Reconstructing Identity in Post-Colonial Black South African Literature from Selected Novels of Sindiwe Magona and Kopano Matlwa
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RECONSTRUCTING IDENTITY IN POST-COLONIAL BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE FROM SELECTED NOVELS OF SINDIWE MAGONA AND KOPANO MATLWA by MALESELA EDWARD MONTLE DISSERTATION Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in ENGLISH STUDIES in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES (School of Languages and Communication Studies) at the UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPO SUPERVISOR: Dr M.J Mogoboya 2018 DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my mother, Catherina Morongoa Montle and the memory of my late father, Elicent Pheeha Montle. DECLARATION ii I declare that the dissertation hereby submitted to the University of Limpopo, for the degree of Master of Arts in English Studies is my work and that all the sources that I have used have been acknowledged and that this work has not been submitted at this or any other institution. ................................................. ................................ MONTLE M. E DATE ACKNOWLEGEMENTS iii I would like to humbly extend my heartfelt appreciations to the following: Jesus Christ the author of my life, my redeemer, my Lord. Thank you Lord for strengthening me throughout the course of this study. May all glory, honour and dominion be to you. My mother, Catherina Montle for her unwavering support and parental love. My supervisor and mentor Dr M.J Mogoboya. Thank you very much sir for seeing a potential in me. You challenged me to my push myself to the edge of my limits and far beyond. My little brother Mathews Montle for his interest and support for my study. ABSTRACT iv This study seeks to examine the concept of identity in the post-colonial South Africa. Like any other African state, South Africa was governed by a colonial strategy called apartheid which meted out harsh conditions on black people. However, the indomitable system of apartheid was subdued by the leadership of the people, which is democracy in 1994. Notwithstanding the dispensation of democracy, colonial legacies such as inequality, racial discrimination and poverty are still yet to be addressed. As mirrored in Sindiwe Magona’s Beauty’s Gift (2008) and Mother to Mother (1998) and Kopano Matlwa’s Coconut (2008) and Spilt Milk (2010), the colonial past perhaps paved a way for social issues to warm their way into the democratic South Africa. This study will use the aforementioned novels penned in the post-colonial period to present an evocation of identity-crisis in South Africa. It will then employ these methodological approaches; Afrocentricity, Feminism, Historical-biographical and Post-Colonial Theory to assert and re-assert the identity that South Africans have acquired subsequent to the political transition from apartheid to democracy. KEY WORDS: Apartheid, Colonialism, Democracy, Identity, Post-Colonialism TABLE OF CONTENTS v DEDICATION .............................................................................................................. i DECLARATION ........................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ............................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ....................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE 1 BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION ....................................................................... 1 1.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................. 2 1.2.1 Pre-Colonial Africa ............................................................................................ 3 1.2.1.1 Early Southern Africa...................................................................................... 6 1.2.2 Illustrations of historical activities of the peoples of Africa ................................. 6 1.2.3 Colonial Africa ................................................................................................. 10 1.2.4 Post-Colonial Africa ......................................................................................... 13 1.3 RESEARCH PROBLEM ..................................................................................... 20 1.4. DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS ........................................................................... 20 1.5 THE ROLE OF THEORY .................................................................................... 23 1.5.1 Post-Colonial Theory ....................................................................................... 23 1.5.1.1 Afrocentricity ................................................................................................. 24 1.5.3 Historical-biographical ..................................................................................... 27 1.6 THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ...................................................................... 27 1.6.1 Aim of the study ............................................................................................... 27 1.6.2 Objectives of the Study ................................................................................... 27 1.7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 28 vi 1.7.1 Research Method and Design ......................................................................... 28 1.7.2 Data Collection ................................................................................................ 28 1.7.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 28 1.7.4 Quality Criteria ................................................................................................. 29 1.8. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................... 29 1.9. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................... 29 1.10 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 30 2.2 THEME OF IDENTITY ....................................................................................... 31 2.3 IDENTITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE............................................................... 32 2.3.1 (South) African Oral Traditions ........................................................................ 33 2.3.2 Written Literature ............................................................................................. 33 (a) African literatures in European languages .......................................................... 34 i. Anglophone African Literature ............................................................................... 35 ii. Francophone African Literature ............................................................................ 35 iii. Lusophone African Literature ............................................................................... 35 2.4 AFRICAN DIASPORA AND IDENTITY .............................................................. 36 2.4.1 African Americans ........................................................................................... 37 2.4.2 Practices: Music and Language ...................................................................... 37 2.4.3 Hip Hop Costume illustrations ......................................................................... 39 2.5 POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA ................................................................ 42 2.5.1 Freedom Charter ............................................................................................. 44 2.5.3 Analysis of the National Anthem of South Africa ............................................. 50 vii 2.6 RACISM IN THE POST-COLONIAL SOUTH AFRICA ....................................... 52 2.7 Unemployment-crisis in the Post-Colonial South Africa ..................................... 53 2.7.1 The relationship between unemployment and prostitution ............................... 57 2.8 EDUCATION IN THE POST-COLONIAL SOUTH AFRICA ................................ 58 2.8.1 Decolonised Education .................................................................................... 61 2.9 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER THREE REDEFINING BLACK IDENTITY OF THE YOUTH IN THE POST-COLONIAL SOUTH AFRICA AS DEPICTED IN KOPANO MATLWA’S SELECTED NOVELS 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 69 3.2 LIVING IN THE COLONIAL SOUTH AFRICA .................................................... 69 3.3 LIVING IN THE POST-COLONIAL SOUTH AFRICA ......................................... 71 3.4 FAILURE TO EMPOWER SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH ....................................... 73 3.5. MATLWAS’S COCONUT .................................................................................. 74 3.5.1 Characterisation of the Central Figures ........................................................... 75 3.5.1.1 Ofilwe ........................................................................................................... 75 3.5.1.2 Fikile ............................................................................................................. 75 3.5. RELIGIOUS IDENTITY