O.K. Matsepe's worldviews: An appraisal

Abstract

The purpose with this article is to bring to light the most important worldviews found in the nine novels of che illustrious Northern Sotho novelist, Oliver Kgadime Matsepe. It is these views to my mind that make him one of the best African writers of our time. His views on man and humanity as a whole arc so comprehensive that an article of this nature cannot embrace them all. Of interest is the fact that Matsepe's focus in his works was on his own Kopa community yet there is no doubt that these views arc universally applicable. In this article I confine myself to Matsepe's views on the relationship between God and gods; the king and his subjects; the nature of man and his fellow men; life and death; and marriage and divorce. Hopefully this will remove the old fallacy that says African languages have no literature.