R.R.R. Dhlomo and the Early Black South African Short Story in English

Abstract

The continuing fascination with Drum, Sophiatown and the writers of the 1950s has often overshadowed the achievements of an earlier generation of black writers. This article looks at R.R.R. Dhlomo, an early exponent of the short story in English, and explores his ambivalent position as a member of the mission-educated African elite of the 1930s and 1940s. As a ‘new African’, he was concerned to distance himself from both the tribal past and the new marabi culture of the inner-city slumyards; at the same time, he retains his affiliation to his traditional Zulu culture, and writes a series of historical novels in isiZulu. The article looks in some detail at the differences and similarities between his 1928 novel, An African Tragedy, and the short stories published a few years later in The Sjambok and Bantu World. The stories set in mine compounds on the Reef are a striking exposé of brutal and corrupt practices, and deserve recognition as early examples of ‘protest’ writing. However, they also reveal his equivocal position as a ‘progressive’ African with a respect for the law and a belief in the gradual amelioration of an oppressive system. Other tensions are revealed in a group of stories dealing with traditional beliefs and practices, where the shifting perspectives adopted by the narrators suggest Dhlomo’s
ambivalent relation to traditional Zulu culture. Finally, the article suggests that it is through his use of English as medium of expression that Dhlomo is able to function as ‘interpreter’ or mediator between the disparate worlds and audiences which he addresses.