Threading Intsomi Elements in Kgafela oa Magogodi’s Chilahaebolae
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17575721 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Buntu Makhedama (0000-0001-8435-0873, University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.25159/1753-5387/19933 |
| OpenAlex | W7155352280 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 26 |
The series of events in Kgafela oa Magogodi’s Chilahaebolae, wherein animal characters are in contention with humans, has often been read through Western genre conceptions, while negating features that are unequivocally reminiscent of African oral storytelling traditions. This work intervenes by evaluating elements of intsomi and the supernatural in Magogodi’s theatre play, noting how the play is intelligible when Blackness is a lens of focus. Blackness provides a critique of symbolic notions of humanism, civil society, and the political landscape that is predominantly anti-Black. Intsomi is evoked as a genre in contrast to realism that is premised on the exclusion of the supernatural and Blackness; thus, each tenet is discussed in relation to how the traditional intsomi unfolds, and how Magogodi maintains its historicity. Intsomi epitomises Black Optimism, articulating a refusal of fungibility and offering African knowledge systems as a deviation from Western genre concepts premised on the exclusion of Blackness. The (un)critical overreliance in Western genre forms in reading Chilahaebolae, as some critics have argued, is perceived as repurposing Western systems in reading African artistic works, which presupposes a Western reader, thus failing to meet the objectives of this play. This work threads elements of intsomi, providing a novel interpretation of Magogodi’s play
Politics · Realism · Storytelling · Western thought · African history and culture studies · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies
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Theatrical Possibilities of the Traditional Xhosa Iintsomi
Black common sense
Questions of genre
Magical Realism
Blackness and Nothingness (Mysticism in the Flesh)
Djeli
Folklore and Politics in the Soviet Union
The Idea of Black Culture
African Gnosis Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge
The Law of Genre
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |