Between the lion and the devil: The life and works of B.W. Vilakazi, 1906-1947
Date
1995-08-21
Authors
Ntshangase, Dumisane
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Abstract
Benedict Wallet Vilakazi can rightly be considered the "Father
of Nguni literature". In a period of twelve years, 1935-1947, he
was able to write three novels and two anthologies of his own
poetry. Ontop of that he wrote both his theses for a Master's
degree in 1938 and his D.litt in 1946 on literature. These two
were the first academic works of such magnitude on African
Languages 1iterature. He also co-compiled the English-Zulu-
English Dictionary with Prof CM Doke which was published posthumously in 1948. No other person in African languages literature in South Africa has been able to achieve what Vilakazi did. His influence on Zulu literature is still being felt even today. Nyembezi in 1959 observed that "some writers of Zulu poetry, for example, have taken Vilakazi as their model; but not only do they try to emulate his style; they even employ his expressions so that the end result is just another poem by Vilakazi" (Nyembezi, in Bantu Authors' Conference, 1959: 28). However, Vilakazi has ben regarded as second grade artist compared to his contemporaries, particularly those who wrote in English (e.g. HIE Dhlomo)…. This paper will analyse the works of Vilakazi collectively against his life and argue that his works reveal a man obsessed with a search for identity. I will also be discussing the politics Vilakazi shared and how these are reflected in his works. I will argue that our understanding of Vilakazi the person tells us so much about the African middle-class of his time. What I propose in this paper is that we cannot take the African middle class of Vilakazi's time as a homogenous group. What we have to do is to dissect this class and reveal its heterogeneity so as to understand the human and individual factor within it. I will also identify one sector of the African middle class, ie. the African graduates. These range from actual university graduates (mainly from the University College of Fort Hare) and those associated with them (teachers, politicians, other professionals and writers). I single out this class because I do not believe that the general term "middle class" explains anything about the cultural engineers of this class and cleavages within the whole. The African graduates, small in number but very powerful in ideas, shaped the thinking of the middle class generally and advocated for the accomodation of the middle class and particularly the "educated Africans". Our understanding of class patterns within African communities has not been exhausted and unless we begin to explore the human factor within the whole can we say that we have understood these communities.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 21 August 1995
Keywords
Vilakazi, B. Wallet (Benedict Wallet),1906-1947