The Theme of Protest and Its Expression in Sf Motlhake's Poetry
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THE THEME OF PROTEST AND ITS EXPRESSION IN SF MOTLHAKE'S POETRY by THERISO LOUISA TSAMBO Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject AFRICAN LANGUAGES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF. JSS SHOLE JUNE 1999 Rre Seleki F eke Motlhake ************* A1od~J4HUf ~ the lak -Al.ks N~ "~olo" Af!Joni,, wlt.o~ ~ ~GMd~IDU!em£ ~ tJ,,u ~' u HOi kne ID dluvie m the i"'f o/t HU/ ~. ******************************** ii DECLARATION I declare that THE THEME OF PROTEST AND ITS EXPRESSION IN S.F. MOTLHAKE'S POETRY is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. //\ / \ \ ' \ /'i ( (A (f Ol ~\ ! U''-,, JU r...;);;;. I I ····:~························· M_~ T.L. TSAMBO 1111111111111111111111 0001760888 896.397751009 MOTL TSAM iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere and heartfelt gratitude goes to the following:- * My promoter Prof JSS Shole for his patient, constructive criticism and invaluable guidance. * The subject of this study, the poet Mr S.F. Motlhake for being very welcoming and patient with me during my interviews with him in the early stages of my research. * My colleagues in the Department of Setswana and English (University of Northwest) as well as African Languages (UNISA): for their fruitful discussions and valuable contributions. * Moipone Mathabathe the typist for the job well-done, and for being part of the "struggle." * My family: my children Jabulani, Ayanda and Zanele, my three brothers: for their encouragement and moral support, for their understanding and bearing with me through those periods of both enthusiasm and despondency. And my husband for proofreading my initial drafts, Thank you very much. iv SUMMARY In the Apartheid South Africa, repression and the heightening of the Blacks' struggle for political emancipation, prompted artists to challenge the system through their music, oral poetry and writing. Most produced works of protest in English to reach a wider audience. This led to the general misconception that literatures in the indigenous languages of South Africa were insensitive to the issues of those times. This study seeks firstly to put to rest such misconception by proving that there is C()mmitment in these literatures as exemplified in the poetry of S.F. Motlhake. Motlhake not only expresses protest against the political system of the time, but also questions some religious and socio-cultural practices and institutions among his people. The study also examines his selected works as genuine poetry, which does not sacrifice art on the altar of propaganda. KEYWORDS: Setswana Poetry; Motlhake; Protest Poetry; Socio-cultural protest; Religious protest; Political protest; Evolutionary protest; Mild protest; Militant protest; Threnody stylistics; Satire; Linguistic format; Acquiescence; Censorship; Repetitive devices; Prolepsis; Praise denunciation; Contrast; Sarcasm; Dramatic monologue; Expression; Malope; Thobega; Theme; African Marxism; Sexual harassment. v CONTENTS Dedication (ii) Declaration (iii) Acknowledgements (iv) Summary (v) CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Preamble 1 1.2 Theme and expression in Poetry 2 1.3 S.F. Motlhake's poetry 4 1.4 Method of analysis 7 1.5 Approac4 7 '<,., . - ~ 1.6 Protest as theme 11 CHAPTER 2: PROTEST LITERATURE AND PROTEST WRITING IN SETSWANA 2.1 Preamble 12 2.2 The nature and forms of protest literature with specific reference to poetry 13 2.3 Forms or areas of protest 17 2.3.1 Political protest 17 2.3.2 Socio-cultural protest 18 2.3.3 Religious protest 19 2.4 P_:,~!~t~. 19 • 2.4.1 Techniques of expressing protest in poetry 21 2.5 Protest writing in African languages 24 2.6 Protest in Setswana literature 28 2.6.1 The theme of protest in traditional literature 29 vi 2.6.2 The theme of protest in modern literature 34 2. 7 Conclusion 36 2.8 Appendix: Memorandum from O.S. Mathule, Setswana Language Board, to the Department of Education, Bophuthatswana 37 CHAPTER 3: POLITICAL PROTEST 3.1 Preamble 39 3.2 Discrimination or racial segregation 42 3.2.1 On job reservation 48 3.2.2 On the inferior system of education 51 3.2.3 Land dispossession 52 3.2.4 .fhysical abuse 54 3.2.5 On disempowerment 61 3.3 Economic exploitation 66 3.3.1 Exploitation of farm labourers 67 3.3.2 In the mines 71 3.4 Repression and political oppression 73 3.5 Conclusion 79 CHAPTER 4: SOCIO-CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PROTEST 4.1 Preamble 80 4.2 Socio-cultural protest 82 4.2.1 Protest by women against sexism 83 4.2.2 Protest of men against the marriage institution 97 4.2.3 Protest against the decline of traditional values: 105 4.3 Religious protest: 109 4.3.1 Hypocrisy, sycophancy and exploitation 111 4.3.2 The missionaries as allies of the colonial regime 119 vii 4.3 .3 Suppression of the African culture as against the upholding of the W estem Culture 122 4.4 Conclusion 127 CHAPTER 5: EXPRESSION IN MOTLHAKE'S PROTEST POETRY 5.1 Preamble 128 5.2 Stylistics Analysis 130 5.2.1 "Montsho" 130 5.2.2 "Molao" 139 5.2.3 "Dipolaseng" 140 5.2.4 "Goreng ke sa nyale?" 144 5.2.5 "A re tla gola?" 145 5.2.6 Stylistic features in other poems in general 149 5.2.7 Conclusion 151 CHAPTER 6: IN CONCLUSION 152 APPENDIX: Newspaper cuttings with headings related to themes A: "Racism, the struggle continues ... " 157 B: "Please relieve the pain ... " 158 C: "They are free because they are white" 159 D: "Blacks being overlooked ... " 160 E: "Sexual harassment ... " 161 F: "Granny booted out. " 162 BIBLIOGRAPHY 163 ADDENDUM: Texts of selected poems and their English translations 174 viii CHAPTERl INTRODUCTION 1.1 PREAMBLE The primary aim of this study is to explore the protest theme and its expression in the poetry ofS.F. Motlhake. In so doing it hopes, as its secondary aim, to comment on the occurrences of protest poetry in African languages in general and in Setswana in particular. Not only will we illustrate the different areas of protest in writing thereby demonstrating that there is c0mmitment in African languages literature. Most importantly we will also give the aspect of protest in Motlhake's poetry the scholarly exposition it has long deserved. This study comprises six chapters divided as follows: In this the introductory Chapter 1, the aim and scope of the study are discussed. The method of presentation as well as the theoretical framework within which the research is carried out are also highlighted. Chapter 2 discusses the nature and forms of protest literature with specific reference to poetry so as to give a general survey of protest writing. The latter part of this chapter concentrates on protest literature in the African languages with special focus on Setswana literature. Chapter 3 discusses political protest in the selected texts and comments on different aspects of political protest like racial discrimination, economic exploitation, oppression and repression. 1 Chapter 4 evaluates socio-cultural and religious protest in the relevant texts. Chapter 5 comments on style and Motlhake's expression of protest theme. The final Chapter 6 provides the main conclusion. 1.2 THEME AND EXPRESSION IN POETRY The function ofliterature as a whole and poetry in particular, as a powerful vehicle of expressing thoughts cannot be over emphasized. Poetry is a means through which the writer expresses his general attitude towards life as well as provides an account of the world in the circumstances of its time. Chiwome, (1991:55-60) states that poetry is the expression of the life experiences and the impact thereof on the poet and on the community. These life experiences are unfolded or expressed in a variety of themes like love, death, morality, heroism and protest to the reader. In this study we will evaluate how the theme of protest in Motlhake's poetry relates to life experiences. Theme refers to the central idea or a perception which is embodied in the work of art. Murfin & Ray (1997:400) clarify this further by stating that theme: is not simply the subject of literary work, but rather a statement that the text seems to be making about the subject. The quotation above indicates that theme cannot only be identified by means of the subject of literary work. It is what the whole text says about the subject that 2 exemplifies the main theme. This means that the theme is arrived at by extracting the essential idea from the work of art. The central idea on the other hand depends on the "content" (subject) and how it is expressed (form by the author. Without oversimplifying its meaning, "theme" in this study will be regarded as "the essential meaning or main concept in a literary work" (BROOKS & WARREN, 1976:268). Expression refers to the mode or form in which language is used to communicate the theme. In literary terms, the scientific analysis of the content with reference to the form in which it is presented is referred to as stylistics (ABRAMS, 1988:245). Art, according to Ngara (1982:26): ts a combination of two forces in a dialectical interaction namely the communicative force and the expressive force. The communicative force of a work of art refers to its ability to communicate the message that the artist wishes to convey to the audience. The expressive force on the other hand refers to the manner or the form in which the message is used in order to evoke certain kinds of feelings in the audience. By this Ngara implies that the subject-matter of poetry reaches the audience through the manner or form in which the poet articulates it.