2 research outputs found
Transformative Belief: Flight and Transcendence in Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s The Theory of Flight
No full textSiphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s novel, The Theory of Flight, uses the theme of flight to depict issues of self-belief, freedom, and identity in postcolonial Africa. Ndlovu portrays the importance of belief as a means of transcending and dealing with one’s difficulties. Her dislike of dualities and categorisations is evident in her unification of the natural and the supernatural in the novel, as well as the characterisation of the protagonist as a “hybrid” being. The novel’s anti-binarist stance exemplifies the divisions that have echoed and developed from colonialism, such as sexism and racism. Such issues are prevalent in modern-day South Africa owing to the dehumanising system of apartheid, and can be seen through the country’s high rate of gender-based violence and racial inequality. The Theory of Flight suggests that self-belief is humanising and allows individuals to take back their power and free themselves from racist classifications, allowing for a postcolonial society to heal and move forward. This article begins with a brief summary of events in the novel relevant to this analysis. Thereafter, the usefulness of the theoretical frameworks of spiritual realism and postcolonialism are discussed. The theme of flight in the novel is then explored, as well as its significance in the context of the text. Together with this, further links between tropes and images of flight are drawn, allowing for an in-depth analysis of the significance of flight in Ndlovu’s novel
Matters of the mind: analysing the depictions of mental health issues in three contemporary African novels.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This dissertation is a literary analysis, and the selected texts have been examined through the theoretical lenses of postcolonialism, spiritual realism, and liminality. Although issues such as identity, race, and culture are examined in postcolonial literature, not many texts focus on the mental health effects of these issues from an African viewpoint. To better understand the postcolonial experience in terms of mental health, it is important to not use a Western model as a universal measure for mental disorders (Nwoye, 2015). This is because different worldviews influence how mental health is viewed. For example, in the West, mental health issues are largely examined through a “bio-psycho-social” approach (Nwoye, 2015:306), with a distinct focus on the self, whereas the African approach also includes a spiritual element (Laher, 2014; Nwoye, 2015). This spiritual element can be seen in Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel, Freshwater, which incorporates Igbo cosmology, thus adding a supernatural element to the novel. Irenosen Okojie’s debut novel, Butterfly Fish, also encompasses the supernatural, and this brings up the concept of spiritual realism. The mental health struggles of the characters in these novels are interpreted from both a literal African viewpoint as well as a metaphorical lens which sees the spiritual elements in the novels as representations of the mental health issues faced by the characters. Although Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom does not comprise a mystical element, it does examine mental health struggles that stem from postcolonial issues like identity and racism. All three novels therefore offer an explanation of mental health that is relevant not only to Africans living in the West but also to other Neocolonial populations, including those in Africa
