. As part of the African Indigenous Knowledge System, which has sustained us for centuries such intangible heritage should not be let to just spill from our cultural hands. The various forms they take also allow children to simulate real life situations and learn adult roles vicariously and thus prepare them for the challenges life proffers not as shadows of other people but as proud beings who can cast their own shadows on the kaleidoscopic cultural terrain.
BT - Theory and Practice in Language Studies
DO - 10.4304/tpls.3.2.233-243
LA - English
M1 - 2
N1 - Publisher: Academy Publisher
N2 - This research sought to look into the form and content of children s poetry and games in Shona. It was premised on the view that these aspects are part and parcel of the rich African heritage of orature and are an important component of Shona indigenous knowledge systems, hence these cannot be simply ignored more so when it comes to the process of socialization. The objective was to analyze critically these so-called play poems and games in terms of their form and content and see what is embedded in them. Data was gathered through observation as children went about their business of play. The research concluded that these poems and games cannot be simply treated as child s play as their content is  loaded . They are actually a silent but powerful vehicle for the inculcation of certain values and attitudes that influence the children s own lives later whether positively or negatively, at home or away from their comfort zones in the global village. As part of the African Indigenous Knowledge System, which has sustained us for centuries such intangible heritage should not be let to just spill from our cultural hands. The various forms they take also allow children to simulate real life situations and learn adult roles vicariously and thus prepare them for the challenges life proffers not as shadows of other people but as proud beings who can cast their own shadows on the kaleidoscopic cultural terrain.
PY - 2013
SP - 233
EP - 243
T2 - Theory and Practice in Language Studies
TI - The form and content of children s poetry and games on a kaleidoscopic cultural terrain
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84901237565&doi=10.4304%2ftpls.3.2.233-243&partnerID=40&md5=0e5d8af3394e5b09ab638ecd737f160f
VL - 3
SN - 17992591 (ISSN)
ER -