Transculturation in the poetry of B.W. Vilakazi

Abstract

The main concern in this article is to offer a critical evaluation of a selection of Vilakazi's poems in which he deliberately foregrounds what he considers to be his social roles and obligations as a ‘modern’ Zulu poet. Vilakazi's poems and his critical writings reflect his awareness of the inherent contradictions underlying the challenging task of having to ensure the continuity and preservation of the Zulu traditions and value system while simultaneously devising new strategies and forms of poetic expression to suit the modern context. It is one of the central contentions of this article that postcolonial theory has provided contemporary critics with the conceptual and analytical framework within which to situate these dilemmas and begin to explore what they meant for first generation Zulu writers such as Vilakazi.