Colonial and Postcolonial African
Literatures
ENG2603
ASSIGNMENT 3
Year module
NB PARAPHRASE YOUR OWN WORK !!!!
This commentary constructs a social history of Hillbrow, an inner-city suburb in
Johannesburg, South Africa, based on a review of relevant published historical,
anthropological and sociological texts. We highlight the significant continuities in the
social structure of the suburb, despite the radical transformations that have occurred
over the last 120 years.
Mpe (1970-2004) was born in Limpopopo Province (formerly Pietersburg) in
northeastern South Africa and, like his main character, Refentše, he moved to
Johannesburg at the age of nineteen to attend the University of Witwatersrand,
which had recently opened its doors to black students. Unable to afford
accommodation on campus, he lived in Hillbrow. He would go on to complete an MA
in publishing at Oxford Brookes in the UK—an experience that he would, in his
novel, grant Refilwe, the female character whose life crosses and parallels that of
Refentše. Thus, Mpe’s urban and rural experiences, informed by his modern liberal
arts education, contributed to the development of a distinctive new literary voice, one
LORA TUTORING
, which would be cruelly silenced all too early when he died suddenly at the age of
thirty-four. If you were still live, Refentše, child of Tiragalong, you would be glad that
Bafana Bafana lost to France in the 1998 Soccer World Cup fiasco. Of course you
supported the squad. But at least now, you would experience no hardships walking
to your flat through the streets of Hillbrow—that locality of just over one square
kilometre, according to official records; and according to its inhabitants, at least twice
as big and teeming with countless people.
This is not, as some mistakenly assume, a second person perspective, but rather a
communal first person plural voice, speaking from a universal omniscient viewpoint
to a character who is dead. It is a narrative form that freely moves from the physical
to the metaphysical and back again. By drawing on traditional storytelling
techniques, language, and expressions to tell a story that is rooted in one of the most
crowded, disadvantaged, and violent inner-city neighbourhoods of post-Apartheid
Johannesburg, Mpe is able to explore the intersection of complex issues—linguistic
and literary marginalization, xenophobia, suicide, AIDS, and rural superstition—with
a dazzling immediacy and intensity. The voice that carries the narrative directly
addresses the primary character throughout the course of this short novel, and is at
once challenging and understanding. The voice recounts Refentše’s actions and
emotions for him, reminding or reinforcing a memory of his experiences because he
and most of the primary characters have met untimely or unfortunate fates by end of
the book (or, if you would rather, before the account even begins). This is a narrative
to the dead from the dead. This unusual approach not only allows for a surprisingly
effective engagement with a tragic tale of unfortunate coincidences,
misunderstandings, and consequences, but it also creates a unique dialectical
context for the exploration of the deep and critical issues that lie at the core of the
story.
In simple terms, although it does not unfold in a straightforward manner, Welcome to
Our Hillbrow, follows two main characters: Refentše, who comes to the city to study,
and settles in Hillbrow, becoming a sensitive observer of the community; and
Refilwe, his childhood friend and former girlfriend, who arrives in the city shortly
before his death. He falls in love with Lerato, the “Bone of his Heart,” who is also an
academic. But his mother and fellow villagers are not happy to see him with a city
woman—urban/rural prejudices are acute. When a couple of unfortunate moments of
infidelity “shatter” his enthusiasm for life and lead to his suicide, Refilwe exasperates
the situation by implying that Lerato is the daughter of a Nigerian man, a curse that
plays into a deep-seated xenophobia toward African migrants that still exists in some
black South African communities today. Tribal justice, more suicide, and madness
follow in the wake of Refentše’s death. Yet the narrator continues to address him in
Heaven, where he is able to observe the action that ensues but is, of course,
powerless to intervene.
Hillbrow, an area populated primarily by migrants from the townships, rural areas,
and from beyond the borders of South Africa. Unemployment and poverty prevail.
Those who have arrived from other countries, especially Nigeria, are rudely referred
LORA TUTORING
Literatures
ENG2603
ASSIGNMENT 3
Year module
NB PARAPHRASE YOUR OWN WORK !!!!
This commentary constructs a social history of Hillbrow, an inner-city suburb in
Johannesburg, South Africa, based on a review of relevant published historical,
anthropological and sociological texts. We highlight the significant continuities in the
social structure of the suburb, despite the radical transformations that have occurred
over the last 120 years.
Mpe (1970-2004) was born in Limpopopo Province (formerly Pietersburg) in
northeastern South Africa and, like his main character, Refentše, he moved to
Johannesburg at the age of nineteen to attend the University of Witwatersrand,
which had recently opened its doors to black students. Unable to afford
accommodation on campus, he lived in Hillbrow. He would go on to complete an MA
in publishing at Oxford Brookes in the UK—an experience that he would, in his
novel, grant Refilwe, the female character whose life crosses and parallels that of
Refentše. Thus, Mpe’s urban and rural experiences, informed by his modern liberal
arts education, contributed to the development of a distinctive new literary voice, one
LORA TUTORING
, which would be cruelly silenced all too early when he died suddenly at the age of
thirty-four. If you were still live, Refentše, child of Tiragalong, you would be glad that
Bafana Bafana lost to France in the 1998 Soccer World Cup fiasco. Of course you
supported the squad. But at least now, you would experience no hardships walking
to your flat through the streets of Hillbrow—that locality of just over one square
kilometre, according to official records; and according to its inhabitants, at least twice
as big and teeming with countless people.
This is not, as some mistakenly assume, a second person perspective, but rather a
communal first person plural voice, speaking from a universal omniscient viewpoint
to a character who is dead. It is a narrative form that freely moves from the physical
to the metaphysical and back again. By drawing on traditional storytelling
techniques, language, and expressions to tell a story that is rooted in one of the most
crowded, disadvantaged, and violent inner-city neighbourhoods of post-Apartheid
Johannesburg, Mpe is able to explore the intersection of complex issues—linguistic
and literary marginalization, xenophobia, suicide, AIDS, and rural superstition—with
a dazzling immediacy and intensity. The voice that carries the narrative directly
addresses the primary character throughout the course of this short novel, and is at
once challenging and understanding. The voice recounts Refentše’s actions and
emotions for him, reminding or reinforcing a memory of his experiences because he
and most of the primary characters have met untimely or unfortunate fates by end of
the book (or, if you would rather, before the account even begins). This is a narrative
to the dead from the dead. This unusual approach not only allows for a surprisingly
effective engagement with a tragic tale of unfortunate coincidences,
misunderstandings, and consequences, but it also creates a unique dialectical
context for the exploration of the deep and critical issues that lie at the core of the
story.
In simple terms, although it does not unfold in a straightforward manner, Welcome to
Our Hillbrow, follows two main characters: Refentše, who comes to the city to study,
and settles in Hillbrow, becoming a sensitive observer of the community; and
Refilwe, his childhood friend and former girlfriend, who arrives in the city shortly
before his death. He falls in love with Lerato, the “Bone of his Heart,” who is also an
academic. But his mother and fellow villagers are not happy to see him with a city
woman—urban/rural prejudices are acute. When a couple of unfortunate moments of
infidelity “shatter” his enthusiasm for life and lead to his suicide, Refilwe exasperates
the situation by implying that Lerato is the daughter of a Nigerian man, a curse that
plays into a deep-seated xenophobia toward African migrants that still exists in some
black South African communities today. Tribal justice, more suicide, and madness
follow in the wake of Refentše’s death. Yet the narrator continues to address him in
Heaven, where he is able to observe the action that ensues but is, of course,
powerless to intervene.
Hillbrow, an area populated primarily by migrants from the townships, rural areas,
and from beyond the borders of South Africa. Unemployment and poverty prevail.
Those who have arrived from other countries, especially Nigeria, are rudely referred
LORA TUTORING
