Selfhood in Tshivenda Poetry: Reflections on Vhavenda’s Identity, Culture and Ideology

Sebola, Moffat

doi:10.25159/2663-6565/6849

Cited by 4 publications

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“…Some Vhavenḓa poets perceive the Vhavenḓa's God, Ṅwali and/or Raluvhimba, and the God of the Jews, Jehovah or Yahweh, as one and the same in their poems, despite the fact that the Vhavenḓa's concept of Mwali, Ṅwali, Mwari and/or Raluvhimba initially did not acknowledge any Israelite roots until the Vhalemba and Christian missionaries purported it in Venḓa (Le Roux 1999:119;cf. Mafela 2008;Mashau 2004;Matshidze 2013;Munyai 2016;Sebola 2020;Stayt 1931;Wessman 1908). The foregoing names for God as used in Tshivenḓa traditional religion (TTR) are viewed by scholars as referring to one deity, Ṅwali (Mashau 2004;Munyai 2016;Schapera & Eiselen 1959;Stayt 1931), with the orthographic distinctions between Ṅwali, Mwali and Mwari ascribed only to some linguistic variations among the Tshivenḓa, Karanga and Kalanga languages in Venḓa, western Zimbabwe and north-eastern Botswana (Madiba 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blurry boundaries between Ṅwali and Jehovah in some Tshivenḓa modern poems

Sebola

2023

Theologia Viatorum

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Contrary to some Vhavenḓa poets who recognise Ṅwali and/or Raluvhimba as Jehovah, this article argues that Ṅwali and Jehovah are two distinct deities. It further asserts that there is no kinship or continuity between these deities. Although there are possibilities of there being some similarities of attributes between these deities, their conceptual distinctions highlight significant incongruities between them. Ṅwali in Tshivenḓa traditional religion (TTR) is identified as the Semitic Ṅwali, which is arguably evidence that there has been a ‘Hellenisation’ of TTR and the Vhavenḓa’s concept of God. Consequently, the Vhavenḓa have been left with essentially two distinct deities to consider – a fact that has contributed and still contributes immensely to the ambivalence of the modern-day Vhavenḓa’s spiritual lifestyle. This article might add to the ongoing discourse on the decolonisation of African traditional religions and their attendant theology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blurry boundaries between Ṅwali and Jehovah in some Tshivenḓa modern poems

Sebola

2023

Theologia Viatorum

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Agitations for Self-Identification and (Re)presentation in Selected Tshivenda Poetry

Sebola

2022

JLS

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Tshivenda poetry thematises varied notions of selfhood and culture, among others. Within this thematisation, longings for the freedom to self-identify and (re)present the self or selves show up as recurrent themes. For analytical convenience, 10 Tshivenda poems were purposively selected and analysed in this article. The analysis is based on a predetermined set of themes, namely, the quest for identity and authenticity, notions of being and belonging, and intersections of identity, memory, home and renaissance. The paper deployed a qualitative research approach and was theoretically undergirded by Afrocentricity. The analysis reveals that Tshivenda poetry demystifies the metanarratives propounded by colonialists and apartheid exponents to negate African people’s selfhood and culture. The analysis further reveals that the indigenes have always had ways to express their selfhood and ideological outlook, including agentively challenging false hegemonic discourses about them. This paper adds to the ongoing discourse on the politics of identity, belonging and discourses focused on how the formerly colonised asserted and still assert their presence and agency during and after decades of marginalisation and repression. It is recommended that aspects of African selfhood and culture captured in Tshivenda literature should form part of African indigenous knowledge systems that need to be studied in institutions of basic and higher education.

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