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W.E.B.

Du Bois Institute

Review: Essay Review: The Definitive Chaka Author(s): Ayi Kwei Armah Source: Transition, No. 50 (Oct., 1975 - Mar., 1976), pp. 10-13 Published by: Indiana University Press on behalf of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2934982 . Accessed: 20/10/2011 15:13
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TRANSITION
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LI I Il PI P L I d I II I I . I I I PI

ESSAY REVIEW: The Definitive Chaka

Ayi Kwei Armah


a literary masteipiece most students of African Literature have never actually seen, much less read. The issues it deals with are central to Africa and humanity. All who know the languages it was written in say it's one of the world's most skilfully crafted works of art. Yet foi more than half a century it has led a strange half-life, hidden from leaders who would most appreciate it. The work is CHAKA, a historical epic written is 1909 by the Sotho author Thomas Mopoku Mofolo (1876-1948). Of this fact there is no dispute: Mofolo was an artistic genius. There is therefore something uncannily satisfying, even perfect, in the logic which brought a mind like this to focus on the birth, growth, rise to power, decline, then death of the great Zulu emperor Chaka. Perfect, because Chaka was a genius, a military and political genius. He was more than a genius. He was a man of tremendous multivalent energies, mental and physical, creative as well as destructive. On his society and in his time his impact was shattering. So shattering, that both in his time and after he has been treated like some huge elemental force beyond comprehension, a supernatural phenomenon to be feared, or praised, or both, but never to be intelligently explained, never to be understood. Mofolo's work is the most perceptive attempt to understand and explain Chaka so far undertaken. There lies its prime value, quite apart from its incalculable beauty as a work of art. The real Chaka lived in that part of South Africa now known as Natal. He was born in 1787, ol a little before. The oral traditions differ as to the exact timing of his birth. They agree, though, that the circumstances surrounding his birth were complex. Mofolo, in this book, says Senzangakona, Chaka's father, raped Chaka's mother Nandi (the sweet one), and that Chaka was the result of that rape. Here the author has twisted historical fact. Chaka's conception was the result of consent. Senzangakona was infatuated with Nandi, and Nandi responded favourably. It was permissible for young, unmarried men and women to have a limited kinds of sexual intercourse.The practice,
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called ukuhlobonga, was designed to relieve youthful frustrations while at the same time avoiding social problems. It allowed genital contact, even orgasm. What it prohibited was penetration. It is obvious, then, that the rules governing sex and marriage were complex. Punishments for their infringement were also severe. It was a serious crime for a woman to become pregnant before a formal marriage. It was also a serious crime for a man to make love to a woman from a clan too closely related to his own. In the heat of their affection for each other, Chaka's mother Nandi and his father Senzangakona broke both prohibitions. The father, being a chief, had the power to protect himself from punishment. But he left the mother and the child unprotected, and the society's anger fell heavily on them. Chaka's childhood was therefore a grim time. He suffered real, sustained persecution clearly aimed at destroying him mentally, emotionally and physically. From his society he knew only hate. His only source of love was his mother. Nandi's love for Chaka was constant and intense. But she herself was an object of persecution precisely because she'd had Chaka. Her love was therefore impotent love, the solidarity of a fellow sufferer. It could not protect the child. The child had to work out his own salvation. In the beginning, Chaka tried to come to terms with the hostile society around him by integrating peacefully into it. He was amiable. He was peaceable. He conducted himself in a way that should have demonstrated to any who cared how harmless he was, how much goodwill he had in him. Not that he was a coward. He was the very opposite. Physically he had enormous strength. Mentally he was not merely sharp; he was highly active, and extraordinarily agile. In addition, he had fantastic courage. Possessing such impressive natural abilities, and being under constant pressure to fight for his life, Chaka as he grew developed great fighting skills, all in the purest self-defence. These skills he at first used in the service of his society. His exploits were many. Several times, for instance, he killed singlehandedly wild animals

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his people and their cattle, the most preterrorizing cious property, wealth. the measureof all material Chaka'snaturalexpectationwas that these exploits would bring him the recognition and affection his society had so persistentlydenied him. The reality was the opposite. Insteadof praise,his exploitsearned him jealousy. The young men of his age resentedhim. to them. Unable His exploitsunderlined his superiority to competewith him, they triedto destroy him, often in pitched fights in which several youthsjumpedhim. Chakawas strongenoughand skilled enoughto defend himself against these attacks from his peers. But againstthe hostilityof his elders and of his own father the young Chakahad no answer. At the end of one of these unjust fights for his life, an amazed Chaka one day found himself condemned to death by his own father for the crime of killing his attackers. Rather than submit, Chaka chose escape, and exile. Exile was good for Chaka. For the first time he froman olderman, found protectionand understanding King Dingiswayo,who controlledall the chiefs of the area, includingChaka'sfather. It was as a soldier in Dingiswayo's army that Chaka tested and developed the fighting techniqueshis hard life had taught him. In little time he had risen to a commandingposition in the army. died. Chakadid not quarrel His fatherSenzangakona over the legal nicetiesof succession. He simplytook a strongarmy,went home, fought for power,and won it. In time his protector Dingiswayo also died. Chaka filled the power vacuumhe'd left. He scatteredall the neighbouringtribes who resisted conquest. All who all the yieldedhe united into a new nation over-riding tribes:the Zulunation. In his time and in his world, Chaka became undisputably the most powerfulof men. The methods by whichhe achievedthis powerwerebloody and ruthless. Greatnumbersof peopledied eitherbecausethey stood in his path or becausetheirdeath was necessary for the achievementof his aims. It is the vastness of the changes he caused, and the bold ruthlessnesswith that haveencouraged whichhe accomplished everything, a tendencyto consider Chaka as belongingto a scale or subhuman, beyond the human-either superhuman a god or a monster. This is unfortunate. BecauseChaka'slife, his psychology, his problems and his achievements offer insights central to the African condition, the most humancondition.It is silly to deify Chaka; profoundly it is idiotic to vilify him. The reasonableneed is for understanding. That is exactly what Mofolo offers in this book: understanding. Thereis, to start with, an admirable,starkclarityin the way Mofolo presentsChaka's childhoodand growth. He shows his childhoodas the crucialformativeperiod, the seedtimefor all the crises of his adult life. As for the process of Chaka'sgrowth,Mofolo shows it to us as a difficult,complex progression,but so sure is his technique,so masterlyhis graspof psychological details, that the resulthas that clear,hyaline qualitythat often marks the most profound works of genius. Growth becomesa seriesof crises,in each of whichChakamoves an inexorablestep forwardto his chosen destiny, and to his fate. ultimately

The societyChakagrowsup in is dominated by males. But the child Chakagrowsup havingno male figureto turn to for help in solvingthe problemsthruston him. Mofolo gives the infant Chaka three protectiveadult figures.All arefemale. Two Mofolo takesfromhistory: Chaka's mother and grandmother. The third is a myth, an artisticinventionof Mofolo's: a witchdoctor who clearly stands for that internal psychological resource which in his first crisis of self knowledge with helps Chakacome to termswith a world saturated violence and injustice. According to Mofolo, the importantthing this witchdoctordoes for Chaka is to inoculatehim with a protectivemedicinewhichchanges his attitude to violence. In this way she enhanceshis potential for survival. Before the inoculation,Chaka of violence,and has tended to regretthe pervasiveness to wish he could escape the grim necessityof it. But afterthe inoculation, "Chaka had a wonderfullove for fighting-either with the club or the spear. When he slept at night he dreamtof it. Whenhe saw a man with a stick or spearin his hand his whole body itchedto come into contact with him. He dreamtthat tribe after tribe was attacking them him, and he saw himselfscattering with none of his people to help him. single-handed The only conversation he enjoyedwas about fighting. Even before this Chaka was a great fighter,but he was never the challengeror the aggressor;but now thesemedicines excitedhim ..." The first crisis is over. The strong, courageousbut Chakais no more. In his place is a newunaggressive bornman: the strong,courageous andaggressive Chaka. The female witchdoctordies shortly after this, but not before promisingChakathat a greaterwitchdoctor, a male,will come to replaceher as his helper. Chaka'ssecondcrisisof self knowledge is broughton by his forcedflightinto exile. Chakahas heard his own fatherorderhim killedfor havingdareddefend himself. Self knowledgecomes this time when Chaka is quite exhausted, hungry,bitter,a huntedfugitivenot knowing whereto go for protection. "In his mindhe reviewed all his life since his childfearhood, and he foundthat it was evil, terrifying, some. He thoughtof the timewhenhe was herding the cattleand discovered that therewas a plot againsthim, of how the boysattacked himin the fields,of his killing of the lion and the hyena, and he saw that on earth man lives by mightand not by right. He saw that on earththe wise man, the strongman, the man who is admiredand respected is the man who knowshow to wield his spear, who, whenpeople try to hinderhim, settles the matter with his club. He resolved that fromthattimeon hewoulddo as he liked:whether a manwas guiltyor not he wouldkill him if he wished, for that was the law of man." It is in this grim mood that a mysteriousfigureIsanusi, the promised witchdoctor-comes to Chaka. Isanusiis not merelya witchdoctor. He is in additiona to discuss diviner,a seer into the future.It is precisely the future withChakathathe has come.Isanusihascome travelling over land, over such great distancesthat when Chakaasks in whichdirectionhis home is he can only point to the sky. Pointing to even the farthest mountainswould give a wrong impressionof nearness.
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TRANSITION 50

Isanusi comes, just as prophesied by the female to offerChakaaid.A greatpartof his ability witchdoctor, to help lies in his prophetic vision. This visionis subtle. Isanusidoes not offerChakainflexibly certainties about the future. His vision is of options open to Chaka,and of the logical consequences of each choice. Isanusi asks Chaka what he desires most. Chaka answers unhesitatingly:power over his fellow men. Firstthe chieftaincy,thenthe kingly,the imperial power. IsanusiwarnsChaka the road to power is a hardroad along whichonly hardmen survive.Is Chakawillingto put awayfromhis heartall mercy,all compassion,since mangets destroyed alongthe road to powerthe merciful and the compassionate manis lost? Chakais willing;more than willing,eager. Isanusirethe medicine thatbrings power is evil, peatshis warning: a medicine blood.But Chaka does not insatiably craving may changehis mind. No matterhow evil the medicine be, Chakadesiresit, just as long as it will bring him powerof lifeanddeathovermenall roundhim.So Isanusi doctors Chaka withthepowerdrug,the one for achieving thechieftaincy. In Chaka's mindnow, the need forpower all other needs. He has become a man overshadows "withall spiritof humanity gone out of him. To kill was his sole aim... This terribledesire for revenge in his heartwas nearlydrivinghim demented." Isanusi departs. Chaka makes his way, not backhome where thoseclosestto himhavetriedto destroy to the courtand capitalof the great him, but southward, king Dingiswayo. In the traditional praisesongs sung in Chaka'shonor of his praisesingers,Magolby the most accomplished as being mentioned wane,certainqualitiesarerepeatedly typical of Chaka: extremeintelligence, efficiencyand precisionin executionon one hand; and extremeguile, in planningon the other. secretiveness and deceptiveness These praises tell the historical truth. Chaka's genius all those qualitiesin a high degree. encompassed of it is Mofolo respectsthis truth.But his presentation it is artistic.Faced with the problem not documentary; of explaininghighly complicatedinternalpsychological forces, Mofolo uses his favorite artistic device: he externalizesthese internal forces. Chaka's intelligence, and precisionare embodiedin the personof a efficiency mythical charactercalled Ndlebe. Ndlebe is a giant, strong and swift, with an intellect as towering as his physical build. He is "not only a brave man but an accomplishedman." His nameis Thereis a secondsuchmythicalcharacter. Malunga. In appearancehe is quite unlikethe other: malformed,repulsive,utterlyugly, "with droopingears and a loose mouth. His ears were the largest ever seen, like caves to receive the wind, or ratherthe tidings and talk of men. His eyes were watery,full of deceit and treachery. They could not meet another'seyes; they were weak. And even when they looked at any one they did not seem like the eyes of a human being, but like the eyes of an image." is of coursedeceptive.He is full Malunga'sappearance but his strong point is guile, not frankof intelligence, ness. Becausehe looks and acts like an idiot, Malunga can roam freely everywhere,listeningto everybody's most intimatediscussions. All this incominginformation
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he transmits to Chaka. Is therein art a more accurate and economicalportraitof the securityand intelligence organs in a state power system? Ndlebeand Malungaalso comefromsomefar African country, Isanusi's land. The two are messengersof Isanusi. That is, they are facets of Chaka's genius. Chaka'srelationship with themis subtlydrawn,andfason them; but so arethey cinating. He is very dependent in the face of on him. Occasionally, whenChakahesitates some important decision,Ndlebe and Malungatake the initiative.By their actions they commit Chaka to the course.It is therefore mostruthless nevercertainwhether they are servantsand Chakathe master,or they are the one. real manipulators, and Chakathe manipulated The combination-Chaka-Ndlebe-Malunga proves on the battlefield unbeatable in wartime and at courtin peacetime. Soon Chakarisesto the top of Dingiswayo's armies.Still, Chakais dissatisfied, impatient.He is not Dingiswayois a yet supremeamongmen. Furthermore, man of great virtuesand his virtues-mercy, compassion, trust in other humans-irritate the power hungry Chaka unbearably. In opportunetime Dingiswayo'svirtuesdestroyhim. thenmurdered He is tricked, by Zwide,a ruthless trapped, chief he himselfhas pardonedbefore.Now bloodthirsty Chaka moves boldly to gain paramountpower. Using Zwidein armieshe defeatsthe treacherous Dingiswayo's a seriesof classicbattles,then mops up all the remaining opposition.Chakais at last supremeamong men. Still, satisfactioneludeshim. His power still seemsto him insufficient becauseit is only relative,limited. He wants to make it absolute-so deep is the man's insecurity. Isanusi,in firstgivingChakathepowerdrug,withholds for achievthe medicine the mostpotentof his medicines, ing absolute power. He gives Chaka his reason: that medicinebringsinfinitepower; but it also demandsthe doing of infiniteevil. Isanusithereforeurges Chakato timebeforemakingup his mind. spenda long,thoughtful Now, when Chaka has achievedhis desired kingship, he undergoesa new crisis of self-knowledge.The question is, whichshouldbe his furtherdirection? Again Isanusicomes to Chaka. He reminds Chaka of the evil side of power. He tellshim it is not too late to changedirections. It is still possibleto choose love of in place of power. But Chakahas a deep knowledge and knows that that state is also evil. powerlessness, and the evil of power Betweenthe evil of powerlessness he muchprefersthe evil of power. He choosespower, and the spillingof moreblood. Isanusihesitates,then he revealsthe prime require: is symbolic: mentsof absolutepower. The requirement the sacrificeof the one person dearest to the seeker afterpower. Chakathinksof his mother. But so great is his hungerfor power that he is willing to sacrifice even Nandi to achieve it. It is not Nandi, however, whose blood must be used to make the medicineof absolute power. The dearest one is called Noliwe. Noliwe is anotherof Mofolo's creations. Traditional sources do not mention her. Mofolo makes her a and spiritual. womanof exquisite, gentlebeauty,physical Chakaloves Noliwe,but only to the extentthat a person so long starvedof affectionin his childhood, and so drivenin his adultlife, can love any one. That furiously

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is, not very much. Chaka decides to kill Noliwe. Isanusi urges Chaka to take a whole year to reconsider his decision. Then he departs. In Isanusi's absence Chaka's power grows. He rejoices in the possession of the greatest empire ever known in the land. He invents a new name for his people. Zulu. Amazulu. People of the sky. He builds himself a great new capital, a perfect circle in shape, with wide great roads, and calls it Umgungundhlovu, the Elephant's Home. He designs a new greeting for himself alone, a greeting eloquent with the arrogance of ascendant power: Bayete! Hail, intermediary of God! Isanusi's year runs its course. The seer returns to ask Chaka if he has changed his mind-decided in favour of Noliwe, life and love; or chosen death and power. Chaka has not changed his mind. That evening he goes to his beloved Noliwe. She is ready for love, happy. Chaka stabs her under her armpit with a special needle, killing her in such a way that her blood can be saved for the medicine of absolute power. Chaka's climb to the top of the world is over, From now on his path leads downward. He who actually achieves absolutely everything he's dreamed of is not blessed; he is cursed. Having achieved all his ambitions of power, Chaka is left with no remaining sources of fulfilment. There is nothing left to conquer, but he seeks excitement in continued fighting continued violence. A terrible boredom, an unbearable frustration destroys his peace of mind. Trying to relieve it, Chaka does insane, destructive things. He divides his own armies, then orders one side to destroy the other. He sends his best divisions on suicidal raids. The chronicle is one of ceaseless carnage, which does not end till Chaka's own half brothers assassinate him. Chaka is said with his dying breath to have prophesied an era of harsh oppression for his people under the new white power. At the book's end Mofolo himself sounds a personal note of sheer regret for what might have been: "And this was the last of Chaka, the son of Senzan gakona. Even today the Amazulu remember how they were men once, in the time of Chaka, and how the tribes in fear and trembling came to them for protection. And when they think of their lost empire the tears pour down their cheeks and they say: 'Kingdom wax and wane. Springs that once were mighty dry away.' " The fact bears repetition. Mofolo's CHAKA is a masterpiece. It is also a work of art essentially African. By all accounts the book in its original Sesotho language is breathtakingly beautiful. Despite this excellence, or, to put it more accurately, precisely because of this excellence, the book almost never saw print. That is because its author wrote under the most unfavourable publishing circumstances any black artist has ever faced. He was writing for his fellow Africans, but no African individual or group owned a printing press, much less a publishing house. Mofolo was therefore entirely dependent upon whites-and missionary whites at that-for publication facilities. Mofolo was aware of his difficult situation, but his inspiration was deep, and the work he planned was a real labour of love. He spent the year 1909 travalling all over Natal, South Africa, the site of Chaka's Zulu empire, gathering and checking background material

for his book. He was 33 years old then. The traditional historians, storytellers and poets among the Zulu people looked kindly upon this man who came to them asking so many earnest questions, wanting to know so much. And they helped him. The book was finished in 1910. But Mofolo had to wait fifteen years before he could get it published. The only publishing house available to him was a Christian outfit set up by European missionaries in his country to churn out religious propaganda tracts for converting Africans. The main difficulty was that like all good white people these missionaries were racists. They believed firmly that Africans were incapable of works of genius. Mofolo's work, bearing the bold, open stamp of genius, unnerved them. What was more, Mofolo had already wiitten three previous works. This fact was held against him. One white missionary declared it was "unwisc" for an African to show such high creativity. The missionaries had already managed to "accidentally lose" one of the other books while it was still in manuscript form. They called CHAKA an evil book, because it treated traditional African issues seriously. The irony of it all was that Mofolo himself had had a considerable amount of Christian indoctrination inflicted on his mind, and he considered himself a Christian. He had spent years working for the missionaries, reeding proofs for them and even teaching Bible classes. In writing CHAKA Mofolo seems to have anticipated publication difficulties. Hence the occasional insertion of preachments against Chaka for being a pagan. None of this appeased the missionaries, however. The book's main intent was clear, and it was unquestionably African. It took fifteen years for the missionaries to decide to release the book after all. The Sotho publication was in 1925. An English translation appeared in 1931; a French version came in 1940. But the white missionaries had accomplished one thing: they had succeeded in discouraging Mofolo from further creative work, or at least from seeking publication. After he had written CHAKA the author's life turned into one of long, restless wandering from place to place, from occupation to occupation, from disappointment to heartbreaking disappointment. Once hankering after an elusive economic independence, he even tried farming. He saved up his money and bought good farming land from a white landowner. Immediately the white government took it from him by force. Their reason: it was good land; an African had no right to own that kind of land. In his last years Mofolo was not merely a disappointed man. He was a sick man forced to depend on a small handout from a white colonial administrator. He died in 1948. The masttrpiece he left us is out of print, practically unknown. It shouldn't be. From the points of view of both content and style, it offers invaluable material for any serious reader of African Literature. The style, even in translation, bears the mark of genius. And that is merely the outer form. The inner content is of compelling interest. It will remain so as long as human beings have reason to contemplate tbe genesis of power from powerlessness, the often inverse relationship between great personal power and love, the rise and ruin of famous men, and the rise and fall of great empires.
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