The place of oral literature in the 21st century : a perspective on Basotho proverbs
Possa, Rethabile Marriet
This study examines contemporary Sesotho proverbs with an attempt at establishing
whether they perform a significant role in society. The research highlighted the fact that
they have a role to play in the 21st century. Although not commonly used as in the
traditional setup, contemporary proverbs have their place as a day to day activity. In terms
of language development they also add value to language change and providing alternatives
in the world of challenges. Through interviews and the questionnaire, the research, indeed,
showed that contemporary proverbs' survival is guaranteed. Their survival in this modem
world is of great importance in this research.
The observation was that some of these contemporary proverbs are the same as traditional
proverbs in many aspects which include their origin and structure. Some of the
contemporary proverbs use or adopt familiar patterns to express new truths, thus reflecting
on new events or aspects of the modern society. The possibility is that those that adopt the
structure of the Sesotho traditional proverbs have all the chance of staying in the language.
Some of these contemporary proverbs, however, survive on the premise that they are jokes
created for fun by youth and other members of the creative section of the society.
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