TRANSFORMATION AND SOCIO-POLITICAL CHANGE IN SELECTED ISIXHOSA NOVELS 1909 – 2006 by KUTALA PRIMROSE MTUZE submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject AFRICAN LANGUAGES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF N. SAULE JUNE 2008 Student number: 0857-084-1 I declare that TRANSFORMATION AND SOCIO-POLITICAL CHANGE IN SELECTED ISIXHOSA NOVELS 1909 -2006, 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. …………………………. ……………………… K.P. MTUZE DATE ii SUMMARY The thesis deals with one major issue of how the amaXhosa authors reflect change and transition in the lives of their characters in the period under consideration. This change pertains both to the socio-politico-economic life of the people concerned and the contents of the books and the style of the authors’ writings. The study is ground- breaking in that it goes beyond common dissection of the structural elements of the books to a synthetic study of their themes, subject matter, character portrayal and setting. The primary aim is to give a holistic overview of the changing culture of the black people against the backdrop of subjugation and transformation. Chapter 1 contains all the formal preliminary information such as aim, method, context, relevance and topicality of study. Chapter 2 anchors the study in the newspaper age as a solid foundation for the amaXhosa literature. Chapter 3 is an overview of the beginnings of literary endeavours among the amaXhosa and how they reflect the impact of socio-economic pressures in the lives of the people. Chapter 4 further illustrates the impact of education and Christianisation on the blacks as well as growing political awareness among the authors. Chapter 5 focuses on culture-clash among the amaXhosa as a result of the alienating influence of both the church and the school. Chapter 6 highlights changes in society at the height of oppression under the previous political dispensation. iii Chapters 7 and 8 reflect the authors’ thinking and how they depict changes in post- apartheid South Africa while Chapter 9 focuses on the role of Language Boards in restricting freedom of writing and expression during the apartheid years. Chapter 10 is a general conclusion that encapsulates the main points of the thesis. Key terms: Change in isiXhosa literature, Literature and social change, Change literature, Literature and culture, Literature and transformation, Literature and realism, Verisimilitude in literature, Fact and fiction, Faction, Literary history. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to the following persons for the successful completion of this study: Professor Ncedile Saule whose guidance throughout the study was always of great help. His patience even during difficult moments in the research gave me the courage to go on. I am particularly indebted to him for being one of the front runners in this kind of research with his masters dissertation entitled A Consideration of S E K Mqhayi’s contribution to Umteteli wabantu under the pseudonym ‘Nzululwazi’. This gave me the courage to look beyond conventional Aristotelian theories of literature. My husband, Peter Tshobisa Mtuze, who has been a pillar of strength and the first port of call whenever I experienced difficulties, throughout this study. Thank you, Madiba, not only for motivating me to undertake this research, but also for the firm foundations you laid, and the love of literature you cultivated in me, when I did my undergraduate and Honours studies under you at Rhodes University. The conducive study conditions at home, and the extensive library material put at my disposal by this union, have made this research a rewarding experience. Your long experience as translator and interpreter has come in very handy in this study. A special word of gratitude goes to Mary Louise Peires for meticulously editing the thesis at short notice. Last but not least, to my dear mother, Fezeka Rungqu, my loving daughter, Sanelisiwe, and my whole family, for their love and support throughout my educational career. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ii Summary iii Acknowledgements v 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Aim of study 1 1.2 Method and approach of study 11 1.3 Context of the research 17 1.4 Literature overview and scope 20 1.5 Topicality and relevance of study 26 1.6 Recapitulation 38 2. CHANGE IN THE NEWSPAPER AGE 40 2.1 Introduction 40 2.2 Changes in the legal system 42 2.3 Socio-economic changes 47 2.4 Religious and social changes 50 2.5 Political changes 57 2.6 Recapitulation 61 3. THE BEGINNINGS: 1909 – 1923 62 3.1 Introduction 62 3.2 Religious changes 63 3.3 The impact of Western education 68 3.4 In defence of traditional social justice 73 3.5 AmaXhosa beliefs under the spotlight 77 3.6 Recapitulation 84 vi 4. CHANGES INTENSIFY: 1924 -1953 85 4.1 Introduction 85 4.2 Socio-political changes 86 4.3 Socio-economic changes 92 4.4 The influence of the school and the church 100 4.5 Recapitulation 123 5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS: 1954 -1983 124 5.1 Introduction 124 5.2 Social changes in the fifties 125 5.3 Nostalgia for the old order 135 5.4 Tradition under threat 137 5.5 Recapitulation 140 6. NO TURNING BACK: 1984 -1993 141 6.1 Introduction 141 6.2 More dramatic changes in social life 142 6.3 Socio-political changes reflected overtly 147 6.4 Moral degeneration in amaXhosa society 159 6.5 Recapitulation 163 7. DEMOCRATIC CHANGE:1994 -2003 164 7.1 Introduction 164 7.2 New trends in post apartheid literature 165 7.3 Economic wealth and moral decay 176 7.4 Shattered dreams and entitlement 179 7.5 Recapitulation 185 vii 8. NEW OUTLOOK IN TRANSFORMATION AND SOCIO- POLITICAL CHANGE: 2004 - 2006 186 8.1 Introduction 186 8.2 Religion and counter-resistance 187 8.3 Change as reflected by a female writer 191 8.4 Globalization as a new theme in literature 194 8.5 The impact of change on women and children 197 8.6 Recapitulation 204 9. STRANGULATION BY LANGUAGE BOARDS 205 9.1 Introduction 205 9.2 Language Boards as government agencies 206 9.3 Critics’ views on the Language Boards 207 9.4 The Language Boards in operation 209 9.5 Freedom and the way forward 217 9.6 Recapitulation 219 10. GENERAL CONCLUSION 220 Bibliography 227 viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Aim of study. The research aims to document the socio-political changes that have occurred in the lives of the amaXhosa, as reflected in isiXhosa novels, from the newspaper era and the time of the appearance of the first IsiXhosa works, in 1909 to 2006. It is of interest to establish how the lives of these people are depicted in the literature and what changes are discernible in the periods under scrutiny. The impact of the changing scene on the writers of the twentieth century, when literary production took a new turn among the amaXhosa, is depicted as follows by Malan (1987:4): The scene to which the writers reacted changed considerably during the first half of the twentieth century with the advent of urbanisation, industrialisation, the large scale use of black labour, the disruption of the traditional tribal life, etc. The written tradition of the eight indigenous African literatures (North Sotho, South Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu) mostly originated in the first decades of the century, with a strong thematic emphasis on the acculturation and uprooting process as an ever increasing number of blacks are subjected to a Western and urban lifestyle. This survey is all the more significant if one bears in mind what Satyo (in Gerard 1983: 88) once said about the state of isiXhosa literature some years ago: 1 Further, the remarks about the role played by some events in the life of the Xhosa, should be taken as another pointer to the expected things in Xhosa literature: we are in a state of flux; we don’t know what to expect next; in terms of those none of us is “old” or “old enough” to say this for the next generation – if there is to be any next generation it is this one – it is us. About the importance and the need for such research, Satyo (1981:77) emphasises that: Xhosa literature has long been crying for a close study of the background against which the fiction writers started doing their work. The background of the practical language of the time when fiction writing became a reality, the theoretical framework or just the frame of mind which helped in the shaping of this fiction warrants such a study. Satyo makes an important point regarding the writing of isiXhosa books. The writers had no literary training or theoretical knowledge. The only thing they had was an oral literary tradition that enabled them to express themselves. According to Satyo (1981:77) they just had a frame of mind which helped in the shaping of this fiction: To me therefore, it follows that whether the writer is conscious or not, he does have a frame of mind or some vague theoretical framework which helps him shape his material. It is unfortunate that none of our authors ever thought of writing this down for future generations. Nevertheless the present day critic who wants to delve into this aspect of literature can do so, perhaps by solely depending on reconstructing the reasoning or dialectic that was at work during the writing of this type of fiction. As indicated in the title, the focus will be on social, economic and political changes.