The silent voice: a profile of OK Matsepe's narrator in Tša ka mafuri

Abstract

A character in his own right in the world of the text, Matsepe's first-person, ‘I’ as witness narrator remains an anonymous observer who comments on the actions and behaviour of the other characters. Due to his unreliability as reporter of the events the reader has to reconstruct the objective reality for himself, a deliberate ploy through which the author coaxes the reader to participate in the act of creation. The narrator's remarkable confidential relationship with the reader becomes evident when he frequently addresses him directly to imprint essential information or to share his surprise and uncertainty about a situation with him. The narrator is reluctant to pass judgement and in the end the reader has to make his own decisions, a modus operandi Matsepe employs to highlight the universal truth that man always interprets reality as it suits him best.