themes of alienation and african humanism in the works of es'kia hphahlele ruth elizabeth obee

231 Pages·2014·3.46 MB·English

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A DIALOGUE OF TWO SELVES: THEMES OF ALIENATION AND
AFRICAN HUMANISM IN THE WORKS OF ES'KIA HPHAHLELE
by
RUTH ELIZABETH OBEE
submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for
the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in the subject
ENGLISH
at the
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
SUPERVISOR: MR MK HOLLOWAY
NOVEMBER 1994
ii
Student number: 768-226-3
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and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and
acknowledged by means of complete references.
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SIGNA'TURE DATE
[Obee, R E (Mrs]
* The exact wording of the title as it appears on the copies of your
dissertation, submitted for examination purposes, should be indicated in
the open space.
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Dedicated to the memory of my father
George Croshaw Young
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the true spirit of African humanism, I wish to express
my deep gratitude to kin and extended family of friends and
mentors without whom the writing of this dissertation would not
have been possible. I am grateful to Dr. Louise Attebery at
Albertson College of Idaho for his encouragement over the
years. I wish to thank Dr. Donald Herdeck of Three Continents
Press in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Dr. Peter Thuynsma at
University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and Leon de Kock at
the University of South Africa (UNISA} in Pretoria as well as
John L. Collier, Associate Dean of the School of Area Studies
at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, D.C., for
helping to plant the seed of the idea for this dissertation. I
also wish to thank Dr. Thuynsma for his fine lecture on Down
Second Avenue, his moving and highly useful anthology Footsteps
Along the Way (1989} and for his generosity in sharing
out-of-print manuscripts. My gratitude extends to Professor
Gerald Chapman at University of Denver in the western Rockies
for his insightful interview.
I am more grateful than I can say for the "ubuntu" with
which Professor Es'kia Mphahlele has given of himself and of
his time in interviews, casual chats at the dinner table; as
well as in the exchange of letters and telephone calls over the
past five years. Most of all I am grateful for the largeness
of spirit and the gift of language which rendered Professor
Mphahlele in his essential being an African humanist. To my
mentor Myles Holloway I owe a debt of deep gratitude for his
having stretched me in unexpected directions in learning and
research. I am in awe of his high standards, infinite
patience; his profound knowledge and wise guidance. His
abundant scpolarly attributes have enriched and expanded me. A
warm thank you also goes to UNISA Research Librarian Dawie
Malan for his superb assistance and for his friendship. I wish
to thank my long-suffering family, in particular, Kent, Brock,
Kiran and Lucy for their unstinting support. Last but not
least, a special word of thanks to Judy Stafford, Nelda Bravo
and Carol Baldwin who encouraged me, in the words of Martin
Luther King, to "keep your eyes on the prize."
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SUMMARY
A DIALOGUE OF TWO SELVES: THEMES OF ALIENATION AND AFRICAN
HUMANISM IN THE WORKS OF ES'KIA MPHAHLELE
Es'kia Mphahlele's .concept of African humanism was a seminal
influence on Black Consciouness thought and provided the
philosophical basis for a landmark body of South African
criticism and aesthetics wilh roots in Africa. African
humanism as a black ethos, combined with rich metaphoric
speech, symbols, values and myths resurrected from lhe deep
African pasl, afforded lhe aulhor a powerful cultural weapon
wilh which lo criticize centuries of colonialism, racism, and
state apartheid, related western industrial forces of economic
exploitation and alienation. Moreover, the counterweights of
African humanism and alienation in the dialogue of two selves
-- one that is weslern-educaled and colonized aod. . t ..h e· other
"'"-'"'""' ' "'''·•-•'•'' '',. - "'"'"'''''~·-~~·-·~''" ,. ,~, .. ,,~~---,... ... ,_.....,,.-.""'--"~·- .-~
71!rican -- conlribule key elements ~f realism, vitality,
humour, insight, cultural identity, and characterization lo
Mphahlele's most effective protest writing which, in turn, has
helped to shape a black nationalist vision which has surprising
relevance lo South Africa in the 1990s.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
KEY TERMS DESCRIBING THE TOPIC OF THE DISSERTATION
Es'kia Mphahlele, south Africa, South African Literature,
African humanism, alienation, African nationalist vision, Black
Consciousness, colonial, Negritude, apartheid, criticism,
autobiography, African aesthetics.
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CONTENTS
. . . . . .. .. . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . .
TITLE ••.••.• .. i
.. . .. . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. . . . . .. . .
DECLARATION. .. ii
. . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. .. . . . .. . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. .
DEDICATION •• .iii
.. . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . . .. . .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. . iv
. . . . .. .. . .. .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. .
ABSTRACT ••• .v
. . . . . . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . . . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .
CHRONOLOGY. • vii
CHAPTER 1 From Social Darwinism in the Early Works of Es'kia
Mphahlele lo African Humanism: A Divided Self •.•••• •• 17
~
CHAPTER 2 From Black Stereotypes in English Fiction to Black
Consciousness in Mphahlele's The African Image: Making the
Label Stick ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.• 44
CHAPTER 3 Down Second Avenue: The Autobiography of an African
Humanist ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 90
~r:r,~g'j/ "Mrs Plum:" A Paradigmatic Dialogue of Themes of
Alienation and African Humanism •••••••••••••••••••••••• 148
c
..........................................
CONcL'USION--::-:; • .182
--,----
·~-"'-~"--~~ . . .. . .. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . .
ENDNOTES ••••• .202
BIBLIOGRAPHY ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 206
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CHRONOLOGY
1919 Born 17 December in Marabastad township, Pretoria.
1924 At age five taken to live with paternal grandmother
at Mphahlele.
1932 Returns to Marabastad and attends school.
1935 Enters St. Peter's Secondary School in Johannesburg.
1939 Qualifies as a teacher at Adams College, Durban.
1941 Works as a clerk, short-hand typist and instructor at
Enzenzeleni Blind Institute. Studies for
matriculation by correspondence.
1942 Matriculates by correspondence.
1945 Death of mother, Eva. Joins Orlando High School,
Johannesburg, as teacher of Afrikaans and English.
Marries Rebecca Mochadibane.
1946 Publication of Man Must Live.
1947 Birth of first son Anthony.
1949 Awarded Bachelor of Arts, University of South Africa
(UNISA).
1950 Birth of daughter, Teresa Kefilwe.
1952 Banned from teaching in South African government
schools because of active lobbying against Bantu
Education Act.
1953 Birth of son, Patrick Motswiri.
1954 First exile in Basutoland [Lesotho]: joins staff of
Basutoland High School in Maseru. Returns to
Johannesburg: teaches at St. Peter's.
1955 Awarded Honours degree in English literature from
UNI SA.
1955-1957 Joins Drum magazine as fiction editor, sub-editor
and political reporter. Publishes "Lesane" Stories in
Drum. Is awarded M.A. in English with distinction
from UNISA.
1957 Embarks for Lagos on occasion of second exile. Serves
as lecturer at University of Ibadan.
1959 Publication of Down Second Avenue (Faber & Faber,
London). Birth of son Chabi Robert Dichaba.
1961 Helps establish Mbari Writers and Artists Club in
Ibadan. Edits and contributes to Black Orpheus
literary journal. Birth of son Puso. Is later that
year appointed Director of the African programme of
the Congress for Cultural Freedom in Paris. Departs
Nigeria for Paris, France. Is visiting lecturer in
October at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in the United States. Publication of The Living and
the Dead: banning order gazetted.
1962 Publication of The African Image (Faber & Faber,
London).
1962-1963 Tours and works in such African countries as
Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Also attends professional seminars in Europe and the
United States.
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1963 Leaves Paris for Nairobi, Kenya, to serve as Director
of Chemchemi Creative Centre under auspices of
congress for Cultural Freedom.
1964 Publication of Modern African Stories (Faber & Faber,
London).
1965 Joins the University College in Nairobi as lecturer in
English.
1966 Publishes pamphlet A Guide to creative Writing (East
African Literature Bureau). Receives Farfield
Foundation Scholarship to work toward Ph.D. at the
University of Denver.
1967 Publication of African Writing Today (Penguin Books)
and the second collection of short stories, In corner
B and Other Stories.
1968 Awarded Ph.D. for novel The Wanderers. Leaves Denver
for Lusaka to serve as Senior Lecturer in English at
the University of Zambia.
1969 Elected to Phi Beta Kappa and nominated for the Nobel
Prize for literature. Awarded first prize by African
Arts/Arts Af rique magazine, University of California,
for the novel The Wanderers.
1970 Returns to the United States as Associate Professor of
English at the University of Denver. Edits Thought,
Ideology and African Literature (University of Denver).
1971 Publication of The Wanderers by Macmillan.
1972 Publication of Voices in the Whirlwind and Other
Essays by Hill and Wang.
1974 Joins University of Pennsylvania as fully tenured
professor. Publication of the second edition of The
African Image (Faber & Faber, New York). ~
1977 Returns permanently to South Africa. Fails in 1978 to
secure chair of English at the University of the
North. Accepts employment as inspector of schools in
Lebowa.
1979 Awarded Ford Foundation grant to record oral poetry in
North Sotho, Tsonga and Venda languages. Appointed
Senior Research Fellow and Professor of African
Literature, African Studies Institute, University of
the Witwatersrand.
1980 Founding member of the African Writers' Association in
Johannesburg; Published Chirundu (Ravan Press,
Johannesburg; Thomas Nelson, New York; Lawrence Hill,
New York (1981)). Founding member and director of the
council for Black Education and Research in
Johannesburg.
1981 Publication of The Unbroken Song: Selected Writings of
Es'kia Mphahlele (Ravan Press, Johannesburg).
Published Let's Write a Novel, a Guide (Maskew Miller,
Cape Town.
1982 Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Humane letters,
University of Pennsylvania, United States.
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1983 Inaugurates Division of African Literature at the
University of the Witwatersrand; is appointed its
chair. Receives Honorary Doctorate of Literature from
the University of Natal.
1984 Publication of Af rika My Music and Father Comes Home
(both Ravan Press, Johannesburg). Visiting Professor
of African Literature, University of Pennsylvania.
Receives the Ordre des Palmes Medal from the French
government in recognition of contribution to French
language and culture.
1985 Receives Honorary Doctorate of Literature from Rhodes
University. Published Let's Talk Writing: Prose
(Skotaville Publishers, Johannesburg).
1988-89 Awarded a Fulbright Professorship at University of
south Carolina, United States. Continues as Emeritus
Professor in African Literature at the University of
the Witwatersrand.
The Present:
Professor Emeritus Es'kia Mphahlele continues to write for
numerous periodicals, including a regular column for Tribute
magazine and is currently the Director of the council on Black
Education and Research and Chairman of the Board of Funda
Centre. In May of 1994, he received an Honorary Doctorate of
Humane Letters from the University of Colorado in Boulder,
Colorado in the United States of America, his fourth such
honorary degree.
Introduction
Who is Es'kia Mphahlele -- the erudite gentleman of warm and
unpretentious demeanor frequently seen about town at
Johannesburg cultural events in fashionably faded American blue
jeans and colourful embroidered West African dashiki?! Who is
this self-professed African humanist and why is it important to
study his works? The fact such questions might with any
legitimacy be asked today about one of south Africa's foremost
black writers is tragic proof (if any were needed) that the
Verwoerdian scheme of apartheid has succeeded beyond anyone's
wildest imaginings. Banning, listing, censorship and exile
all have exacted their toll in terms of the published works of
Es'kia Mphahlele that are currently out-of-print, are still for
all practical purposes banned2 or otherwise are unobtainable
either in south Africa or abroad. As a result, several key
works, including Mphahlele's autobiography Down Second Avenue
(1959) as well as his novel Chirundu (1980) and the second
edition of The African Image3 (1974) are in danger of being
condemned to an early and undeserved obscurity.
The apartheid-induced literary disjuncture between past
writers and present as well as between black writers and their
legitimate and intended audiences is but one of the many forms
of alienation -- intellectual, cultural and historical -- that
has beleaguered black South African writers such as Es'kia
Mphahlele for the past several decades, and which in turn, has
deprived black youth of mythic heroes and role models of their
own. As Mphahlele himself notes, black writers have been cut
off from their literary past, particularly from the writers of
the 1950s. They have been cut off from the literature that
captures the agony of the moment •••• They don't even
know it existed. They think that literature begins with
them. so there is no resonance echoing the past,
foreshadowing the future (Mphahlele in Thuynsma, ed.,1989:
140).
The malign neglect and active muzzling of black South African
writers is among the numerous reasons why any study that