Literary representation of character in South Africa is not just problematic but also
complicated by racial dynamics, which easily lead to prejudiced portrayal by most
writers. Mphahlele's reaction to White writing's "distortion" of the image of
Blacks, in his critical texts resulted in his being labelled a protest writer.
Concerning his creative writing, he admits that he initially couldn't portray the
character of a white person roundedly due to limited acquaintance with him.
What he only knows about him and therefore depicts in his early writings is the
White stereotype. His acquaintance with the White world through varied
interaction gives a leverage that improves his portrayal of the White character.
Consequently his later works reflect objective representation of characters from
different races. The study therefore concludes that he falls outside the bracket
of protest writers, as his literary works prove to transcend the limitations of
stereotypical character representation. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Theory of Literature)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/16030 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Sicwebu, Noel Zanoxolo |
| Contributors | Grabe, R. C. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (138 leaves) |
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