Mphahlele�s legacy lives on
Mpho Tlale | Friday May 30, 2014 11:53
Professor Emeritus Es’kia Mphahlele’s writings are the modern day gift any African youth can get. They speak volumes while exploring issues of colonialism, apartheid and how Africans view themselves in their own continent.
Mphahlele (December 17, 1919 – October 27, 2008) was an activist educator, humanist, journalist, poet, novelist, satirist, short story writer and philosopher. His life’s work embraces his philosophy of Afrikan Humanism and offers over 50 years of profound insight on the subject among others Social Consciousness, Education, Arts, Culture and Literature. The critical thoughts expressed in his writing, reveal the foresight of someone who challenges us to: “…know our Afrika intimately, even while we tune into the world at large.”
A Lasting Tribute is dedicated to Mphahlele’s writing legacy, and is a collection of his works of 11 years that range from 1987 to 1998. The book is based on the numerous articles the writer produced for his column in Tribute Magazine hence the title. Tribute magazine was started in February 1987 in response to the apartheid system that put black people at a disadvantage in South Africa. With his articles Mphahlele paints a picture of a hyperactive period in South Africa from the late ‘80s through the ‘90s.
Because of the magnitude of his work, Mphahlele has been showered with praises. Founding editor of Tribute Magazine Maud Motanyane showered him with praises and said, “Mphahlele offered Tribute readers the rich, undiluted perspective of a mind immersed in the intellectual, cultural and political history of South Africa and the African continent”.
Motanyane goes further and commends Mphahlele’s articulation of African Humanism and self-realisation, which he states that the writer shared in his thoughts and analyses that are range of topics and events. He said that Mphahlele’s work prevails as a timeless reference for future generations. Despite the apartheid era and many odds against him, Mphahlele wrote like a liberated man. He did not hesitate to voice that which did not sit well with him as he shot straight and called them as he sees ‘em. His collection of works portrayed him as an assertive character whose main focus was on the growth of Africa. Mphahlele’s works encompasse an appreciation of other great African thinkers in both the continent and in the Diaspora as well as some with Western and Eastern Philosophy.
Within his writings he addresses issues that include institutional decay and corruption, which he labels as keeping the growth of African nations captive. Fast forward to the present these are the challenges we still face. They have in fact escalated. The rich are getting richer while the poor get poorer. Service is bad to a degree that when one gets good service, it seems like a favour. In an ideal world good service in institutions should be part and parcel of our daily interactions. Instead public servants continue to be rude and very incompetent. They mistreat the very same public whose taxes pay their salaries at the end of the month.
Mphahlele is of the view that people should demand good service and climb tables if they have to, because keeping quiet about it will never kill the rot within the system.
One rather important factor that re appears in the various chapters is Mphahlele’s emphasis on reading. Over and over he emphasises that the reading culture is low and he encourages young Africans to read. In addition he writes that reading should be done beyond the classroom walls.
Mphahlele states that schooling is a process of going to school, but education beats that because it is a process of development through learning, inside and outside school. He states that something more profound happens within the learner when education is happening, and that something is more than the mere mechanical act of attending school from day-to-day.
The writer describes the gaining of education as a humanistic act that in turn means that the interests of the individual in relation to the community are the uppermost concern. He writes: “Read, read, read and form reading groups. Read, debate, discuss and grow. Read about the African experience and learn to appreciate what it means to be African. Read in order to increase your understanding so you can break out of narrow limits to embrace the universe”.
Still on reading, Mphahlele expresses that once a person has learnt to read at school, there is no limit to how much he or she can grow in knowledge. True to his quest for a better Africa he says, “We need to study the writings of Africa: novels, short stories, ancient and modern, poetry, the prose of newspaper and magazine journalism, autobiographies, plays and so on”.
Mphahlele also talks about African countries’ independence. He talks about South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Kenya and others. His wish is that the independence of Africans from apartheid and colonialism should not be in vain. He states that instead we need to know our Africa intimately even when we tune into the world at large. What he encourages is African affirmation and not waiting for white validation, but instead be who we are.
Mphahlele writes that Africans should tell their own stories and question the Western history books as they portray themselves as heroes. His take is that little is said about the Western savagery role in colonialism. His belief is that Africans have the power to write their stories the way they want but that can only be achieved if they know their own history.
He states, “It is time Black people (Africans, Asians and Coloureds) saw themselves as Afrikans in more than a geographical sense. The three racial groups that constitute us have all been violated by Europe. Our commitment to the African landscape goes deeper because we have a spiritual bond to it, having suffered for it”.
Mphahlele states that only Africans can emancipate themselves from mental slavery and push forward in the betterment of their future and those of their children. He states that Steve Biko’s death and his black consciousness ideology has potential and it should not be in vain that Biko died. In the chapter Artists and Revolutions, he explores in depth the role of artists (writers, singers, dancers, poets, painters, directors, producers etc) in a society and how society views and understands the need for the arts. He asks, “Do our public activists even know of the labour pains the artist suffers in the creative process, or are they only interested in the finished product, which they then arbitrarily label relevant or irrelevant or bourgeois?
Furthermore, Mphahlele points out that despite not being understood and appreciated artists should push forward and know that through their art they have the power to change and heal the world. He encourages for them to reach beyond the fences that threaten to frustrate their talents and to explore the deeper regions of their own selves but not limit themselves in relation to their social context. His take is that artists suffer the ecstasy of their dream to create music, art, theatre and literary works because they want to interpret the life around them.
Despite his passing Mphahlele’s writings continue to live on. Mphahlele grew up in rural Limpopo and the slums of Marabastad. He taught at Orlando High School before being banned from teaching for protesting against the introduction of Bantu Education; he was Literary Editor for DRUM magazine; he taught and developed Afrikan cultural programmes in other parts of Afrika and France and earned a PhD from the University of Denver (USA) while in exile. He has been the recipient of numerous international awards that have sought to pay tribute to the efforts of this tireless scholar. In 1969 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature, and in 1984 he was awarded the Order of the Palm by the French Government for his contribution to French Language and Culture.
He was the recipient of the 1998 World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award for Outstanding Service to the arts and education, and a year later he was awarded the Order of the Southern Cross by former President Nelson Mandela.
In 2000 Es’kia Mphahlele was awarded the Titan Prize in Literature as Writer of the Century.
Mphahlele’s life’s work represents a broad range of discourse on pertinent Afrikan issues. Its significance lies in the authenticity and relevance of Mphahlele’s response to centuries of cultural mutilation and his efforts to revive our Afrikan consciousness.