The need for a feminism: black township writing

Abstract

The essay looks at four books by contemporary black writers, Down Second Avenue by Ezekiel Mphahlele, Blame Me on History by Bloke Modisane (both autobiographies) Fools and Other Stories by Njabulo Ndebele and To Every Birth Its Blood by Mongane Serote. It compares the sense of the r6Ies and experiences of South African Black women which these writers offer with that of Sol Plaatje in his historical romance, Mhudi, first published in 1930 and written about 1917. Plaatje seems to have believed that the dissolution of traditional and tribal bonds between members of age groups and the distancing of the young from their elders would strengthen the bond between man and wife and allow women to become joint decision-makers with their husbands. The four contemporary writers are much more conservative and tend to portray women as passive victims of their men.

Opsommlng
Vier boeke deur eietydse swart skrywers word behandel: Down Second Avenue deur Ezekiel Mphahlele, Blame Me on History deur Bloke Modisane (albei outobiografiee), Fools and Other Stories deur Njabulo Ndebele en To Every Birth Its Blood deur Mongane Serote. Dit vergelyk die sin vir die rolle en ervaring van Suid·Afrikaanse swart vroue by hierdie skrywers met die van Sol Plaatje in sy historiese roman, Mhudi, wat aanvanklik in 1930 gepubliseer is en ongeveer 1917 geskryf is. Plaatje het skynbaar geglo dat die ontbinding van tradisionele en stambande tussen lede van ouderdomsgroepe en die distansiering tussen die jeug en die ouer garde die band tussen man en vrou sou versterk en vrouens sou toelaat om gemeenskaplike besluitnemers saam met hulle mans te word. Die vier eietydse skrywers is veel konserwatiewer en neig om vrouens as passiewe slagoffers van hulle mans uit te beeld.