Xitsonga Fiction and the Masculinity of Anthroponyms: A Literary Appraisal of M.J. Maluleke’s Hi ya Kwihi?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6697/21110Keywords:
names, dominance, Xitsonga, Masculinity of Anthroponyms, masculinity, anthroponymyAbstract
Names are critical labels that human societies attach to various entities for identification purposes and other socio-political gains. Human names offer a summary of human traits, behaviours, and specified idiosyncrasies identifiable with the person named. Among the Vatsonga, names given to males, either real human beings or characters in fiction, differ significantly from feminine names, except for a select few that are neutral in orientation. The study adopts a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. The study employs two theoretical frameworks, which are the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach and Masculinity Theory, in the exploration of gender and masculine dynamics of dominance as well as the cultural attachment and value of names among the Vatsonga. Purposive sampling was used to select the text from which the names analysed in this study were extracted. The study found that given male characters’ names portray distinct onomastic traits that unveil disparities in gender roles, interaction and dominance over and above the female counterpart. The study recommends a continued tradition of bestowing names distinctly as a way of communicating gendered disparities and modes of behaviour across the broad ethnicity of the Vatsonga.
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Accepted 2026-04-19
Published 2026-07-28
