Literature enthusiasts filled the common room at Rhodes University's English Department recently to hear about the tribulations of how an author translates a book into an African language.
Literature enthusiasts filled the common room at Rhodes University's English Department recently to hear about the tribulations of how an author translates a book into an African language.
Siphiwo Mahala's novel When a man cries was recently published in isiXhosa as Yakhal' indoda by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. Yakhal' indoda is a novel which uses simple language and a casual style of writing, allowing easy reading and the story to flow freely.
Mahala, who is also the Deputy Director of Books and Publishing at the national Department of Arts and Culture, grew up in Grahamstown's Joza township. He attended CM Vellem Primary School, NV Cewu Higher Primary School and Ntsika Secondary School where he matriculated.
At Fort Hare University his love for languages saw him graduate with an Honours Degree in African Languages. Yakhal' indoda shows a significant development about HIV/Aids in South African literature in that the author uses the first person to tell the story of a school teacher whose risky sexual behaviour triggers some questions about his HIV status.
Mahala said: “I expose the effects of manliness and its monstrous nature as revealed in the life of Themba Limba, the one who has remained steadfastly loyal to the great imperative of masculinity imposed by his Xhosa culture: 'a man must not cry.'”
Visiting lecturer at the Rhodes University's English Department, Lizzy Attree, said Mahala is the only South African novelist who "consciously focuses with such intensity on sensitive problems of one-dimensional masculinity" and that the book inspires conversation around these topics.
Bonga Zuma said: “It is very interesting book and it was my dream to see such a great man as Mahala."
