Imagining the future nation: A critical appreciation of Emmanuel Ngara’s vision in Songs from the Temple
Literator
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Imagining the future nation: A critical appreciation of Emmanuel Ngara’s vision in Songs from the Temple ’n Visioen van die toekomstige nasie: ’n Kritiese waardering van Emmanuel Ngara se nasionalistiese visie in Songs from the Temple | |
| Creator | Musvoto, Rangarirai A. | |
| Description | This article analyses Emmanuel Ngara’s collection of poetry Songs from the Temple. It argues that through some of the poems in this collection, Ngara forges an anti-colonial nationalist discourse that problematises hegemonic colonial narratives, which claimed that the black subaltern did not have history, culture and civilisation prior to the colonial interloper’s presence. Ngara’s main strategy in unseating these accounts is to lay claim to a flourishing precolonial culture of the Shona people on one hand, foregrounding their history and cultural symbols, and on the other through the use of artistic elements from the oral traditions of their society. This article contends that the incorporation of orature into Ngara’s written narratives of resistance disrupts and subverts hegemonic definitions of written poetry in as much as it anchors his nationalist vision in cultural spaces that the black subaltern has the potential to identify with. Hierdie artikel analiseer Emmanuel Ngara se digbundel Songs from the Temple. Die argument word gevoer dat Ngara ’n anti-koloniale, nasionalistiese diskoers in sy gedigte bevorder. Dit problematiseer die hegemoniese, koloniale narratiewe wat te kenne gee dat die swart ondergeskikte nie oor ’n geskiedenis, kultuur of beskawing voor die aankoms van die koloniale indringer beskik het nie. Ngara se hoofstrategie om hierdie aannames te bevraagteken, is om die florerende pre-koloniale kulture van die Shona mense voor te hou. Aan die een kant word hul geskiedenis en kulturele simbole beklemtoon en aan die ander kant die kunselemente van hul mondelinge kultuur. Hierdie artikel redeneer dat die inkorporering van oratuur in Ngara se geskrewe narratiewe van verset, die hegemoniese definisies van geskrewe digkuns ontwrig en ondermyn, alhoewel dit sy nasionalistiese visie in kulturele ruimtes anker, waarmee die swart ondergeskikte moontlik kan identifiseer. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2017-06-15 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v38i1.1323 | |
| Source | Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 8 pages Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 8 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1323/2382
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1323/2381
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1323/2383
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1323/2368
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