Coming-of-Age Genre: A Gendered Literary Appreciation of Thuketana's <i>Ndzi Ngo Tinciki!</i>

Abstract

The scathing discrepancies of situating select novels within the confines of comingof- age genres remain to be resolved. The textual and thematic discovery and criticism of many such so associated novels predates the invention of the Xitsonga written literature, yet it underpins the basic tenets of most of this language's thematic trajectory. Most deliberations in line with this area of study centres upon a rather tiresome question on whether or not such makes of literary genre do essentially exist in real novelic writings, or they only exist in the abstract minds of critical literarians. The paper endeavours to give a critique of F.A. Thuketana's Ndzi Ngo Tinciki (a Xitsonga novel) by setting a juxtaposition of its female character, Manayila, and how she attains 'development' from all its necessary and possible angles, with the literary features that characterise the Coming-of-Age novels. Part of the discussion shall focus on some of the social setbacks and motivations that attend to both the female and male makes of such literary genus. Thus, the social and ethnic binarist divisions, interpretations and dimensions of gender treatment shall be core in an attempt to fully bring to the fore, the novel's literary arena.

Keywords: coming-of-age, bildungsroman, development, selfhood, permaparenting, feminism