Shane Moran - Alternation Journal
Shane Moran - Alternation Journal
Shane Moran - Alternation Journal
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c::onomii, social and political iiinitations, Ro~vers wiii !?(oom aile\v in all<br />
e~i\irorlrnei?l of 1i:tppincss in a lifc lived ill digiiity, a Iifk of li-cetiiril1 ailtl<br />
coinrntieshil? aniong our peoples (Ida Ci~rn~a 197 1 : 120).<br />
It would seem, then, that La Gums has fully grasped Plekha~~ov's argutnent that th<br />
watcr but ~nust buy it by the bucketful from some local cup1oite1- tlrcn I also<br />
cntcrtain the secrctlrope that when somcbody I-catis it he will be movcd to do<br />
something about those robbers who havc turned my country - into a material<br />
and cullu~~l wasteland for thc majority oftlie iuiiabitants.<br />
'social utility of art' is not 'an itnn~anent principle' and that he agrees with Plekhanov'<br />
thesis in genel-ai.<br />
Iio~vcver, as Henri Arvon (1973: 14) points out, Plekhanov 'refuses to put a<br />
and literature in the service of party politics'. This is where Ida Gulna parts compan<br />
with Plekhanov and, instead, embraces 1,enin's principle of partisanship in literature.<br />
is perhaps not surprising that La G~una should subscribe to Idenin's principle<br />
partisa~lship in literature when one considers that La Gulna served his apprenticesl<br />
(as a writer) as a reporter under the auspices of New Age, a politically pal-iisal<br />
n be inferred from this statement, in La Guma's terms, it is not enough for<br />
ure to depict the social situation truthfully, but, in addition, the ideological effect<br />
erature should be to transform the consciousness ofthe readers even to the extent of<br />
ng them on to engage in some fonn of action! Tt would seem, then, that it is for this<br />
se that La Gu~na turns to social realism as an effective means of conscientizing his<br />
newspaper that was not only 'run by [Communist Party] members [and] consistent1<br />
reflected party policy [but whose] position 01-1 international matters was [also] virt~lall<br />
indisti~iguisl~able from the foreign policy of the Soviet Union' (Forman & Odendaa<br />
ntra Gordimer and Fugard<br />
significance which La Guma attaches to the ideological filnction of literature and<br />
1992::xxii). Significantly, it was apparently with regard to Party publications that 1,eni concept of tendentiousness can also be seen in his literary criticism. This is bcst<br />
XVI-ote his famous paper on partisanship, 'Organisation and Party L,iterature' in 19<br />
However, one may argue that La Guma, like his counterparts in the Soviet Union in<br />
1930'~ cxtends Lenin's principle ofpartisanship to include creative works ofliteratur<br />
This can bc scen most obviously in La Guma's argument that one 'cannot of cours<br />
separate one's social and political allegiances fi-oni one's creative work' (<br />
1978:49). It would seern, therefore, that La Guma subscribes to Plekha~~ov's aes<br />
in so far as it is co~npatible with his liberation discourse and that, where the question o<br />
tendentiousness is concerned, La Gurna does not seern to distinguish between his xvorks<br />
and his political allegiances. This does not, however, mean that in Ida Gu~na's works the<br />
political message whicli conforms to his political allegia~~ces is always explicitly<br />
lnplified in La Guma's critical essay on Nadine Gordimer's The Bl~ck<br />
reter.r-Notes on African Writing. In the first section of this work entitled<br />
I African Fiction in English', Gordimer makes a critical assessment of African<br />
e written in English which she sees as beginning with the Negritude movement.<br />
distinguishes between African writers who are 'testifiers to social<br />
e'-those who tnerely provide a 'sort of context of expression, of bald<br />
ound fact' (Gordimer 1973:Sfjand those who write 'literature' in which the<br />
ofthe writing matters. Having made a critical appraisal ofsome literary texts by<br />
riters as Achebe, Ngugi, Ayi Kweyi Armah and others, Gordimer (1973:32)<br />
ludes that African English literature's best writers are critical realists in the<br />
stated-Land, in this sense, his practice would seem to be at odds with his theory. k6csian sense-establishing a link between the past and pointing towards the<br />
The concept ciStendentiousness in La Guma's aesthetics is linked to his belief we-and that this is the direction in which African literature is developing.<br />
in the ideological S~inction of literature, a belief to which La Guina (19?1:20) lnakes<br />
In response, La Guma takes issue with Gordimer's exclusive treatment of<br />
consistent referer-rce:<br />
lish literature written by Africans and her measuring of them against European<br />
dards. He describes this special treatment of 'African literature as "literary<br />
A writer. if 11e is collscious of what is going on around him. automatically<br />
artheid"', a practice which, in his view, results in the construction of 'a cultural<br />
reflects he real picture] ... and through portraying the life around him also<br />
ntustan' ('Gala' 1974a: 103,102). According to La Gunla, Gordimer's reservations<br />
produces liis omn ideas about it. Of course. what should bc borne in mind is 'testifiers to social change' are due to these authors' giving too much attention to<br />
that a writer is s~rpposed to he conscious of the dil.eclion in which his works<br />
aregoing to point .... I think that it is the roleofthc consciouswriter to guitie<br />
the morals. [hc perspcctivcs and ob,jectives oStlic commrinity.<br />
issues'. But, La Guma argues, 'softening the social impact has never guaranteed<br />
ccess for any work of art' ('Gala' 1974a: 105). What is crucial in La Guma's terms is<br />
ther the ideological co~nmitment of the writer and the extent to which his writings<br />
111 La Guma's view, then, a writer is not only a chronicler of the expcriellces o<br />
ontribute to human progress. In his words:<br />
co~nn~unity but he is also an ideologue providing guidance to the perspectives o<br />
community. It is against this background, then, that La Gurna (1?70:237) expresses the<br />
intended ideological effect of his writing ofAt7cld4 Thvecf0ldCot.d in these words:<br />
The writer's participation in the develop~nent of life is nleasured by the<br />
ideological artistic level of his work. the depth of his depiction of events and<br />
problems. Tile writer [nust find the epicentre of events and deterlnine his<br />
place in Lliem, his point ofview. Tlren Ire will find application Ibr Iiis talent<br />
\Vhcn 1 write 111 a book illat so~ncwlrcre in Soutll Africa pool-pcoplc lravc i~o<br />
a~ld personal exper-ie~rce and will wol-tirily serve the cause of acstlrctic and<br />
social progress. There are vvriters who work in a kind of vacuum. who stand<br />
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161