Izibongo – the political art of praising: poetical socio‐regulative discourse in Zulu society

Abstract This paper presents Zulu praise‐poetry, izibongo, as a genre of fundamental political and socio‐regulative relevance, an interpretation which within Zulu society seems to have been continually valid until today. The central feature of izibongo in this perspective concerns the ambiguous status of language in praising: in one and the same poem, it can also be used for the sake of public criticism. This is not only due to the logical possibilities of wordplay (i.e. using verbal artistry to ironize etc.) but is also enforced by the principle of ‘poetic licence’ which applies to most south‐east African societies, granting freedom of expression to public statements made in the form of praise poetry (cf. Vail & White 1991). This principle, in combination with the poet's obligation (a) to paint a full and true picture of the praised and the social life involved, and (b) to contribute to a socially accepted, just progression of social life, leads to izibongo being regarded as documenting and forming a self‐descriptive and normative social discourse of Zulu society. This discourse is necessarily linked to the basic political structure of Zulu society, and in order to treat this aspect more deeply, Gluckman's work on ‘ritual licence’ in relation to ‘poetic licence’ and izibongo is discussed. Common features point at an interdependence of power between the ruler and the people, between which the poet (and praise‐poetry on the whole) mediates, reconciling their interests for the common good of society. This is directly related to the standards of ‘reasonable rulership’ which are socially defined and publicly depicted and reformulated in izibongo. This notion is presented as the conceptual normative centre of a historically flexible tradition of reasonable socio‐regulative discourse, in which potentially every member of society participates.