Critical studies and creative works in the Sesotho novel have made some of the important contributions in Sesotho literary history in particular, and African literary history in general. However, such contribution has been dictated by a particular history and an ideology. The world-view in literary practice that emerged from that history is the one that tends to divorce literature, literary study and language from society. Consequently, this study identifies this practice as a problem that needs to be addressed. This study argues from this perspective that literature, literary study and language should be re-established as integral parts in a manner that pedagogical practice would translate into positive social practices. To realise this ideal the study approaches the study of the Sesotho novel from the perspective of literary production. The theory of literary production insists that literature is a form of social production. This argument becomes even more pertinent to the study of the novel, which is viewed as having profound elements of realism that mirror society. A consideration of the Sesotho novel as a form of literary production that is linked to other forms of social production immediately leads to the question of the development of the Sesotho novel. The possibilities that are identified include external influence and internal evolution in the development of the Sesotho novel. These possibilities also have a bearing on the study of the Sesotho novel in particular and the study of the African novel in general. In order to pursue the argument to its logical conclusion, the development of the Sesotho novel is divided into three periods: 1900-1930; 1930-1960 and the 1960s- 1990s. Each of these periods demonstrates a particular ideological leaning that is akin to the material conditions of each period. Taking this trend as a pattern in the development of the Sesotho novel, this study advocates an approach that links literature and literary studies to society. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Critical studies and creative works in the Sesotho novel have made some of the important contributions in Sesotho literary history in particular, and African literary history in general. However, such contribution has been dictated by a particular history and an ideology. The world-view in literary practice that emerged from that history is the one that tends to divorce literature, literary study and language from society. Consequently, this study identifies this practice as a problem that needs to be addressed. This study argues from this perspective that literature, literary study and language should be re-established as integral parts in a manner that pedagogical practice would translate into positive social practices. To realise this ideal the study approaches the study of the Sesotho novel from the perspective of literary production. The theory of literary production insists that literature is a form of social production. This argument becomes even more pertinent to the study of the novel, which is viewed as having profound elements of realism that mirror society. A consideration of the Sesotho novel as a form of literary production that is linked to other forms of social production immediately leads to the question of the development of the Sesotho novel. The possibilities that are identified include external influence and internal evolution in the development of the Sesotho novel. These possibilities also have a bearing on the study of the Sesotho novel in particular and the study of the African novel in general. In order to pursue the argument to its logical conclusion, the development of the Sesotho novel is divided into three periods: 1900-1930; 1930-1960 and the 1960s- 1990s. Each of these periods demonstrates a particular ideological leaning that is akin to the material conditions of each period. Taking this trend as a pattern in the development of the Sesotho novel, this study advocates an approach that links literature and literary studies to society. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The issue of identity is receiving the most attention in recent times. Communities, groups and individuals tend to ask themselves who they are after the colonial period. The dawn of modern democracy and the fall of the Berlin Wall have become important sites of self-definition. In this study, I examine narratives of self-invention and selflegitimisation from a variety of texts ranging from poetic to dramatic voices. The author creates characters who represent his wishes, desires and fears in dramatic form. The other characters re-present the other members of his family. He uses autobiographical voices to re-create and re-present history, particularly his family history which has been dismembered by memory's inability to recover the past in its entirety. Memory, visions and dreams are used as tropes to negotiate the pain of loss. These narratives assist him to recapture that which has been lost dearly, and imaginatively re-members what has been dismembered. The autobiographical I shifts into an autobiographical we where the author uses his poetry to lambast the injustices of apartheid. The study further examines some aspects of postcolonial identity, which include the status of African writing and the role of africalogical discourse, the conception of home in apartheid South Africa as well as the juxtaposition of power between indigenes and settlers. These reflect the problem of marginality as a postcolonial condition and how the marginals can be returned to the centre of power. Marginalisation of the indigenes occurs by coercion, inferiorisation, tabooing certain political and cartographical spaces, harassment, torture and imprisonment. Despite these measures, the poetry of NS Puleng persisted to remove the fetish of apartheid disempowerment and disenfranchisement. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The issue of identity is receiving the most attention in recent times. Communities, groups and individuals tend to ask themselves who they are after the colonial period. The dawn of modern democracy and the fall of the Berlin Wall have become important sites of self-definition. In this study, I examine narratives of self-invention and selflegitimisation from a variety of texts ranging from poetic to dramatic voices. The author creates characters who represent his wishes, desires and fears in dramatic form. The other characters re-present the other members of his family. He uses autobiographical voices to re-create and re-present history, particularly his family history which has been dismembered by memory's inability to recover the past in its entirety. Memory, visions and dreams are used as tropes to negotiate the pain of loss. These narratives assist him to recapture that which has been lost dearly, and imaginatively re-members what has been dismembered. The autobiographical I shifts into an autobiographical we where the author uses his poetry to lambast the injustices of apartheid. The study further examines some aspects of postcolonial identity, which include the status of African writing and the role of africalogical discourse, the conception of home in apartheid South Africa as well as the juxtaposition of power between indigenes and settlers. These reflect the problem of marginality as a postcolonial condition and how the marginals can be returned to the centre of power. Marginalisation of the indigenes occurs by coercion, inferiorisation, tabooing certain political and cartographical spaces, harassment, torture and imprisonment. Despite these measures, the poetry of NS Puleng persisted to remove the fetish of apartheid disempowerment and disenfranchisement. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)