Hainteny

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Hainteny (/ˌha.inˈte.ni/, Malagasy for "knowledge of words") is a traditional form of Malagasy oral literature and poetry, involving heavy use of metaphor (kennings). It is associated primarily with the Merina people of Madagascar. In its use of metaphor and allusion it resembles another type of poetry, the Malay pantun, and Fox suggests "it seems likely the Merina brought with them a Malayo-Polynesian poetic tradition" to Madagascar. Hainteny is an oral form of poetry. It was first collected on the orders of Queen Ranavalona I in the 19th century. The French writer Jean Paulhan, who stayed in Madagascar in 1908 to 1910 made an intensive study of the hainteny and published a book of translations in 1913.

Hainteny is closely related to the genres of ohabolana (proverbs, sayings) and kabary (rhetorics).

[edit] References

• L. Fox (trans.), Hainteny, the Traditional Poetry of Madagascar , Bucknell University Press (1990), ISBN 978-0838751756.
• Jean Paulhan, Hainteny merina (1913)
• J. A. Houlder, Ohabolana, or Malagasy Proverbs, Illustrating the Wit and Wisdom of the Hova of Madagascar (1915).
• Dictionnaire International des Termes Littéraires (in French)