Tydskrif vir letterkunde

This article consists of an intersectional reading of Lynthia Julius’s second volume of poetry Kinderlê, published in 2024. I begin by interpreting the introductory poem in the volume, “1 Gepubliseerdiërs 13”, in which the speaker protests being consistently referred to as a “bruin digter” (a ‘brown’ or ‘coloured’ poet). I read this protest as an invitation to approach the volume through an intersectional (or matrix) rather than an essentialising (or single-axis) lens. The article then identifies aspects of intersectionality theory that will help produce a nuanced reading of Julius’s second volume, namely an understanding of the theory’s origins and the contexts in which it developed, its attention to the tension between dominant and imaginary frameworks, and its use by some researchers as a heuristic instrument and provisional concept. These theoretical vantage points guide a reading that shows how the volume explores the intersections between categories such as race, gender and class, while also adding further layers —including issues of authorship, language, religion and mental health. Special attention is given to Julius’s rewriting of Paul Celan’s famous poem “Todesfuge” in her poem “Bruinfuga” and the cycle of poems titled “Kinderlê”, which creatively re-imagines the historical killing of 32 Nama children by ‘Bushmen’ (the word that the text uses). I conclude that intersectionality can indeed function as a heuristic instrument and prism that illuminates both the complex interwoven identity categories within individual poems and the volume as a whole.

Connections and dialogues between Indian ocean islands: from poetic-critical texts to selected Mauritian novels

2025-12-08

Markus Arnold

Thinking space and the imagination of island territories is a central theme in the works of authors from the south-western Indian Ocean. But is this symbolic appropriation achieved through the affirmation of specific identities or by staging an exchange, or even a dialogue, between islands which, due to history and its aftermath, share many linguistic, ethno-cultural and socio-political characteristics? This article will discuss this question of inter-island relations and dialogue by examining contemporary novel writing from Mauritius—the most visible and prolific production from the region. I begin by examining a number of poetic and critical texts (on Lemuria, Indian-Oceanism, Coolitude, Indian Ocean creolisation) in which real or hypothetical island connections have long been considered. I then read several novels by Francophone and Anglophone Mauritian authors (e.g. Ananda Devi, Amal Sewtohul, Nathacha Appanah, Lindsey Collen), within the broader context of contemporary island literature, focusing on how they situate and conceive of island geography and imagination in relation to neighbouring island territories. I demonstrate that while dialogical thinking between the islands of the Indian Ocean remains relatively marginal in Mauritian novels, these texts nevertheless contain a subtle and significant presence in this regard.

Shepherds, bovids and the environment in the Fulani oral tradition

2025-12-01

Amadou Oury Diallo

This article is based on the theoretical premise that mythical narratives are so essential that they form the basis of the imagination and influence social, religious and cultural practices. Questioning the relationship between the Fulani shepherd and his favourite animal, as well as the way in which he takes charge of the physical and symbolic environment, it highlights the origin, place and importance of bovids, as well as the ecological dimension of pastoralism in Fulani oral tradition. According to the cosmogonic narrative, the cow occupies a central place as the first creature and a fundamental symbol. It is part of a mythical triad that also includes woman and the universe, around which the social, economic and spiritual spheres are structured. This triad forms the basis of a pastoral ecology organised around the relationship between cattle, man and their environment. The principle of balance in being-in-the-world, defined as “a balanced person in a balanced space”, guides this ecological approach, which is based on the methodical management of natural resources, flora and fauna. Whether in the management of grazing areas, the selection of plant species or the use of water resources, all practices are based on proven expertise and an approach that is rigorously rooted in an ecological conscience, aimed systematically at promoting human and animal well-being, while ensuring the conservation of ecosystems.

From rain-bringer to wealth-giver: Changing forms of the snake in southern African belief systems

2025-12-01

Felicity Wood

In this article, I explore the spiritual and supernatural aspects of the snake and the ways in which this being has long been associated with various spiritual presences and forces in certain South African belief systems. For instance, Archibald Campbell Jordan’s The Wrath of the Ancestors and some oral narratives from the Eastern Cape province convey positive, benevolent images of the snake as spiritual emissaries, guardians, and guides. Snakes form an integral part of the spiritual order in Eastern Cape cosmology, just as they form part of the ecological balance in the natural world. In the narratives (both written and oral) describing this, the spiritual, the natural world, humans, and other living creatures are interconnected, forming part of a greater whole. More recently, however, as other oral Eastern Cape accounts indicate, snakes have become increasingly connected to sinister aspects of the occult. Oral accounts of the mamlambo , a South African wealth-giving spirit, depict the snake as a malign, sinister supernatural presence bringing about divisions, disparities, and disaster, suggestive of the socio-political, economic, and cultural circumstances that brought belief in the mamlambo and these attitudes towards the snake into being. I discuss Jordan’s novel and oral accounts that convey these contrasting images of the snake and explore the reasons for the changes that perceptions of this being have undergone. In these times of ecological crisis, in this article I highlight the importance of recovering a sense of interconnectedness and integration, and the calamitous consequences of endorsing worldviews characterised by polarisation, imbalances, and inequities.

Relations between humans and non-humans in Amazigh North African oral literature

2025-12-01

Anna Maria di Tolla

In this article, I examine the representation of environmental issues in Amazigh narratives. I focus on texts that address the relationships between humans, society, the environment, and colonial greed. Employing ecocritical theory, I offer an interpretation of Amazigh oral traditions and storytelling, highlighting the vital role that autochthonous peoples play in environmental stewardship and sustainable development through their traditional practices. The interdisciplinary approach I adopt to analyse the material draws on ecocriticism—a literary and ethical approach to the environment—as well as elements of cultural and folklore studies. After providing an overview of the environmental challenges faced by Western societies in the 19th century and the ways in which they were conceptualised, I introduce the perspectives found in selected examples of Amazigh oral literature that engage with environmental concerns arising from industrialisation, technicism, and colonialism. My analysis of Amazigh tales involving animals and natural elements is enriched by comparisons with animals in the broader Maghrebi tradition, as well as parallels with Dogon myths and narratives from Sahelian-Sudanese ethnic groups. These comparisons help to deepen our understanding of Amazigh cosmologies and verbal systems.

Figures of subjectivity in Captive, an autofictional novel by Nadine Ndjomo

2025-08-18

Roger Fopa Kuete

Autofiction, as a literary genre, emerged from the pen of French writer Serge Doubrovsky towards the end of the 1970s. This genre, which manifested in France as a powerful form of expression that defies the boundaries between reality and fiction, is notably illustrated by the works of Annie Ernaux, Christine Angot, Philippe Forest, and Camille Laurens. This literary phenomenon continues to develop within the African literary space. In this article, I analyse the novel Captive (2024) by Cameroonian author Nadine Ndjomo. I demonstrate how subjectivity illuminates identity conflicts in the African context, characterized by culturally specific morals and practices. I also examine the ways in which the narrator explores the self and the narrative strategies employed in this quest for identity. Drawing on the theoretical postulates of Mieke Bal regarding focalization, I analyse the modes of authorial presence, the consequences of self-representation for narrative authenticity, and how these elements reflect collective identity. Additionally, I explore narrative techniques, notably voice and narrative instances, the fluidity of temporality and generic perspectives, and, finally, the effects of narrative fragmentation as a means of highlighting the complexity of identity pursued by the narrator.

Toxic mobilities and the politics of unending in Henrietta Rose-Innes’s “Poison”

2025-05-12

Ewa Macura-Nnamdi

The few readings of Henrietta Rose-Innes’s short story “Poison” have so far focused on how it critiques the racial politics of eco-apocalypse and the ways narratives of the end are inflected by the privilege of whiteness. In this paper, I take a different approach, examining the eponymous poison and the ways it is narrated to challenge not merely the eschatological sentiments underlying the prevalent imaginaries of the future but also the (anthropocentric) idea of the end itself as an expected and natural denouement to the world. Reading the toxic conceptually, I suggest toxicity becomes a signifier of no-end . Inspired by recent scholarship on toxicity, especially Daniel Hofmann’s stunning take on the toxic, I cull from its properties its resistance to endings, looking at how toxicity can help us think beyond human exceptionalism and the human species’ extinction this exceptionalism propounds. I highlight, in particular, the motility and persistence of toxic matter, which unsettles what Achille Mbembe calls the regimes of borderisation. Mobile and enduring, travelling freely across all kinds of entities, human and otherwise, Rose-Innes’ toxicity re-scripts the dominant narratives of eco-apocalypse, offering a vision of the future world which may be mutated yet is ongoing and fuelled by toxified, recomposed, perishable human bodies.

Travels with My Father. An Autobiographical Novel (Karen Jennings)

2017-09-04

Bibi Burger