Contending ideologies and Xhosa written poetry: 1948–1955

Abstract

This interdisciplinary endeavour locates Xhosa written poetry (1948–1955) within the framework of the socio-politico-economic scenario in South Africa. It sets out to examine the impact of ideology on literature, by supporting the hypothesis that Xhosa written poetry of the first half of the first phase of the Apartheid epoch is a terrain of the struggle for hegemony between the dominant apartheid ideology and the alternative Africanist ideology. An analysis and interpretation of texts produced during the above-stated period reflects that though the Africanist ideology was politically subordinate, it was ideologically dominant.