AFL4804
Assignment 03 2025
N.B PARAPHRASE YPUR WORK TO AVOID PLAGARISM (CHANGE WORDS)
DECLARATION
I declare that this assignment is my own original work and that all references
used have been acknowledged. I have not allowed anyone else to borrow or
copy my work.
Signature: …………………………………………………..
Main African Language: Xitsonga
AFL4804 ASSIGNMENT
Study Unit 03: Survey of the Development of Modern Literature in
African Languages
Question 3.1
In some early literary texts in the indigenous languages a perception is
created that African culture is viewed as primitive, African religion as
, superstition. Discuss this assertion with reference to literary texts in
your main African language.
The early written literature development among Xitsonga speaks of a figure of
preservation against the African culture and traditional beliefs as well as
distortion. Some of the very first writings such as those of the Christian
missionaries or African-convert writings were often missionary inspired. These
writers tended to use the western and the Christian approach to address the
African traditional religion, and its traditions leading to African culture being
portrayed as backward and their religion as being a superstition. This essay is
a critical analysis of the creation of these representations in early Xitsonga
literatures as well as what it may represent to our understanding of the
Tsonga and their identity, culture and beliefs.
xitsonga xa vusiku (xitsonga of the night) one of the most popular early
Xitsonga texts is a set of moralistic and religious prose works drawn up in
missionary schools in the early 20thCentury. Such African traditional practices
as ancestor worshiping (ku hlawula swikwembu), initiation ceremonies
(ngoma) and traditional healing are often represented as immoral, devilish or
foolish in these texts. Christianity is glorified as the means of reaching the
light and civilisation whereas the African religion is linked with darkness, fright,
irrationality. This kind of dichotomy was quite characteristic of the early
literature commissioned by Swiss- and German missionaries, whose intent in
literature was frequently not representational but converting.
In E. M. Mhinga novel Makomba Ndlela, a novel of Xitsonga that is one of the
initial Xitsonga novels ever produced, traditional and modern clash plays a
central role. Although Mhinga does indeed make some attempts to present
the life and traditions of the Tsonga, his story seems skewed towards the
conviction of the superiority of the Christian values over the African ways.
Those who rely on traditions of healers are depicted as cheaters and the
beliefs on the ancestors spirits are mocked. This character growth of the novel
is a sly lesson to learn that those individuals who leave the conventions of
their forefathers and join Christianity are blessed, but those people who cling
onto native practices endure misfortune. This story supports the idea that the
African religion is backward and cannot be used in development.
The other prominent document is the one that has been referred as: N wana
wa Mutsonga (A Tsonga Child) and was widely employed in the schools.
Cultural practices such as the ku phahla (ritual communication with ancestors),
puberty initiation of girls (khomba) are made of or seem destructive in this and
other education books. This was an act of omission or negativity that was
aimed at delegitimising cultural traditions that were the spiritual and moral
pillars of the Tsonga society. Although these materials did bring literacy and
formal schooling into being, they were also a form of destruction to indigenous
forms of knowledge.
Missionary effect can also be witnessed especially in language use.
Swikwembu (ancestors/gods) was something that was commonly
mistranslated or even identified with demons. This misrepresentation of
Assignment 03 2025
N.B PARAPHRASE YPUR WORK TO AVOID PLAGARISM (CHANGE WORDS)
DECLARATION
I declare that this assignment is my own original work and that all references
used have been acknowledged. I have not allowed anyone else to borrow or
copy my work.
Signature: …………………………………………………..
Main African Language: Xitsonga
AFL4804 ASSIGNMENT
Study Unit 03: Survey of the Development of Modern Literature in
African Languages
Question 3.1
In some early literary texts in the indigenous languages a perception is
created that African culture is viewed as primitive, African religion as
, superstition. Discuss this assertion with reference to literary texts in
your main African language.
The early written literature development among Xitsonga speaks of a figure of
preservation against the African culture and traditional beliefs as well as
distortion. Some of the very first writings such as those of the Christian
missionaries or African-convert writings were often missionary inspired. These
writers tended to use the western and the Christian approach to address the
African traditional religion, and its traditions leading to African culture being
portrayed as backward and their religion as being a superstition. This essay is
a critical analysis of the creation of these representations in early Xitsonga
literatures as well as what it may represent to our understanding of the
Tsonga and their identity, culture and beliefs.
xitsonga xa vusiku (xitsonga of the night) one of the most popular early
Xitsonga texts is a set of moralistic and religious prose works drawn up in
missionary schools in the early 20thCentury. Such African traditional practices
as ancestor worshiping (ku hlawula swikwembu), initiation ceremonies
(ngoma) and traditional healing are often represented as immoral, devilish or
foolish in these texts. Christianity is glorified as the means of reaching the
light and civilisation whereas the African religion is linked with darkness, fright,
irrationality. This kind of dichotomy was quite characteristic of the early
literature commissioned by Swiss- and German missionaries, whose intent in
literature was frequently not representational but converting.
In E. M. Mhinga novel Makomba Ndlela, a novel of Xitsonga that is one of the
initial Xitsonga novels ever produced, traditional and modern clash plays a
central role. Although Mhinga does indeed make some attempts to present
the life and traditions of the Tsonga, his story seems skewed towards the
conviction of the superiority of the Christian values over the African ways.
Those who rely on traditions of healers are depicted as cheaters and the
beliefs on the ancestors spirits are mocked. This character growth of the novel
is a sly lesson to learn that those individuals who leave the conventions of
their forefathers and join Christianity are blessed, but those people who cling
onto native practices endure misfortune. This story supports the idea that the
African religion is backward and cannot be used in development.
The other prominent document is the one that has been referred as: N wana
wa Mutsonga (A Tsonga Child) and was widely employed in the schools.
Cultural practices such as the ku phahla (ritual communication with ancestors),
puberty initiation of girls (khomba) are made of or seem destructive in this and
other education books. This was an act of omission or negativity that was
aimed at delegitimising cultural traditions that were the spiritual and moral
pillars of the Tsonga society. Although these materials did bring literacy and
formal schooling into being, they were also a form of destruction to indigenous
forms of knowledge.
Missionary effect can also be witnessed especially in language use.
Swikwembu (ancestors/gods) was something that was commonly
mistranslated or even identified with demons. This misrepresentation of
