The Cattle Motif in Sol T. Plaatje's Publications in English Re-Storying the African and Batswana Sensibilities

被引：2

作者：

Haire, Karen ^{[1
]}

Matjila, D. S. ^{[2
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Johannesburg, Soweto Writing Ctr, Johannesburg, South Africa

[2] Univ S Africa, ZA-0001 Pretoria, South Africa

来源：

JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES | 2010年 / 41卷 / 01期

关键词：

cattle; proverbs; Sol T. Plaatje; ancestors; Batswana culture;

D O I：

10.1177/0021934709332461

中图分类号：

C95 [民族学、文化人类学];

学科分类号：

0304 ; 030401 ;

摘要：

Afrocentricity is the paradigm that underpins this study, which adapts the analytical construct "motif" from Welsh-Asante's Nzrui aesthetic model. "Motif" highlights "cattle," an image drawn from Batswana culture. Traditionally, the life of the Batswana is centered on cattle. Right up to the present, cattle feed the creative imagination in proverbs. This study traces the cattle motif in Sol. T. Plaatje's three most important publications in English: The Mafikeng Diary, Native Life in South Africa, and Mhudi. Cattle raids in The Mafikeng Diary of Sol T. Plaatje dignify Batswana heroism during the siege of Mafikeng. Tenacious shepherding during shellfire reveals the calm composure that rendered Africans skillful in covert operations. Dying cattle in Native Life in South Africa signify the economic ruin of the Batswana. Dispossessed of the right to rent grazing land, the Batswana risked extinction of social and spiritual identities, because cattle were the symbolic means of negotiation relationships among the living and with the ancestors.

引用

页码：207 / 217

页数：11