(De)Scribing home in apartheid South Africa

Locating Sepedi literature in the discourse

Bibliographic Data

ID21491073
AuthorsSekgothe Mokgoatšana (0000-0002-3224-2341, University of Limpopo, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume41
Issue1
Pages36-43
Publication date2021-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth African Journal of African Languages (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0257-2117 • E-ISSN: 2305-1159
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02572117.2021.1902132
OpenAlexW3158052116
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited9

The article joins the ongoing discourse of subalterns and the manner in which they inscribe their lives as scripts to explain their relationship with spaces and places they consider to be home. It also contributes from the same subaltern position to the heated debate in settler/colonial studies which are part of the grand theory of postcolonial discourse. The subaltern, as I shall illustrate is not always the muted, waiting-to-be-rescued subject, but a revolutionary self, resisting displacement, erasure and deracination. I will show how NS Puleng writing in Sepedi unsettles the master narrative discourses of dominance, thus giving voice to the voiceless. I shall further demonstrate how the writer defines and constructs ‘home’ despite the borders set by colonial/apartheid machinations. To bring home this debate, I will largely focus on NS Puleng’s two classical poetic works, namely Malopo a boreti and Seipone sa madimabe to reflect how ‘home’ is constructed in Sepedi literature. The author has purposively selected seven poems as units of analysis, namely Ga ke mofaladi, Ke kae mo, Gareadulelaruri, Gona kua matopeng, and Matlakašuthe from Malopo a boreti, and two from Seipone sa madimabe: Bohwa bja ka and Mo ke bokhutšo

Geography · Linguistics · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · African studies and sociopolitical issues · History · Philosophy · South African History and Culture

Tools

Open DOI