Colonial and Postcolonial African Literatures (ENG2603)
Institution
University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Book
Welcome to Our Hillbrow
ENG2603 Assignment 3 2024 | Due 13 September 2024. Multiple essays provided
Question 1: Welcome to our Hillbrow by Mpe Phaswane
In Welcome to Our Hilbrow, Refentše is depicted as a creative writer who notes a problem with the suppression of writing literature in African languages. In one of t...
ENG2603 ASSIGNMENT 3 GUIDE. DUE DATE: 05 SEPTEMBER 2023. DISTINCTION GUARANTEED. TOPICS COVERED: HOW THE NOVEL WELCOME TO OUR HILLBROW QUESTIONS THE HABITS OF CULTURAL STEREOTYPING OF OTHER AFRICANS I...
All for this textbook (6)
Written for
University of South Africa (Unisa)
Colonial and Postcolonial African Literatures (ENG2603)
All documents for this subject (63)
1
review
By: cjvanbruggen • 3 months ago
Seller
Follow
Aimark94
Reviews received
Content preview
, PLEASE USE THIS DOCUMENT AS A GUIDE TO ANSWER YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Please note that the author of this document will not responsibility for any plagiarizing you
commit.
Welcome to our Hillbrow by Mpe Phaswane
In Welcome to Our Hilbrow, Refentše is depicted as a creative writer who notes a problem with
the suppression of writing literature in African languages. In one of the passages in the novel
Refentše is addressing Refilwe about the difficulties of writing in a language NOT of one’s own.
Refentše says:
She did not know that writing in an Afri-can language in South Africa could be such a curse. She had
not anticipated that the publishers’ reviewers would brand her novel vulgar. Calling shit and genitalia
by their cor-rect names in Sepedi was apparently regarded as vulgar by these reviewers, who had for a
long time been reviewing works of fiction for educational publishers, and who were deter-mined to
ensure that such works did not of-fend the systems that they served. These systems were very
inconsistent in their attitudes to education. They considered it fine, for instance, to call genitalia by
their cor-rect names in English and Afrikaans biology books—even gave these names graphic pic-tures
as escorts—yet in all other languages, they criminalised such linguistic honesty. . . . In 1995, despite
the so-called new dispensa-tion, nothing had really changed. The leg-acy of Apartheid censors still
shackled those who dreamed of writing freely in an African The leg-acy of Apartheid censors still
shackled those who dreamed of writing freely in an African language. Publishers, scared of being
found to be on the financially dangerous side of the censorship border, still rejected manuscripts that
too realistically called things by their proper names—names that people of Tirag-along and Hillbrow
and everywhere in the world used every day. (Welcome to Our Hillbrow, 56, 57)
Assignment Task
Read the above passage and consider its significance in the African writers’ debates on which
languages to use when writing African literature. Carefully consult and read Obiajunwa Wali’s
essay, The Dead end of African Literature? (2007) Ngugi wa Thiongo essay, “The Language of
African Literature” (2007), and Chinua Achebe’s essay, “The African writer and African
Language” In: Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975) to understand this debate.
Then, write an essay of not more than three pages showing how Phaswane uses language in
Welcome to our Hillbrow. Your answer should incorporate the views of the above scholars and
you should indicate your position regarding whether the use of a certain language but not
another is still a necessary debate in the 21st century.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller Aimark94. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $2.76. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
