The writer as philosopher: interview with Mazisi Kunene

Abstract

Mazisi Raymond Kunene, born in Durban in 1930, is one of the leading South African commentators on African Thought Systems, which could be understood as the analysis and systematization of African cosmological traditions that have influenced and shaped the corpus of African raison d'etre for social change and development. Another area of specialization is the epic form as a vehicle for thought, modernization and social change. Many of his works have been inaccessible to a broad readership, due to the inability of non-Zulu speakers to understand his work in the original. Much of his work still remains unpublished and untranslated. However, translations that do exist (and there are a few), have established him as a writer who to some extent has revolutionized modem Zulu literature in his reliance on traditional stylistic techniques, rather than embracing European literary strategies. To this end Zulu Poems (1970) was critically acclaimed for its richness in insight and innovative translation which retained ...