The Transformation of Senkatana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6697/11569Keywords:
stage directions, transformational processes, tragic flaw, deification, transfigurationAbstract
The research question in this article is to trace how the legend of Senkatana was transformed first into a drama and then into a tragedy. The methodology that is applied is to compare the salient features of the legend, the drama, and then the tragedy. An overarching finding is that the playwright developed a number of transformational processes in order to transform the essence of the plot, the number and line-up of characters as well as the drama’s structure. A second overarching finding concerns the medium of delivery where an originally orally narrated legend is transformed into a drama text written for performance on a stage before an audience. The third finding applies to the transformation of the character of Senkatana. This happens on a transcendental level when the legendary hero and king dies and becomes a deity after death—an instance of transformation that leads to transfiguration. A concluding finding is that several contemporary contextual readings of Mofokeng’s classic are possible.
References
Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert B. Heilman. 1948. Understanding Drama. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Bunting, Joe. n.d. “Freytag’s Pyramid: Definition, Examples and How to Use this Dramatic Structure in Your Writing.” The Write Practice. Accessed February 19, 2024. https://thewritepractice.com/freytags-pyramid/
Elam, Keir. 1980. The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. London: Methuen. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203993309
Erlich, Victor. 1993. “Russian Formalism.” In The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, edited by Alex Preminger and Terry V. F. Brogan, 1101–1102. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Gérard, Albert S. 1993. The Phaedra Syndrome: Of Shame and Guilt in Drama. Amsterdam: Rodopi. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004648180
Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. 1993. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
Guma, S. M. 1967. The Form, Content and Technique of Traditional Literature in Southern Sotho. Pretoria: J.L. Van Schaik.
Hardison, O. B. 1974. “Tragic Flaw.” In The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, edited by Alex Preminger, Frank J. Warnke, and Osborne Bennett Hardison Jr., 864–865. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Hodgson, Terry. 1988. The Batsford Dictionary of Drama. London: B.T. Batsford.
Hopler, Whitney. 2018. “The Spiritual Meaning of Birds.” Learn Religions, updated August 19, 2018. Accessed November 30, 2020. https://www.learnreligions.com/birds-as-divine-messengers-animal-angels-124476
Jacottet, E. (1908) 1968. Litšomo tsa Basotho I. Morija: Morija Sesotho Book Depot.
Mofokeng, S. M. (1952) 1974. Senkatana. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Mofokeng, S. M. 2018. Senkatana. Translated by J. M. Lenake. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Rossouw, Johann. 2020. “Christus se ware radikaliteit.” In Rapport Weekliks, December 20, 2020, 7. Accessed February 19, 2024. https://www.netwerk24.com/netwerk24/stemme/menings/johann-rossouw-christus-se-ware-radikaliteit-20201220
Shakespeare, William. (1606) 1969. Macbeth. London: Blackie.
Shea, Aimee R. 2012. “Sacred Symbolism of Birds.” Accessed December 7, 2020. https://indigointernational.org/sacred-symbolism-of-birds/
Matrix English Team. n.d. “Literary Techniques: Intertextuality.” Accessed December 7, 2020. https://www.matrix.edu.au/literary-techniques-intertextuality/
Tangherlini, Timothy R. 1990. “‘It Happened Not Too Far from Here...’: A Survey of Legend Theory and Characterization.” Western Folklore 49 (4): 371–390. https://doi.org/10.2307/1499751
Van der Merwe, Anna P. 1992. “The Didascalies as Sign-System in Three Dramas by M. S. Serudu.” MA diss., University of South Africa. https://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/16259
Van Gorp, H., ed. 1984. Lexicon van Literaire Termen. Leuven: Wolters.
Van Luxemburg, Jan, Mieke Bal, and Willem G. Weststeijn. 1983. Inleiding in de Literatuurwetenschap. Muidenberg: Dick Continho.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright will be vested in Unisa Press. However, as long as you do not use the article in ways which would directly conflict with the publisher's business interests, you retain the right to use your own article (provided you acknowledge the published version of the article) as follows:
- to make further copies of all or part of the published article for your use in classroom teaching;
- to make copies of the final accepted version of the article for internal distribution within your institution, or to place it on your own or your institution's website or repository, or on a site that does not charge for access to the article, but you must arrange not to make the final accepted version of the article available to the public until 18 months after the date of acceptance;
- to reuse all or part of this material in a compilation of your own works or in a textbook of which you are the author, or as the basis for a conference presentation.
Accepted 2023-12-14
Published 2024-08-14
