By Mmathabo Maebela
Colonisation did more than divide and conquer in Africa – it waged a psychological and linguistic war. One that contributed to the burden of what Thandeka Gqubule-Mbeki, the event facilitator, referred to as the “nervous condition of black people”. The phrase references Tsitsi Dangarengba’s 1998 novel and a legacy of dissonance and scars, which language continues to reflect.
Last week’s event, hosted by Rhodes University’s African Languages and Literature and Politics and International Studies departments, bolstered ongoing attempts to reclaim African languages.
Students and scholars, faces beaming with enthusiasm, gathered at Eden Grove Blue to celebrate and honour the recently published translation of Frantz Fanon’s seminal work The Wretched of the Earth, Izimpabanga Zomhlaba, into isiZulu.
Izimpanga Zomhlaba is the first of Fanon’s works to be translated into an African language.
At the heart of the event was Makhosazana ‘Makhosi’ Xaba, the literary force behind this revolutionary translation. As a renowned poet and short story writer, Xaba’s work reflects her commitment to reimagining the African literary landscape through the language of writing. “Translating was never a dream for me,” she said. However, her translation of Fanon’s work has become a pathway to accessibility, a contribution to an oeuvre of multilingualism, a challenge to English hegemony, and a chance at ownership.
Read in two tongues, the rhythm of the translation emerged as Gqubule-Mbeki and Rhodes alumnus Mbongeni Magubane, co-founder of the Centre for Being and Belonging, moved from English to isiZulu. “My name is a disgrace, Igama lam liyintlamba,” they read.
Following the opening address by Dr Bulelwa Nosilela, head of the School for African Languages and Literature, their reading echoed her sentiments on Ngungi wa Thiongo’s language and cultural liberation. Audience members eagerly discussed the importance of translating decolonial texts into African languages in academic spaces.
According to Professor Dion Nkomo of the School of African Languages and Literature, having read the original text 25 years ago in a first-year course, he did not understand its value. After reading it in isiZulu, he now appreciates the book as a great service to today’s students.
Fanon’s 1961 text has become a cornerstone of postcolonial studies. Highlighting the psychological and dehumanising effects of colonisation, it urged the colonised to reclaim their agency in the face of oppression. Through this translation, “Makhosi Xaba has brought him to Africa for the rest of us, situating him in a different time and space,” said Gqubule-Mbeki. Her work reinforced African identity, helping to create “a new man, a new society, a new vision,” she added.
In a conversation following the event, Xaba mentioned that her biggest hope for this book is for people to enjoy reading again. “In this new age, people do not read as much anymore because technology has so much more to give them,” she said. As the night ended, Sisonke Mawonga, projects manager for the Rhodes chapter of the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP), thanked everyone who attended. Then, the literary revolution began as people flocked to Xaba’s table with their copies of Izimpanga Zomhlaba to get their books signed.
