The Art of K.S Bongela in Novel Writing

Abstract

Knobel Sakhiwo Bongela is fast becoming a household name in the circle of Xhosa writers. He has written various genres. Besides the three novels selected for this study, that is, Umzi Omtsha, Alitshoni Linqenandaba, and Kusa Kusihlwa, he has written one in English entiltled The silent People. This study is an attempt to evaluate his narrative technique in novel writing only. Chapter One, which is a general introduction, mainly discusses the aims and scope of this study, the sources and methods of research, the problems encountered, the life history of Bongela and other books written by him and the definition of the key concepts comprising the title. Chapter Two discusses and compares the setting as evinced in the four novels; its role in shaping the lives of the main characters; how it affects the plots of the novels and how it reveals the inner feelings and views of Bongela as a man. Chapter Three deals with the plot structure employed by the writer in his novels. Though on the whole he starts his novels in medias res, the plot construction has been reviewed under the exposition, the middle and the denouement.