iimbongi

[…] Mbutuma and Manisi are both "traditional" iimbongi, but Manisi's oral poetry is more historical than Mbutuma's – so that the bearer of a tradition is an individual creative artist even though he shares attributes with other participants in the tradition. […] Few Xhosa iimbongi today are untouched by urbanization, literacy, and exposure to mass media. How have these forces affected the tradition? To what extent can modern iimbongi be considered traditional?

1983, Jeff Opland, “Change in the Tradition”, in Xhosa Oral Poetry: Aspects of a Black South African Tradition (Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture; 7), Cambridge; New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 234