The much celebrated literary work, Ityala Lamawele is celebrating 100 years this year. It’s the first novel written in IsiXhosa language and was published in 1914 by the Lovedale Press in Alice, Eastern Cape. The book, with six editions, had an influence on IsiXhosa literature.
Ityala Lamawele is an influential IsiXhosa novel written by S.E.K Mqhayi and an early defence of customary law and Xhosa tradition.
The book illustrates how IsiXhosa in the traditional sense would handle a dispute. To many emerging authors, the book serves as a guideline on how IsiXhosa language is spoken and written.
It was also adapted for a popular television drama in the late 90’s. Although the book is no longer in the school’s curriculum, it is still widely used.
A Senior lecture in the department of African Languages at Rhodes University, Dr Mhlobo Jadezweni says Mqhayi’s work is still held in high esteem at the institution.
“In the department we have students at phd level doing research on S.E.K Mqhay’s work, both libraries the main library at Rhodes and Corie Library have books and pamphlets, papers and everything by Mqhayi. We have huge store of Mqhayi,” Jadezweni says.
The Lovedale Press has been a platform for black intellectuals to publish their work and Mqhayi is one such author who has made a name for himself through this institution.
I think the message is that we should keep our culture and customs and our kids today they don’t’ know where we are coming from they still need to know their background.
Acting manager at Lovedale, Cebo Ntaka says they’re proud of the role the institution has played in developing Xhosa literacy.
“We are very humble to be associated with this kind of work that has been produced long time ago; works of S.E.K Mqhayi has put this institution on the map as one of the popular and old publishing houses in the province. it has also put the province in the map,” says Ntaka.
Those who have read Ityala Lamawele have interpreted it as a source of knowledge about the history of Xhosa culture.
Ntaka explains that: “It deals with justice system which to my belief and understanding after reading the book, did not originate from the white people even before the white people came to our country we had our own legal system which is prevailing proficiently in the book, and we need to continue and go back to our roots.”
“I think the message is that we should keep our culture and customs and our kids today they don’t’ know where we are coming from they still need to know their background,” Ntaka adds.
Statistics show that only 14% of South Africans are active book readers, and only 5% of parents read to their children.
Some of the “born frees” in the Eastern Cape have expressed mixed feelings about reading books. Some say they prefer to read English books because the language used in IsiXhosa books is too complex for their understanding.
The Lovedale Press says it wants to put some of its material into a digital format for online readers.
– By Lubabalo Dada
