SOUND REPETITION AS METAPHOR MARKER IN AAFERIKA@ - PART 1 - 1 INTRODUCTION

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya

Joint exploratory research on sound repetition in Setswana poetry examines AAferika@ by L.D. Raditladi as a case study. The work sets out to apply a model developed for G.M. Hopkins to determine necessary adjustments for oral literary traditions, and to study how orality appears through the sound structure, focusing on repetition as a manifestation of parallelism. The process includes collaborative translation into English, colleague feedback, performance recordings for control, and separate analyses followed by discussion to refine interpretation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

1 INTRODUCTION

2 PROCEDURE

3 SOUND REPETITION

1 SOUND REPETITION AS METAPHOR MARKER IN AAFERIKA@ BY L.D. RADITLADI Ina Biermann (Theory of Literature, University of South Africa, Pretoria) and Sekepe Matjila * Please note that the first part of the paper is by Ina Biermann and the second part by Sekepe Matjila. PART 1 1 INTRODUCTION This paper is a report on our joint exploratory work in progress1 on the role of sound repetition in Setswana poetry, exemplified with reference to AAferika@ (AAfrica@) by L.D. Raditladi. We are envisaging extending this into a larger research project together which will include more readings of Setswana poems by more than one poet. Our provisional research aims are: (1) To apply a model for the study of sound repetition which has been devised for and applied to the poetry of G.M.. Hopkins (Biermann 1991) to Setswana poems in order to establish the strength of the model and to determine what adjustments may need to be made for poems in the oral literary tradition. This aim is based on the assumption that printed poems in Setswana, by virtue of its being an African language, from part of the oral tradition. This is supported in part and at a general level by what Brown (1998:15) terms Athe debt of almost all poetic forms to oral rhythms and vocalizations@. More specifically, in the case of the poem AAferika@, the allusion to a traditional Setswana proverb may be considered to be directly representative of orality (following Zabus 1996:33 who considers allusion to proverbs in printed literature as a manifestation of the oral) . (2) To investigate how orality manifests itself in the sound of Setswana poems. A hidden assumption on which we are basing this research aim is that there is, of necessity, a specific and strong relationship between orality and the phonic organisation of poems which requires description. This is narrowed down to the specific area of sound repetition, which may be viewed as a manifestation of parallelism. It is widely accepted that parallelism in general and sound repetition in particular characterise orality in literature (see Van Gorp 1984:226 and Foley in Groenewald 1990:6) . 2 2 PROCEDURE We started our study of this text by translating together the Setswana text into English. (Notes about the translation appear in the Appendix) The translation was read by colleagues2 in the Department of African languages at Unisa and suggestions for changes were selectively incorporated. We consider the translation process itself to be an initial stage in our interpretation, because some of the discussions about grammatical categories, for instance, which arose from the translation, turned out to aid our subsequent interpretation of the central tenor-vehicle relationship. After completing the translation, we collected recordings of performances3 on cassette tobe used as control mechanism in the study of sound repetition. Our next step was to do separate analyses of the poem based on what each of us found to be salient aspects of it. This was followed by a series of discussions ofour individual readings. Here follows, then, the versions of our readings that have emerged from these discussions. Ina Biermann’s reading is from the entry point of sound repetition and Sekepe Matjila=s from that of the semantic associations that are activated by the central metaphorical construction. It may be worth noting that noth ofus in the initial stages ofour separate readings ofthe poem, perceived the second stanza of the poem as a foregrounded part, and that we think this can be explained on the grounds ofthe metaphor we identified in line 9. 3 SOUND REPETITION My finding is that sound repetition in this poem serves specifically as a marker of metaphorical information in the sense that it accentuates, continues and establishes relationships between elements of metaphorical constructions. To put it more bluntly, I think that I identified the foregrounded stanza and the central metaphor itself because the sound repe

FAQs

What is the main focus of the study?

The study focuses on how sound repetition functions in Setswana poetry, using AAferika@ as an exemplifying text.

How do the researchers conduct their analysis?

They collaboratively translate the Setswana text into English, incorporate suggestions from colleagues, collect performance recordings as control, and perform separate analyses followed by discussions of individual readings.

What role does sound repetition play in the poem?

Sound repetition acts as a marker of metaphorical information by accentuating and establishing relationships between elements in metaphorical constructions, and it also activates intertextual links to a Setswana proverb.

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya