Culture through songs: Excavating indigenous Basotho knowledge in songs in Sannere’s Pha-Badimo

Abstract

For the Basotho people songs are not just art. They are also vital mechanisms through which culture is transmitted. Additionally, writing is a fairly new phenomenon and means of information communication for them. Prior to writing being introduced, oral forms of literature were the main ways through which cultural transference, teaching, learning, and overall information communication took place. The introduction of writing among the Basotho did not replace orature. It only supplemented it as culture is still transmitted orally through methods that include songs, and lessons are still taught through oral forms of literature. In order to demonstrate the role played by songs in cultural transmission, this research excavates indigenous Basotho knowledge that is embedded in Sannere’s (2024) extended play titled Pha-Balimo. In it, the artist explored themes including monogenesis, circular time, a cyclical life journey, balimo, as well as cornerstones of the Basotho people’s societies including proverbs, clan names, myths, and dreams. This research builds on the transdisciplinary work of Phafoli and Khotso (2020) on Sesotho songs. Due to the research being centred on songs, the cultural transmission through music approach was employed.