An Afrocentric Essentialisation Of Orality In Zakes Mda’s The Heart Of Redness

Abstract

African literary expression owes its origin to story-telling and traditional oral poetry because in the African past, poems
and stories were verbally transmitted and passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth (Finnegan, 1992).
This makes African literature “people-directed and mass-consumed and therefore, people-centered and mass-based”
(Ramogale, 1995:8). Ngugi (1986) calls this oral transmission of cultural heritage to posterity orature. Orality is,
therefore, essential to African literature in that it gives it a unique identity. This study strives to essentialise Zakes Mda’s
The Heart of Redness (2000) from the African theoretical perspective. Qualitative approach, which is supported by
exploratory research design, was employed to guide the study. The Heart of Redness was selected from other novels
by the same novelist by means of purposive sampling. This was because of its relevance to the study. Textual analysis
was used as a data analysis technique in the study. The study proposes that in order for (South) African literary identity
to be revived from erosion by colonial influences, orality should be essentilised.