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i 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 I dee 1a re that * ..~ . l?~?.l;qgµ~. .C ?+. ~q. ~~.J. '!'~~.= •.. 't~~Pl~~. P.f• •l }.+i-~.I1C!ti-P.11 •• . .~ ~?~ .~~f~~.~1!.?~~I}~p!l! .~~ ..t )}~. !'J.q~l$~ ..q ~ .~~.'.~:!-C:.1'1.P.l}c:p).e~~ my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ~r5.\.\Z~.~ . ~c:t9P~.:i::: .~~., . .J.~~~ ..... 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. iii Dedicated to the memory of my father George Croshaw Young iv 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." v 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. vi 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 vii 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. viii 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. ix 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

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