wazha lopang - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by wazha lopang
International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, 2014
This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portray... more This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portrayal of sexuality, particularly that which was considered deviant by nature, because of their need to build an 'upright' African image, no matter how artificial this was. The paper looks at how the political environment dictated sexual expression amongst characters and that the urban setting was more candid in its narrative style. There was also a total blackout on homosexuality between characters and where this took place, it was presented as something that was alien to the African culture in general and to the personality in particular. Writers who depicted pre-colonial settings limited sexuality to procreation and as a comment to the African's link with the ancestors. There is also a correlation between the geographic location of texts and the degree of sexual expression that the writer engages in. As such the paper argues that sexual deviance is depicted as a matter of geography over and above thematic concerns.
International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, 2014
This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environmen... more This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environment because this is where oral literature flourishes. The oral literature provides the conditions necessary for magic realism to explore the relationship between the surreal and the mundane. If the magic realism is set outside this bush environment then the experience becomes muted. Texts that have a clear dichotomy between the world of human habitation (such as villages, towns) and that of the spirits (such as the bush or forest) enable magic realism to evolve into a more profound experience, that of the dream setting. My argument is that the dream setting needs this dichotomy for it to exist. In essence, texts that do not use the bush environment as part of their setting fall short in their creative aspect because the space and time within which characters function are constrained. The use of the oral tradition with its interplay of the human, animal and spirit worlds creates a platform for the dream setting, something which cannot happen where the setting limits itself to the world of human habitation. I will compare Bessie Head's Maru with Ben Okri's Starbook to show how the oral tradition in the latter text makes it achieve a level of magic realism that cannot be possible in Head's Maru.
ALT 33 Children's Literature & Story-telling
This paper goes beyond an oral-aural appreciation of Ikalanga trickster tales to explore the taci... more This paper goes beyond an oral-aural appreciation of Ikalanga trickster tales to explore the tacit manner in which patriarchy views shulo (hare) the Ikalanga trickster as male. We explain the concept of androgyny to demonstrate why the trickster is a successful character, even though some storytellers and critics view the trickster as either male or female. The paper argues that seeing the trickster as either male or female is flawed because the trickster functions outside the paradigms of masculinity and femininity. It is this non-conformity that helps us to better appreciate how we define ourselves socially as human beings. Using queer theory as a theoretical framework, we argue that even though Ikalanga trickster tales depict characters that display masculine and feminine qualities, the trickster is androgynous and operates outside the exclusive feminine and masculine paradigms. Because of this androgyny, hare does not function in a manner that is socially conditioned. Going into...
This article looks at Elechi Amadi's The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state... more This article looks at Elechi Amadi's The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state of self healing. It will argue how Wago takes his life not out of cowardice but as a rejection of what society demands of him. The fatal removal of the self will be shown as an attempt to reject that society for the finality of death. It will be argued how suicide is a weapon of choice that heroic characters make use of when all other methods, civil and military, have failed. The damnation of death is seen not as a curse of the self but a final statement about society and its relationship with the individual. In essence the text explores how suicide in African literature is appraised especially in a setting where Christian or European notions of sin are nonexistent.
This paper argues that African writers who set out to give the literary world an African perspect... more This paper argues that African writers who set out to give the literary world an African perspective of the Indigenous people during colonialism did so by giving a convenient image of the African’s sexuality. This image stems out of the fact that the African’s sexuality was one in which same-sex relationships were portrayed as cultural imports of colonialism and not practices that were inherently part of the African. The paper shows how some influential West African writers either depicted homosexuality as evil or ignored it altogether despite the reality that was happening in the African continent. Furthermore, though there were instances in which the missionaries themselves were hypocritical in their denouncing of homosexuality this was not picked up by writers of African literature at the time. The gender politics was such that writers created an ideal image of the African male that was seen to have strong physical and spiritual characteristics to the effect that notions of homos...
This article looks at Elechi Amadi’s The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state... more This article looks at Elechi Amadi’s The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state of self healing. It will argue how Wago takes his life not out of cowardice but as a rejection of what society demands of him. The fatal removal of the self will be shown as an attempt to reject that society for the finality of death. It will be argued how suicide is a weapon of choice that heroic characters make use of when all other methods, civil and military, have failed. The damnation of death is seen not as a curse of the self but a final statement about society and its relationship with the individual. In essence the text explores how suicide in African literature is appraised especially in a setting where Christian or European notions of sin are nonexistent.
Marang: Journal of Language and Literature, 2016
The African‟s quest for an identity that is acceptable to himself and to others has become an imp... more The African‟s quest for an identity that is acceptable to himself and to others has become an implosive phenomena as shown by the recent xenophobia (sometimes called Afro phobia) attacks in South Africa. This article uses Alfred Adler‟s theory of personality (social interest) to explore how Honwana in We Killed Mangy Dog (1967) pre-empts post millennium xenophobia in ways that question our understanding of identity and self-acceptance from a position of the aggressive psyche. It also reflects on Frantz Fanon‟s take on how violence is seen as a solution to the native‟s subjugation at the hands of the coloniser, and if indeed the victimised individual is able to successfully navigate the three stages of violence in order to liberate himself. Honwana‟s We killed Mangy Dog (1967) looks at xenophobia from the perspective of the victim and the aggressor, showing how empathy and violence can be nurtured from childhood to create problems of identity for the African. Keywords: xenophobia, id...
This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portray... more This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portrayal of sexuality, particularly that which was considered deviant by nature, because of their need to build an 'upright' African image, no matter how artificial this was. The paper looks at how the political environment dictated sexual expression amongst characters and that the urban setting was more candid in its narrative style. There was also a total blackout on homosexuality between characters and where this took place, it was presented as something that was alien to the African culture in general and to the personality in particular. Writers who depicted pre-colonial settings limited sexuality to procreation and as a comment to the African's link with the ancestors. There is also a correlation between the geographic location of texts and the degree of sexual expression that the writer engages in. As such the paper argues that sexual deviance is depicted as a matter of geography over and above thematic concerns.
This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environmen... more This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environment because this is where oral literature flourishes. The oral literature provides the conditions necessary for magic realism to explore the relationship between the surreal and the mundane. If the magic realism is set outside this bush environment then the experience becomes muted. Texts that have a clear dichotomy between the world of human habitation (such as villages, towns) and that of the spirits (such as the bush or forest) enable magic realism to evolve into a more profound experience, that of the dream setting. My argument is that the dream setting needs this dichotomy for it to exist. In essence, texts that do not use the bush environment as part of their setting fall short in their creative aspect because the space and time within which characters function are constrained. The use of the oral tradition with its interplay of the human, animal and spirit worlds creates a platform for the dream setting, something which cannot happen where the setting limits itself to the world of human habitation. I will compare Bessie Head's Maru with Ben Okri's Starbook to show how the oral tradition in the latter text makes it achieve a level of magic realism that cannot be possible in Head's Maru.
International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, 2014
This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portray... more This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portrayal of sexuality, particularly that which was considered deviant by nature, because of their need to build an 'upright' African image, no matter how artificial this was. The paper looks at how the political environment dictated sexual expression amongst characters and that the urban setting was more candid in its narrative style. There was also a total blackout on homosexuality between characters and where this took place, it was presented as something that was alien to the African culture in general and to the personality in particular. Writers who depicted pre-colonial settings limited sexuality to procreation and as a comment to the African's link with the ancestors. There is also a correlation between the geographic location of texts and the degree of sexual expression that the writer engages in. As such the paper argues that sexual deviance is depicted as a matter of geography over and above thematic concerns.
International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, 2014
This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environmen... more This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environment because this is where oral literature flourishes. The oral literature provides the conditions necessary for magic realism to explore the relationship between the surreal and the mundane. If the magic realism is set outside this bush environment then the experience becomes muted. Texts that have a clear dichotomy between the world of human habitation (such as villages, towns) and that of the spirits (such as the bush or forest) enable magic realism to evolve into a more profound experience, that of the dream setting. My argument is that the dream setting needs this dichotomy for it to exist. In essence, texts that do not use the bush environment as part of their setting fall short in their creative aspect because the space and time within which characters function are constrained. The use of the oral tradition with its interplay of the human, animal and spirit worlds creates a platform for the dream setting, something which cannot happen where the setting limits itself to the world of human habitation. I will compare Bessie Head's Maru with Ben Okri's Starbook to show how the oral tradition in the latter text makes it achieve a level of magic realism that cannot be possible in Head's Maru.
ALT 33 Children's Literature & Story-telling
This paper goes beyond an oral-aural appreciation of Ikalanga trickster tales to explore the taci... more This paper goes beyond an oral-aural appreciation of Ikalanga trickster tales to explore the tacit manner in which patriarchy views shulo (hare) the Ikalanga trickster as male. We explain the concept of androgyny to demonstrate why the trickster is a successful character, even though some storytellers and critics view the trickster as either male or female. The paper argues that seeing the trickster as either male or female is flawed because the trickster functions outside the paradigms of masculinity and femininity. It is this non-conformity that helps us to better appreciate how we define ourselves socially as human beings. Using queer theory as a theoretical framework, we argue that even though Ikalanga trickster tales depict characters that display masculine and feminine qualities, the trickster is androgynous and operates outside the exclusive feminine and masculine paradigms. Because of this androgyny, hare does not function in a manner that is socially conditioned. Going into...
This article looks at Elechi Amadi's The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state... more This article looks at Elechi Amadi's The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state of self healing. It will argue how Wago takes his life not out of cowardice but as a rejection of what society demands of him. The fatal removal of the self will be shown as an attempt to reject that society for the finality of death. It will be argued how suicide is a weapon of choice that heroic characters make use of when all other methods, civil and military, have failed. The damnation of death is seen not as a curse of the self but a final statement about society and its relationship with the individual. In essence the text explores how suicide in African literature is appraised especially in a setting where Christian or European notions of sin are nonexistent.
This paper argues that African writers who set out to give the literary world an African perspect... more This paper argues that African writers who set out to give the literary world an African perspective of the Indigenous people during colonialism did so by giving a convenient image of the African’s sexuality. This image stems out of the fact that the African’s sexuality was one in which same-sex relationships were portrayed as cultural imports of colonialism and not practices that were inherently part of the African. The paper shows how some influential West African writers either depicted homosexuality as evil or ignored it altogether despite the reality that was happening in the African continent. Furthermore, though there were instances in which the missionaries themselves were hypocritical in their denouncing of homosexuality this was not picked up by writers of African literature at the time. The gender politics was such that writers created an ideal image of the African male that was seen to have strong physical and spiritual characteristics to the effect that notions of homos...
This article looks at Elechi Amadi’s The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state... more This article looks at Elechi Amadi’s The Great Ponds and explores how suicide is for Wago a state of self healing. It will argue how Wago takes his life not out of cowardice but as a rejection of what society demands of him. The fatal removal of the self will be shown as an attempt to reject that society for the finality of death. It will be argued how suicide is a weapon of choice that heroic characters make use of when all other methods, civil and military, have failed. The damnation of death is seen not as a curse of the self but a final statement about society and its relationship with the individual. In essence the text explores how suicide in African literature is appraised especially in a setting where Christian or European notions of sin are nonexistent.
Marang: Journal of Language and Literature, 2016
The African‟s quest for an identity that is acceptable to himself and to others has become an imp... more The African‟s quest for an identity that is acceptable to himself and to others has become an implosive phenomena as shown by the recent xenophobia (sometimes called Afro phobia) attacks in South Africa. This article uses Alfred Adler‟s theory of personality (social interest) to explore how Honwana in We Killed Mangy Dog (1967) pre-empts post millennium xenophobia in ways that question our understanding of identity and self-acceptance from a position of the aggressive psyche. It also reflects on Frantz Fanon‟s take on how violence is seen as a solution to the native‟s subjugation at the hands of the coloniser, and if indeed the victimised individual is able to successfully navigate the three stages of violence in order to liberate himself. Honwana‟s We killed Mangy Dog (1967) looks at xenophobia from the perspective of the victim and the aggressor, showing how empathy and violence can be nurtured from childhood to create problems of identity for the African. Keywords: xenophobia, id...
This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portray... more This paper argues that writers of African literature during colonialism differed in their portrayal of sexuality, particularly that which was considered deviant by nature, because of their need to build an 'upright' African image, no matter how artificial this was. The paper looks at how the political environment dictated sexual expression amongst characters and that the urban setting was more candid in its narrative style. There was also a total blackout on homosexuality between characters and where this took place, it was presented as something that was alien to the African culture in general and to the personality in particular. Writers who depicted pre-colonial settings limited sexuality to procreation and as a comment to the African's link with the ancestors. There is also a correlation between the geographic location of texts and the degree of sexual expression that the writer engages in. As such the paper argues that sexual deviance is depicted as a matter of geography over and above thematic concerns.
This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environmen... more This paper argues that magic realism cannot evolve in a setting where there is no bush environment because this is where oral literature flourishes. The oral literature provides the conditions necessary for magic realism to explore the relationship between the surreal and the mundane. If the magic realism is set outside this bush environment then the experience becomes muted. Texts that have a clear dichotomy between the world of human habitation (such as villages, towns) and that of the spirits (such as the bush or forest) enable magic realism to evolve into a more profound experience, that of the dream setting. My argument is that the dream setting needs this dichotomy for it to exist. In essence, texts that do not use the bush environment as part of their setting fall short in their creative aspect because the space and time within which characters function are constrained. The use of the oral tradition with its interplay of the human, animal and spirit worlds creates a platform for the dream setting, something which cannot happen where the setting limits itself to the world of human habitation. I will compare Bessie Head's Maru with Ben Okri's Starbook to show how the oral tradition in the latter text makes it achieve a level of magic realism that cannot be possible in Head's Maru.