South Africa: Two Stories of Growth under the Influence of Apartheid (1) Njabulo Ndebele

Outline  General Introd: –Factors of IdentityFactors of Identity –Njabulo NedebeleNjabulo Nedebele  Questions for DiscussionQuestions for Discussion  “The Prophetess” – The Boy vs. the ProphetessThe Boy vs. the Prophetess – The Prophetess’ LessonsThe Prophetess’ Lessons –The Passengers on the BusThe Passengers on the Bus – The Boy’s Street Experience & his GrowthThe Boy’s Street Experience his Growth  “The Music of the Violin” – Gender vs. NationGender vs. Nation – Education: Racial and Cultural IssuesRacial and Cultural Issues  ConclusionConclusion  Note & ReferencesNote & References

What South African Stories have we read or talked about? 1. Cultural/Social Causes for Apartheid a. Cry, the Beloved Country 1940’s(published in 1949) b. " The Prophetess " c. " The Music of the Violin “ (next week) 2. Anti-Apartheid Movements & Expressions in Arts a. " Amnesty “ b. "The Prisoner who Wore Glasses” c. Cry Freedom (Steven Biko) and Graceland 3. Violence– “The Day of the Riots” 4. post-Apartheid period – Yesterday, Soweto Green, Tsotsi, Mama Africa, Black Butterflies

South Africa: Map 

Various Cultural Identities between Separatism & Assimilationism Gangsters on the Streets Vukani’s mother, Dr. Zwane and his wife Vukani’s father Prophetess The Jewish whites  Boers Vukani & His sister

Identity: The Other Factors  Culture – Traditional culture (e.g. the prophetess, her song and her holy water; inbreeding or close-kin marriage) [next week “Music’] – Western culture (e.g. violin, ballet, Western foods) – Education (Bantu education – of Afrikaan?)  Gender – sexism –in both stories  Class – “Violin” & “Prophetess” (middle-class; home vs. street)

Njabulo Ndebele  Post-1976 writers  Ndebele's writings -- constitutes “ a return to more traditional concerns with narrative complexity and literary quality."  Fools: The township life seen through the eyes of a young and sensitive protagonist. (e.g. “ The Prophetess ” ; “ The Violin ” )

Related Videos   Sangoma - faith healer 

Post-1976 Generation – according to Coetzee  Njabulo S. Ndebele: Pay more attention to individual psychology and the influences of tradition.  Mbulo Mzamane – “street writer”… “Their literary descent is not from the Afro-Caribbean Negritude movement and the West African novel but from a homebred South African journalistic tradition of gritty realism. Their English is lavish, careless, without nuance; in Mzamane's case it bears the marks of a second language. Their stories are probably more in tune with the mood of the townships today--angry, impatient, violent--than are the stories in Fools … ”

Ndebele on Children  "South African literature has generally handled the images of childhood as social criticism: 1. an infant abandoned by its mother. 2. Friends going against each other. the entrance of the young in national politics  education affected; (i.e. Soweto uprising) Reconstruction should begin with the recovery of childhood and innocence. (source: ulm.de/~rturrell/antho4html/Ndebele.html ) ulm.de/~rturrell/antho4html/Ndebele.html

“Prophetess” 1.On what is the boy’s attention focused when he visits the prophetess? Are they signs of her spirituality? dog; darkness, vine, his own sensations, memory, doek (African headscarf, 11); camphor (12); her coughing 2. The people on the bus – How do they relate to each other? And to the prophetess? How are they different from each other? the other womenthe big woman the man with a balaclava (Woollen hat); the young man at the back the young man with immaculate dress

“Prophetess” 3. Compared with the people on the bus, how does the boy relate to the prophetess? What breaks the spell the prophetess has on him? What does she teach him? What does the ending mean? Re: A story of initiation. The boy gains self-confidence. The other issues: Sangoma + Christianity; home vs. danger on the street. 4. Do you see any traces of apartheid in this story, or seeds of the anti-apartheid movements?

Time for the Groups (123)!

“The Prophetess” vs. the boy The boy  fearful of -- dog; darkness, vine,  attentive to -- his own sensations (shiver, warmth from the dog fur), the prophetess’ doek (African headscarf, 11), her coughing (12)  feel relaxed by – the smell of camphor (12); the mats (  his mother); her smile and her knowing his mother (14), memory of his mother (16)  touched by –the religious ambience, her prayer and her touch (which smells of soap and wax)

the prophetess’ lessons  Learn and serve 14  Always listen to new things; then try to create  the song – “We too will survive the fire that is coming…”  What grows out of the barren wastes has a strength (15)  blessing the water with “the flower of newness” and faith (16)  we are all made of all that is in the world 17

Traces of Apartheid? The prophetess’s allusion to their hardships

The Other Views of the Prophetess  the bus passengers  superstition and sexism  The mother – try all the possibilities (western medicine, herb and holy water the other women – “really happened” like a chorus the big woman --- evidence? the young man at the back – “heard” it; “love is having women like you” the man with a balaclava– cursing them the young man with immaculate dress – “We laugh at everything.” No proof

Street Experience –also sexism  Timi discusses with Biza about a girl the latter claims that he’d “conquered” a contrast between the two kinds of “liquid” The boy’s sense of superiority (20)  Accident—bump into a bicycle feels pain first, then sees/hears the bike-rider then he realizes the loss of the water

The Boy’s Growth  sees thru’ the macho type of heroism  Controls his sense of pain; conquers his fear of being punished because of telling a white lie.  takes the prophetess’ lesson to heal the mother with “the water in the world” (24)

References  Coetzee, J.M. “Fools and other stories.” The New Republic, Dec 22, 1986 v195 p36(3).  Maithufi, Sope. ”Black Christianity as intellectual resource in Njabulo Ndebele's Fools and Other Stories” English in Africa, May 2004 v31 i1 p139(9)