Litema

Litema (pronounced: /ditʼɪːma/; also spelled Ditema; Singular: Tema, Sesotho for "field") is a form of Sotho mural art composed of decorative geometric patterns, commonly associated with the South Sotho tradition today practised in Lesotho and neighbouring areas of South Africa. Basotho women generate litema on the outer walls of homesteads by means of engraving, painting, relief mouldings and mosaic. Typically the geometric patterns are scratched with a forefinger or hair comb into the wet top layer of fresh clay and dung plaster, and are then painted with natural dyes or, in contemporary times, manufactured paint. Patterns resemble objects from the natural world and most often mimic ploughed fields or depict plant and animal life, sometimes associated with clan totems. Litema are not a permanent facade design, but decay in the sun or may be washed away by a heavy rain. It is common for women of an entire village to apply litema on special occasions such as a wedding or a religious ceremony.

The Sotho noun litema denoting "Sesotho mural art" also refers to the associated concepts of "ploughed lands" and "texts". It is derived from the verb stem -lema (in the infinitive, ho lema "to cultivate"), which is a reflex of the Proto-Bantu root *-dɪ̀m- "to cultivate (esp. with hoe)". The orthographic <l> in li- (Class 10 noun class prefix for Sotho nouns) is pronounced [d] in Sotho since [d] is an allophone of /l/ occurring before the close vowels, /i/ and /u/. The orthographic <e> can have three possible values in Sotho: /ɪ/, /ɛ/, and /e/. In <litema> is pronounced /ɪ/, as per the Proto-Bantu root.

The litema patterns are characterised by a multi-stage symmetry. Patterns are generally arranged in square cells. A wall to be shaped is divided into a grid to form the cells. Each cell is applied with the same pattern, which is usually rotated or mirrored from cell to cell. The symmetry of the overall pattern thus depends on the symmetries present in the basic pattern. There are designs with only one mirror axis in the basic patterns that result in an overall impression of flowing in one direction. Other basic patterns have several axes of symmetry or a rotational symmetry, and give the overall pattern a rather flat ornamental impression. The colour design is restrained, usually only two colours are used

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