Mhudi

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Waveland Press, Aug 29, 2013 - Fiction - 193 pages

South African novelist Sol T Plaatje (1876–1932) was a pioneer in the fight against racism in his country. He labored as a political activist to advance governmental reforms and promote civil rights for oppressed blacks. His Mhudi, penned in 1919–20 but published in 1930, represents the first full-length novel in English by a black South African writer. Today regarded as a classic for its skillful utilization of the African oral narrative and its robust validation of the positive qualities of African customs, the story of Mhudi, the harvester, and her romance with birdman Ra-Thaga is set during the country’s cataclysmic wars of possession of the 1830s. Plaatje’s heroine, Mhudi, is an enduring symbol of resilience of spirit and the belief in a new day.

 

Contents

A Tragedy and its Vendetta
1
Dark Days
10
Rays of Sunshine
17
Revels after Victory
28
The Forest Home
41
Mhudi and I
48
The First Strangers
55
A Perilous Adventure
62
With the Boers at Morokas Hoek
107
Queen Umnandis Flight
120
The Spies their Adventures
128
Halleys Comet its Influence on the Native Mind
133
War against the Matabele
141
Mhudis Leap in the Dark
152
Mhudi and Umnandi
158
The Exodus
171

Arrival of the Voortrekkers
67
Umnandi
79
Soothsayers and Battles
86
A Sportive Dawn and Gloomy Dusk
95
A Happy Reunion
181
A Contented Homecoming
187
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