Student Question
What contributions did S. E. K. Mqhayi make to South African culture and literature?
Quick answer:
S. E. K. Mqhayi significantly contributed to South African culture and literature by enriching Xhosa poetry and literature. He added seven stanzas to "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," now part of the national anthem, and was dubbed "the Shakespeare of Xhosa." Mqhayi also played a key role in standardizing Xhosa grammar, edited Xhosa journals, and wrote influential novels like Ityala lamawele to preserve and promote Xhosa culture and language.
Samuel Edward Krune (S. E. K.) Mqhayi was born in the Cape
Province of South Africa in 1875, specifically in the village of Gqumashe in
the town of Alice, and lived until 1945. He is especially famous for
adding seven stanzas in the Xhosa language to
the poem "Nkosi Sikelel' iArika" that became the South
African national anthem, originally a hymn written in 1897 by a Xhosa
Methodist clergyman near Johannesburg named Enoch Sontonga; however, Mqhayi
added his seven stanzas much later, in 1927 ("Samuel Edward Krune
Mqhayi"; "'Nkosi Sikelel'
iAfrika'"). Because he is famous for his Xhosa poetry and
considered the founder of Xhosa poetry, he was "awarded the
honorific [title] 'the Shakespeare of Xhosa'" ("S. E. K. Mqhayi").
Prior to contributing Xhosa poetry to South African literature and culture, he became an editor of Xhosa journals, was selected for the Xhosa Bible Revision...
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Board in 1905, and evenhelped standardize Xhosa grammar and
writing, another significant South African cultural and literary
contribution. He even became the first to write a novel in the Xhosa
language when he wrote and published U-Samson by 1907, a
novel that has sadly been lost to us. However, by 1914, he also wrote
and published the novel Ityala lamawele, translated The
Lawsuit of the Twins, and this second novel in the Xhosa language had a
significant influence on what soon became isiXhosa
literature. Mqhayi, saddened by the fact that Xhosa law and traditions
died as a result of colonialism, wrote the novel to defend Xhosa
law. We particularly see Mqhayi's feelings concerning the loss of
Xhosa traditions in a line he wrote in his novel's introduction, "Intetho
nemikhwa yesiXhosa iya itshona ngokutshona ngexa yeLizwi nokhanyo olukhoyo,
oluze nezizwe zaseNtshonalanga," translated to mean, "The language and mode of
life of the Xhosa people are gradually disappearing because of the Gospel and
the new civilization, which came with the nations from the West" ("Ityala lamawele:
Reception"). Literary historian Albert Gerard stated that Mqhayi's novel
was particularly influential in its "exploitation of the intricacies of the
Xhosa language" and in that the novel "validates the cultural values of the
Xhosa" ("Reception"). Hence, Mqhayi's true literary and cultural
contribution to South Africa is that he standardized the Xhosa
language and put the language and culture in writing for all the world to learn
about and admire.
References