Three protagonists in B.W. Vilakazi’s “Ezinkomponi” (“On the mine compounds”)
Literator
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Three protagonists in B.W. Vilakazi’s “Ezinkomponi” (“On the mine compounds”) | |
| Creator | Zondi, N. | |
| Description | In this poem the great Zulu poet B.W. Vilakazi is preoccupied with the surreal scene of a gold mine compound in the 1940s Johannesburg, and reflects on the three protagonists of the drama that plays out in front of him: the miners, mine magnates and the heavy machinery, all things that drive the entire enterprise of enslaving the workers. Feelings flood his imagination: about the terrible status of the miners (with whom he identifies); what they have left behind, their dreams and the reality they battle with; the unfeeling and overwhelming spectre of industrialisation, and distant capitalist interests; and the instruments of oppression: the deafening mine machines. These three protagonists(especially the first and the third,) assume human characteristics and fight to justify their respective roles in the conflict. Vilakazi’s famous protest poem becomes a cry for help in the face of destructive industrial advancement as everpresent human drama, which pits values of gold/ and money against what is more fully human and worth living for; possibly unachievable present prosperity against a vision of future happiness and fulfilment. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2011-06-22 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v32i2.17 | |
| Source | Literator; Vol 32, No 2 (2011); 173-188 Literator; Vol 32, No 2 (2011); 173-188 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/17/17
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