Thesis Hum 2012 Macabela M V.Pdf
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The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University Country and City: A study of autobiographical tropes in Ncumisa Vapi’s novel Litshona liphume by Monwabisi Victor MacabelaTown Thesis submitted in fulfilmentCape of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in African Languagesof and Literatures at the University of Cape Town University Supervisor: Adjunct Professor T. Dowling Date: 5 June 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION: THE TITLE OF THE THESIS ...................................................................... 4 CHAPTER ONE: AIMS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH, LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 6 1.2 Statement of the problem ........................................................................ 7 1.3 Aims of the research ................................................................................. 7 1.4 Significance of the study ...........................................................................Town 9 1.5 Literature review ..................................................................................... 10 1.5.1 Themes of Xhosa novels ............................................................. 10 1.5.2 Scholarly works on Xhosa Capenovels ................................................ 13 1.6 Methodology ...........................................................................................of 19 1.7 Delimitations of study area ..................................................................... 20 1.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TROPES .............................. 23 2.1 IntroductionUniversity ............................................................................................ 23 2.2 Vapi’s historical background ................................................................... 23 2.3 Autobiographical features ...................................................................... 36 2.3.1 Defining the self through place................................................... 37 2.3.2 Fatherless households create strong women (in the absence of her father Vapi becomes the head of the family) ...................... 44 2.3.3 Reaching selfhood through adversity ......................................... 46 2.3.4 Leaders are born, not created .................................................... 57 2.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 60 1 CHAPTER THREE: VAPI AS CREATIVE WRITER OF LITSHONA LIPHUME .......................... 61 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 61 3.2 Language ................................................................................................. 61 3.2.1 The title of the novel ................................................................... 63 3.2.2 Figures of speech ........................................................................ 68 3.2.3 Imagery and irony ....................................................................... 69 3.2.4 Simile ........................................................................................... 72 3.2.5 Rhetorical questions ................................................................... 74 3.2.6 Hyperbole .................................................................................... 75 3.2.7 Ideophones ................................................................................. 77 3.3 The link between the writer and the community ................................... 80 3.4 The writer as a non-racist .......................................................................Town 84 3.5 The writer as a traditionalist ................................................................... 86 3.5.1 Traditional healers ...................................................................... 86 3.5.2 Wedding ceremonies ..................................................................Cape 87 3.6 Names of characters as partof of the writer’s creativity ........................... 90 3.6.1 Names in Xhosa fiction ............................................................... 90 3.6.2 Names in Vapi’s novel ................................................................. 95 3.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 110 CHAPTER FOUR: BELIEFS IN LITSHONA LIPHUME ......................................................... 111 4.1 IntroductionUniversity .......................................................................................... 111 4.2 Religion.................................................................................................. 111 4.3 Politics ................................................................................................... 120 4.4 Health ................................................................................................... 132 4.5 Education .............................................................................................. 134 4.6 Culture ................................................................................................... 136 4.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 142 2 CHAPTER FIVE: FEMINISM AND UBUNTU IN LITSHONA LIPHUME ............................... 143 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 143 5.2 African feminism ................................................................................... 143 5.3 Gender domination in Litshona liphume .............................................. 144 5.4 Women characters in Litshona liphume ............................................... 149 5.5 Men in Litshona liphume ...................................................................... 156 5.6 Ubuntu .................................................................................................. 160 5.6.1 Ubuntu at birth ......................................................................... 161 5.6.2 Ubuntu at death ........................................................................ 161 5.6.3 Ubuntu in race relations ........................................................... 162 5.6.4 Ubuntu in family and community relations .............................. 163 5.6.5 Ubuntu and poverty ..................................................................Town 165 5.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 166 CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ...............................................................Cape 167 6.1 Summary ...............................................................................................of 167 6.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 168 INTRODUCTION TO INTERVIEWS .................................................................................. 171 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW WITH NCUMISA VAPI – 2006 ............................................... 171 University APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW WITH NCUMISA VAPI – 2011 ............................................... 218 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 224 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 231 3 INTRODUCTION THE TITLE OF THE THESIS The title of this thesis, Country and City – Autobiographical tropes in Ncumisa Vapi’s Litshona liphume arises out of a complex understanding of the author’s narrative and literary intentions. Country refers to the fact that the story is set in a specifically named rural area in the Eastern Cape in the late 1960s and early 1970s. City on the other hand does not refer to any particular city, but is rather a symbol of change and challenge, of opportunity and wealth but also of a world view deficient in tradition and spiritual connection with the land and the ancestors. Town The autobiographical tropes or themes that I highlight and unpack are ones that I have identified as particularly driving a personal Capenarrative (based on an actual, lived experience) and could be considered as coreof messages that the author is consciously, or unconsciously, trying to convey to her readers. These tropes underscore much of the text and the commentary and are initially dealt with separately in the thesis, as discrete topics of discussion, but are later also included in the general discussion of the novel. As one reads LitshonaUniversity liphume one is made aware of the many challenges facing a young, highly intelligent and motivated girl growing up in a rural area in Apartheid South Africa. While her life gains value from its integration with tradition and with the community (Country)