Thanksgiving songs in contemporary Pedi society

Abstract

This article is the dissemination of an investigation of the Pedi tradition of Thanksgiving Songs that continued in spite of all cultural suppression. This article discusses the form, content and functions of Pedi Thanksgiving Songs as guided by the research questions and hypothesis of the study. Content is discussed with reference to African indigenous knowledge about what a ‘human-musical product’ entails in the African world view. It is a creative-artistic content informed by human, philosophical, artistic, spiritual, socio-contextual, and health perspectives indigenous to Africa. The particular Pedi Thanksgiving Song discussed here serves as an example and/or representation of the general African traditional perspective of musical practice and creativity. Specifically, the study attempts to establish the reality that music making is not restricted to organized sound only; it also includes a symbolic expression of a social and cultural organization, which reflects the values, the past and present ways of life of human beings.