“TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THAT IS THE QUESTION”: THE CASE OF LITHOKO VS PRAISE POETRY.

Abstract

For a long time, lithoko have been understood and so referred to as not just poetry but praise poetry. This is evidenced in some of the classical lithoko analysts such as Damane and Sanders (1974), and Kunene (1971) in their texts: Lithoko sotho Praise poems and Heroic Poetry of the Basotho respectively. The same perception still prevails in the eyes and minds of many modern and oral literature analysts even today. Hence the question this paper poses: whether lithoko are to be or not to be perceived as praise poetry. This paper therefore sets out to pursue this critical question regarding lithoko. In order to answer this question, the following aspects: definition, classification, functions and poetic aspects such as metre and rhyme of both lithoko and praise poetry are considered. It is observed that lithoko as a literary oral genre, are neither poetry nor praise poetry but lithoko, as praise is one of the many elements contained in lithoko.