African-Language Literatures. Innocentia Jabulisile Mhlambi
of these children in a black urban township worsens matters because they become islands. Their cultural disconnection is witnessed in the white friends they have, their use of English as a first language, the white schools they attend, the white manners they display and their consciousness about status. This explains Cele’s retort, ‘izingane zikaBafana ngeke zilibone eliwinayo, uyongibuza ungiphale ulimi’ (Bafana (John) children will not be able to see the winning one, you will ask and scrub my tongue) (Buthelezi: 48). Buthelezi’s picture of class distinctions in urban areas establishes Cele’s class as ‘izinqe zoluntu’ (the bottom of humanity) but as far wealthier in human values than educated people, ‘izingengelezi zezimpandla’ (the bald heads) because their financial success and education ‘igugule ubuntu basala bezingebhezi, benqunu’ (has eroded their humanism and left them bald and nude) (Buthelezi: 10).
Equally disparaged is the kind of education provided by the white schools which black learners attend. For Buthelezi, these schools are far from being multiracial. They remain white, in spite of their multiracial composition. Buthelezi is of the opinion that true education is only offered in the rural areas where it is related to their material conditions. Evidence is provided by Uzithelile and Hlanganisani’s performances in class and in sports and their subsequent success in Ongoye and American universities. The tendency of black parents to enrol their children in white schools and universities only heightens their deculturation and the crises in their identity as has been the case with Melody (Buthelezi: 223, 224, 228). Euthanasia eventually defies his mother and goes on to study at Ongoye, like his rural cousins, where he is successful in his studies. According to Buthelezi, studying in what were known as ‘bush universities’ seemingly prepares one sufficiently to be able to cope with any educational situation. Thus Euthenasia is also successful in American universities. The kind of veiled racism operative in white schools and universities limits the freedom of black children and hence their excellence is always restricted to sporting activities (Buthelezi: 137) However, American institutions still hold a glimmer of hope for such children as seen in the achievements of Euthenasia and his cousins.
Buthelezi’s concept of education is that it is based on life-long learning during the course of which individuals take an active role in pursuing programmes for social development. He conveys this by juxtaposing John and Popi’s social involvement after completing their studies and John’s nephews’ involvement in agricultural, economic and social politics. John’s education only procures him a certificate. He studies for the first degree that enables him to get a good job and spends the rest of his life siphoning material benefits for himself and his immediate family. His kind of education creates class divisions between the educated and the uneducated and contributes to structural underdevelopment and intellectual poverty (Buthelezi: 140). John fails to use his education to find solutions to problems besetting the society. The elite class, those of John’s calibre, are intellectually emaciated and given to escapism as a way of dealing with the anguish faced by their society. They drink heavily, live in perpetual lethargy, indulge in hedonistic lifestyles, listen to ghetto music and seek affection and fulfilment in sexual overdrive, diluting values and contributing to the general depravity, decadence and social entropy that typify urban lifestyles (Buthelezi: 140).
Popi’s education is equally castigated. She engages in life-long learning of the wrong kind since her learning only increases the number of degrees she obtains. Her education fails to broaden her mind and she cannot translate it into tangible aspects that can contribute to social development or, at least, identity-definition. Her learning contributes to her financial viability and status that she uses for career advancement in her insatiable desire for top positions at the hospital, but it also causes the disintegration of her marriage (Buthelezi: 65, 187–189, 191). For Buthelezi, Popi’s education does not lead to development because, despite her appointments to high positions, she does not have the skill and knowledge that can lead to true social development when correctly applied.
Uzithelile and Hlanganisani’s life-long learning, by contrast, contributes to social development. Their return from America is marked by their involvement in social politics that seeks to effect change through agriculture and education. This change is not only for rural women in the informal trading structures (Buthelezi: 231, 236), but also in politics where women participate in political structures that seek to uproot all causes of poverty and underdevelopment in African societies (Buthelezi: 153–158). Through these siblings Buthelezi demonstrates the kind of educated people that Africa needs for true development in all spheres of modern living.
The dramatisation of racial politics and interracial relations in the narrative also reflects the infighting that is characteristic of family life. The politics of race is reflected in educational, religious, political and economic matters which are all causes of interracial tensions and racial exclusions that lead to underdevelopment and poverty in the country. Buthelezi postulates three categories of white people to assess their contribution to the state of black people in the country. The first category comprises dubious, colonial Christians (Buthelezi: 226) and their role in causing social strife, particularly the clash of civilisations that is characteristic of modern African life and the accompanying poverty and psychological violence to which African societies have been subjected.
Affluent liberal capitalists constitute the second category represented by John’s employer. These capitalists contribute to the state of apathy witnessed among black South Africans. People in this category are characterised by self-deluding tendencies based on fallacious outlooks. In their eyes offering poverty-inducing wages to the majority of Africans, and extraordinary salaries to a few blacks, brings about social development. However, as far as Buthelezi is concerned, this outlook is based on ‘ubugovu bedlazana’ (aggrandisement of the few) (Buthelezi: 258, 259) which is poverty-causing. For Buthelezi, this category of white people denudes the majority of their sense of self and pride as seen in the character of Velemseni, renamed Williamson for the convenience of his white employers. But this category of whites also creates a class of affluent Africans who are delusional about their identities and human value as evinced by the character of John.
The third category, represented by Martin, consists of good white people who are true Christians, and who are socially conscious and have a sense of duty towards the underprivileged sectors of the community. They are characterised by respect for other cultures. Their involvement with the disadvantaged in the society does not stem from the desire to benefit but the desire to advance humanity in general (Buthelezi: 74, 78, 81, 84).
Both in Aphelile Agambaqa and Impi YaboMdabu Isethunjini the application of the proverbs as title of the narrative presupposes that the narrative will be read in such a way that its truth is demonstrated. At times, however, evolving trends in contemporary life produce a certain flexibility in the linguistic formulation of the proverb that manages to capture and interpret these from the traditional perspective. Moving from the family infighting produced by the violation of a cultural code as captured in the proverb ‘impi yomndeni isesendeni’ (the war of the family is in the testicle) to ‘impi yaboMdabu isethunjini’ (the war of Africans is in the intestines), allows Buthelezi to transcend the original application and interpretation of the proverb bringing into the narrative issues that never would have been captured by the old adage in its original meaning. He has thus been able to raise socio-political and economic issues as reflected in the cultural interaction of different racial groups in South Africa.
Conclusion
Proverbs are independent texts which can be incorporated into a variety of genres. As embedded texts their illocutionary role cannot be underestimated. Whole narratives can be formulated to reflect the truth they espouse. The two novels discussed in this chapter apply a similar underlying proverb used in the title differently.
In Aphelile it is applied to gender politics, to warn against working mothers because they are no longer able to perform the traditional role of raising children. There is a nostalgic lament for the past roles of women in society because their strict adherence to the roles they performed ensured that the social order was not disrupted. In Impi, the proverb is applied in a different situation and a general outrage against city life is registered (Buthelezi: 14). The significance of both applications lies in their lamentation for the transient nature of time that forever pushes the societies into the intricacies of modern life. Those proverbs