Higher Education By B.w Vilakazi Pdf ^NEW^ Download

Although viewed (and dismissed) by many as primarily a tool for communication, language (and literature) cannot be understood only in relation to what it communicates. A study of how it is shaped uncovers the social forces that provide its broad and complex template in the acts of reading and writing. This article focuses on the utility and meaning of African languages and literatures in higher education, with Benedict Wallet Vilakazi's (1906-1947) poetry at the centre. It argues how, by resurrecting "black archives", in this article epitomised by revisiting the work of one iconic writer and scholar, Vilakazi, we could give further impetus to the prospect of intellectual efforts in African languages. In this context, the article upholds the value and meaning of this scholar while offering perspectives on the saliency of his work for inter alia the meanings and location of African languages and literatures with regard to epistemic diversity, the "transformation" of curricula, tradition versus modernity, gender, the meaning of identity, and the broader humanist project. In essence, therefore, the article suggests that in an academic context, African languages and literatures require a serious engagement with the "implied reader", "the native subject" and consequently necessitates greater troubling, unsettling in the way we teach, the way we write, and the way we read. It suggests that acts of rereading (albeit preliminary) are an important intervention in the project of the intellectualisation of our discipline.

Singling out the importance of the humanities and of African languages, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), in the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training (2013, 37-41), advances an understanding of the seminal relationship between language, literature, context and society. The National Development Plan (National Planning Commission 2011), another founding document shaping the developmental agenda for South Africa, acknowledges that "major humanist projects which link our heritage and our future as a society" are encompassed by the humanities in general and African languages in particular, and advises that "[o]ur education from basic to tertiary and through the science and innovation system should invest and build capacity and high level expertise in these" (quoted in DHET 2013, 37). Furthermore, the "demise of African languages in the academic sphere poses a serious threat to linguistic diversity in South Africa" (DHET 2013, 38) and must be reversed. The DHET White Paper commits itself to a set of key ideas and strategies to ensure the rejuvenation of African languages through a "cross-disciplinary approach" (DHET 2013, 38).

Higher Education By B.w Vilakazi Pdf Download

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At a time when "democratisation" and "decolonisation" are popular buzzwords in institutions of higher learning, the uncelebrated works of African intellectual scholars, which I metaphorically refer to "as black archives", are worth reconsidering. One such writer is Benedict Wallet Vilakazi who, at his untimely death on 26 October 1947 aged 41, had already made an enormous contribution towards the development of African languages and literatures. His three important novels and two anthologies of poetry, as well as the English-isiZulu/isiZulu-English dictionary he co-authored with Doke, attest to this.2 Recognition of this scholar's contribution to the scholarly project in African languages and literature is long overdue-possibly because, as has been postulated, South African literary historiography has, "for socio-political and ideological reasons[,] relegated black writers to a marginal position in relation to the English dominated South African literary establishment" (Ngwenya 1998, 127). The work of Vilakazi deserves some recuperation to a central position in the Southern African literary canon. This article explores the utility and meaning of African languages and literatures in higher education, and whether revisiting the poetry of Benedict Wallet Vilakazi enables some perspective in thinking through the issue of utility and meaning.

Likewise, it is crucial that we begin to critically question the epistemologies and discourses of domination that have created blind spots with respect to how education is structured, with the purpose of beginning to actively unshackle ourselves from the often unquestioned acceptance of what constitutes "a classic". When reading about William Shakespeare, for example, literary historiography and literary theory undeniably underscore that his works are central to the literary canon (of Britain, English literature and world literature). His works are labelled "classic", and he himself a "universal writer". This is an author who, more than 400 years ago, wrote about matters that continue to plague and have bearing on our societies today, be it love, politics, power, or war. Indeed, he continues today to be read, studied and analysed-his works and himself canonised the world over. His works are worthy of the label and the status of "classics". If one considers his depiction of existential issues and the search for meaning4 which resonate with our very existence, in texts such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth, prescribed at all levels from basic education to tertiary education at institutions of higher learning, one can maintain that his works are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them. They have, therefore, been translated into many languages and, in this technological era, been made into films and committed to other media that ensure that Shakespeare has taken on new relevance.

In line with the father of "decolonising the mind", Ngg wa Thiong'o (1986), who makes the case that African literature in Africa should be the starting point from which to move to engage other traditions, and in the context of this article, I propose that Vilakazi should, in the same breadth, be brought to the centre and consequently receive attention. This recommendation is informed by the fact that he dealt with issues which are, and continue to be, the most relevant in our context. Vilakazi's lifespan is, to some extent, comparable to that of Shakespeare, even though Vilakazi died at 41 and Shakespeare at 52. In fact, Vilakazi achieved more given that he died 10 years younger than Shakespeare. I argue that Vilakazi should be afforded a similar status and that the importance of his works for our times must be recognised. Thus, while I entirely acknowledge Shakespeare's value, I suggest that our institutions of higher learning should begin to shift their gaze to centre more poignantly our contextual specificities.

Not only did Vilakazi rely on his own imagination and creativity, he also cooperated with higher ancestral powers, symbolised in the above poem by Mnkabayi, Shaka's paternal aunt, "perhaps the most powerful woman of her time in Zululand" (Attwell 2005, 105). Central in the lines just cited, Vilakazi associates his poetic inspiration with Mnkabayi. This signifies his conscious appreciation of the status of women-in this case, royal women-even back then when patriarchy, as manifested in (inter alia) male writing of female izibongo (Zondi 2006, 2), depicted the contrary and when women were generally silenced and marginalised in literature. While there is no specific work of Vilakazi that focuses on feminism, as a feminist I am inclined to see traces of feminism in the poem cited. My observation is informed by Vilakazi's choice of a female royal figure, Mnkabayi, when he could have selected and charged with success any other royal male figure. In terms of gender, his choice of Mnkabayi can be described as being visionary and revolutionary. This will be elaborated upon later.

Let us consider the scientific appeal of the poem by elaborating on how it was shaped by and captures the social forces that provide its broad and complex template in the acts of reading and writing. To that end, I take into account a view that reading and writing are inherently linked to the socio-political conditions which shape how we think and what it is that we think about. These claims allude to the fact that we invariably always bring our socio-political ontological and epistemic underpinnings to a text. And so, let us read his works to begin to reveal the insights into the humanities and African languages, and consider, in tandem with the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training (DHET 2013, 37-41), what his work advances with regard to the importance of understanding the seminal relationship between language, literature, context and society. This brings me to the second entry point into the article, which provides some contextual markers of the role and relevance of African languages in the transformation agenda of our higher education system.

It may sound clichd to state that we live in times of profound change, given the malaise of our socio-political context. Ours is a context in which the template of change is deeply embedded in the meaning of a budding democracy. We are regularly directed to questions of rights, expectations, service delivery, the meaning and ethics of leadership, of what it is to be a nation and, at the heart of it, the meaning of embodiment in the context of gender and sexuality. The academy is intricately entangled in a web of several competing social problems and forces. Within this scheme the location, position, utility and meaning of language remain key markers not simply of its current position in the public domain or in higher education transformation, but central to the idea and meaning of a university. There are many drivers of our location as academic professionals within a university. However, what is central to me is (1) the production and harnessing of new knowledge, (2) the building of cultural and political understanding, (3) finding new and innovative applications of existing knowledge, (4) validating knowledge and values through our curricula, (5) providing opportunities for social mobility, (6) strengthening social justice, (7) promoting dialogue and debate, (8) educating and providing skills for a changing labour market, and (9) nurturing the hopes of the world by recognising our interconnectedness with it. These issues inform the thinking in this article. An engagement with African languages in the higher education environment must recognise that we ought to shift paradigms from the deficit view that highlights limitations-what constricts, prohibits and proscribes our languages. This paradigmatic shift interrogates, rather, the possibilities of what enables, enhances, strengthens and facilitates the further development of African languages. If the value of supporting the uses of African languages in the development of science and technology-broadly speaking, the knowledge project-is to be meaningful, we are required to remain critical of how we build, renovate and amplify thinking in and through our disciplines. 2351a5e196