Abstract
In this article representation of black African youth in the Zulu novel “Kungasa ngifile” is examined. The view is presented that the novel, though seeming to be politically neutral, deals with images of the youth that have ideological concerns in terms of theme, plot action and character portrayal. Such ideological modes of representation seem to be in tune with the present call for moral rejuvenation and the empowerment of the youth who lost opportunities during the liberation struggle. In this respect, the novel backs positive post-apartheid cultural forms.
Highlights
Representations of the black African youth in novels in African languages in Southern Africa have always been inescapably linked to historical and cultural foundations and as such, can be understood to be concerned with ideological issues
The representations are ideological in the sense that thematic concerns, plot action and character portrayal deal with social, political, economic and cultural productions and reproductions that aim to normalise, totalise and naturalise assumptions, values and norms of the time
Such modes of portraying the black African youngsters are evident in three modern literary periods of African literature in South Africa: the missionary literary period, which is “roughly from the early 1800s to the beginning of the twentieth century” (Ntuli & Swanepoel, 1993:6), the apartheid literary period, which encompasses literary texts written under apartheid’s repressive laws and violent conditions and the post-apartheid literary period, which commences with the inception of democracy in 1994
Summary
Representations of the black African youth in novels in African languages in Southern Africa have always been inescapably linked to historical and cultural foundations and as such, can be understood to be concerned with ideological issues. The representations are ideological in the sense that thematic concerns, plot action and character portrayal deal with social, political, economic and cultural productions and reproductions that aim to normalise, totalise and naturalise assumptions, values and norms of the time. Such modes of portraying the black African youngsters are evident in three modern literary periods of African literature in South Africa: the missionary literary period, which is “roughly from the early 1800s to the beginning of the twentieth century” (Ntuli & Swanepoel, 1993:6), the apartheid literary period, which encompasses literary texts written under apartheid’s repressive laws and violent conditions and the post-apartheid literary period, which commences with the inception of democracy in 1994. The article proceeds with the representations of youth in missionary novels and will concentrate on Thomas Mofolo’s trilogy Moeti wa botjhabela (1907), Pitseng (1910) and Chaka (1925)
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