And She Plays with the Darkness (1995)
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Magic Realism in Zakes Mda's Ways ofDying (1995) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995) by Venugopaul Naidoo Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE in the Centre for the study of South African Literature and Languages (CSSALL) UNIVERSITY OF DURBAN-WESTVILLE Promoter: Professor A.J. van Wyk December 1998 DECLARATION I declare that this thesis, apart from the quotations acknowledged within it, is my . own investigation and research. It has not been submitted previously in part or in full for any other degree or to any other university . • Venugopaul Naidoo ............. ...... December 1998. ii ABSTRACT I shall argue in this thesis that Zakes Mda's novels Ways ofDying (l995a) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995b) are magic realist texts that are representative of the hybrid nature of this literary mode. Furthermore I shall demonstrate that Ways of Dying (l995a) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995b) share common elements with a variety of magic realist texts. Mda's own creative and literary consciousness has been shaped by an intellectual background stemming from tertiary education at Ph.D level, his teaching positions at various international universities, and his knowledge of Africah folk-culture. The seemingly contesting streams of Western education and African mysticism are not presented as sources of conflict in Mda's novels, but rather as syncretic forces of potential transformative power. Mda displays in his project as a novelist, the continuing concerns of black writers who saw the novel as a tool for socio-political change. My thesis therefore also investigates the extent to which Mda's use of magic realism in the novels mentioned above, signals a radical shift in literary representation by South African black writers who wrote in English. Mda's novels transcend Black Consciousness-inspired protest that characterised black literature in the 1970's and 1980's. His use of tropes associated with magic realism, African folk-culture, the apocalyptic and carnivalesque has enabled him to create a discursive space for South African black writers on the international stage, and foregrounds a movement towards literature iii that offers opposition to being classified as merely ''black writing". The death of the old order in South Afiica and the birth of a new one, invites questioning and analysis of the position of the self during a period of cataclysmic change. That the apocalypse brings with it both death and renewal could be seen within the context of postmodernist visions of the erosion of the selfand death as the ultimate reality. Mda's novels, Ways of Dying (l995a) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995b), are the first English narratives by a South Afiican black author that can claim affinities with postcolonial writers such as Carpentier, Marquez, Okri and Rushdie. These writers reflect in their narratives, the infinite possibilities of magic realism in reclaiming the self submerged by the colonial experience. I shall attempt, in Chapter One, a survey of specific theoretical assumptions relevant to magic realism. Chapter Two will provide biographical details of Zakes Mda the playwright, poet, theatre practitioner, film producer and novelist and the importance of magic realism in his writings. Chapter Three is an analysis of Mda's published plays and points to the early uses of elements consistent with magic realism in his work. Chapters Four and Five are investigations into Mda's use of magic realism in Ways of Dying (1995) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995), respectively. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the Centre for Science Development for their generous grant for this research. Opinions expressed in this thesis and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not to be attributed to the Centre for Science Development. The financial assistance of University of Durban-Westville Research Committee is also acknowledged. I am indebted to the following people for their assistance: Professor AJ. van Wyk of the Centre for the Study of South African Literature and Languages (CSSALL) for being a constant source of inspiration and for his deep sense of commitment to the supervision of this thesis. Zakes Mda for his support, for making time in his busy schedule to answer my queries, and the interview published in Alternation 1997 NO. 4: l. Mda was also generous with his C. V. and an autobiographical chapter. Members of family, in particular my parents and my wife's parents, for their constant support. My wife, Pushpa Rani, and my children, Darrin and Nerissa, for their tolerance and patience and willingness to assist whenever they were called upon to do so. Librarians at universities, municipal libraries and special libraries for their expertise. v CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter One: Theoretical Assumptions 33 Introduction 33 Towards a definition of magic realism 35 Magic realism: a historical survey 53 Bakhtin and grotesque realism 68 Chapter Two: Biography 74 Chapter Three: Elements of magic realism in Mda's plays 101 Chapter Four: Magic realism in Ways ofDying (1995a) 141 Reality and magic realism 145 Narrative voice 150 Odysseys 160 Ghosts, spirits and the supernatural 164 Incest and Oedipal conflicts 169 Madonnas and whores 174 Images of the carnivalesque 180 Images of the apocalypse 190 Images of the transition 196 Dreams and magic realism 211 Sex and magic 215 Chapter Five: Magic realism in She plays with the Darkness (1995b) 234 African folklore and magic realism 237 Historical realities vs magic realism 251 The absent patriarch 259 Twins 264 Time 267 Mansions 275 Silence and solitude 280 Wars, civil strife and political uncertainties 296 Conclusion 302 Select bibliography 307 vi This thesis is dedicated to: my parents for their lessons in perseverance my wife's parentsfor instilling in me the power ofbelief my children, Darrin and Nerissa, for being my anchors in reality and most of all my wife, Pushpa Rani, for the magic of her love... 1 INTRODUCTION The tenn magic realism is an oxymoron that suggests the co-existence of two contradictory elements, the supernatural and realism in a text. The tenn was coined by the Gennan art critic, Franz Roh, who in an essay written in 1925, praises its use in Post-Expressionist paintings. Since Roh's initial fonnulation, however, the term has undergone various revisions, especially with regard to its use in literature and literary criticism. Our concern here is with the literary application of magic realism, rather than its use in paintings. Magic realism is now commonly regarded as an international literary phenomenon. Latin American writers such as Aljeo Carpentier, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, Isabel Allende and Mario Vargas Llosa, have promoted magic realism as a popular international literary mode. Carpentier's EI reino de este mundo (The Kingdom of the World, 1949), and Marquez's Cien anos de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude), first published in 1967, are regarded as "canonical texts of this mode" (Angulo 1995:xi). Writing during the "boom period" in the late Fifties and the Sixties, Latin American writers have drawn attention to magic realism as a literary movement best suited for depicting the stories of people in '1hird world" communities. Contemporary postcolonial writers in English, such as Salman Rushdie, Ben Okri, and Vikram Chandra have also found in magic realism a mode most favourable for expressing the realities of their particular societies. As Boehmer puts it, ''Drawing on the special effects of magic 2 realism, postcolonial writers in English are able to express their view of a world fissured, distorted, and made incredible by cultural displacement" (1995:4). Even writers such as Gunter Grass, Toni Morrison, Milan Kundera, D.M. Thomas and Angela Carter who do not write from a typical Third World context, have used magic realism in their texts. These writers have chosen to situate the characters in their stories on the margins of society, thereby demonstrating affinities with the marginalised people in Third World locations. In Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni (Zakes) Mda's novels, Ways of Dying (1995a) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995b), the protagonists are depicted as being located on the peripheries of their respective societies. These protagonists are constructed as characters who are empowered through their association with the supernatural to decode the historical realities of their times. Mda's novels, Ways of Dying (1995a) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995b), signal a radical shift in literary representation in English by South African black writers. Mda has used magic realism extensively in his novels to construct alternative visions of reality. Critics and reviewers, however, have not always recognised this important element in his literary work. Research has revealed that to date only three reviewers have alluded to the use of magic realism in Mda' s novels. These are Helen Moffett (1996), Keorapetse Kgositsile (1995) and Dorothy Driver (1996). In her review of Ways of Dying (1995a) and She Plays with the Darkness (1995b) in The Cape Librarian (1996) Moffett applauds Mda's skill as a novelist. Indeed if Moffett's review is to be accepted unequivocally then Mda's novels, 3 mentioned above, cannot be faulted. As academic editor of Oxford University Press, publishers of Ways of Dying (1995a), one could accuse her of not being a disinterested commentator on Mda's novels. The validity of Moffett's criticism, however, is not in contention here. What is pertinent is that she situates both novels within the context of South African literature and asserts that Mda's novels certainly mark a potential watershed in South African writing. They have several innovative qualities that break new ground in current local fiction writing. Possibly the most striking of these is their use of magic realism, usually associated with Latin American novelists (1996: 14).