The interplay of verbal cinematic, balletic and pantomimic manifestations in isiZulu literary narratives

Abstract

There is a dearth of studies that analyse the discourse of isiZulu literature. Most studies focus on the actual story, which is the chain of events and its setting. However, discourse, which is how the story is narrated, is frequently neglected. Therefore, the paucity of studies on the manifestation or substance of expression makes verbal cinematic and balletic pantomimic the under-researched theatrical artefacts of narrative discourse in isiZulu literature. Informed by the structuralist model, this article adopts the narrative theory to frame its argument on how the substance of expression is projected in the historical novel, uNodumehlezi kaMenzi by Phumani Zondi, set in the precolonial South African context. The findings reveal that verbal cinematic and balletic pantomimic theatrical artefacts in the novel are presented suggestively, requiring readers’ deep cognitive visualisation and imagination to interpret them correctly. Therefore, readers must understand the cosmology and philosophy on which the verbal cinematic and balletic pantomimic theatrical artefacts are based to understand the underlying meaning or message conveyed in the novel. The relevance or irrelevance of the meaning resides with the reader of the novel.