Tale
Anthologie rundi
Not translated into English
Firmin Rodegem · 1973
Synopsis
An anthology of the oral literature of Burundi, drawn from a corpus collected over twenty years and arranged under two main headings. Noble poetry offers pastoral eulogies, sung for the cattle, incantations and odes; popular poetry, songs of every kind, down to the modulated greetings that two friends sing on meeting again. The prose brings together cante-fables, tales and legends, then the “lapidary prose” of proverbs, sayings and riddles. All the texts are given in Kirundi and in French, with notes.
Context
The work appeared in Paris at Armand Colin, twelfth volume of the Classiques africains, in four hundred and seventeen pages, with two maps, eleven photographs and an index; the corpus had been collected from 1947 to 1967. It follows by three years the dictionary by the same author. Rodegem classifies the genres partly according to Rundi terminology, partly according to their rhythm and tone, a criterion that critics have judged insufficiently supported. Kirundi distinguishes pastoral praises, ibicuba, from heroic eulogies, amazina.
Who it is for
A bilingual collection, in Kirundi and French, to be browsed genre by genre; the notes shed light on the language and its uses.
Prizes and reception
Anne Stanford sees in it one of the author's most important contributions to the knowledge of Burundi's heritage.
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