The Definitive Chaka

8/13/2019 The Definitive Chaka

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W.E.B. Du Bois Institute

Review: Essay Review: The Definitive ChakaAuthor(s): Ayi Kwei ArmahSource: Transition, No. 50 (Oct., 1975 - Mar., 1976), pp. 10-13Published by: Indiana University Presson behalf of the W.E.B. Du Bois InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2934982.

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TRANSITION 50

ESSAY REVIEW: The Definitive Chaka

Ayi Kwei ArmahTHERE is a literary masteipiece most students ofAfrican Literature have never actually seen, much lessread. The issues it deals with are central to Africa andhumanity. All who know the languagesit was writtenin say it's one of the world's most skilfully craftedworks of art. Yet foi more than half a century it hasled a strange half-life, hidden from leaders who wouldmost appreciate it.

The work is CHAKA, a historical epic written is1909 by the Sotho author Thomas Mopoku Mofolo(1876-1948).Of this fact there is no dispute: Mofolo was an

artisticgenius. There is therefore something uncannilysatisfying, even perfect, in the logic which brought amind like this to focus on the birth, growth, rise topower, decline, then death of the great Zulu emperorChaka. Perfect,because Chaka was a genius, a militaryand political genius. He was more than a genius. Hewas a man of tremendous multivalent energies, mentaland physical, creative as well as destructive. On hissociety and in his time his impact was shattering. Soshattering, that both in his time and after he has beentreated like some huge elemental force beyond compre-hension, a supernaturalphenomenon to be feared, orpraised, or both, but never to be intelligently explained,never to be understood. Mofolo's work is the mostperceptive attempt to understand and explain Chakaso far undertaken. There lies its prime value, quiteapart from its incalculable beauty as a work of art.The real Chaka lived in that part of South Africanow known as Natal. He was born in 1787, ol a littlebefore. The oral traditions differ as to the exact timingof his birth. They agree, though, that the circumstancessurroundinghis birth were complex.

Mofolo, in this book, says Senzangakona, Chaka'sfather, raped Chaka's mother Nandi (the sweet one),and that Chaka was the result of that rape. Here theauthor has twisted historical fact. Chaka's conceptionwas the result of consent. Senzangakonawas infatuatedwith Nandi, and Nandi responded favourably. It waspermissible for young, unmarried men and womento havea limited kinds of sexual intercourse.Thepractice,

called ukuhlobonga,was designed to relieve youthfulfrustrations while at the same time avoiding socialproblems. It allowed genital contact, even orgasm.What it prohibited was penetration. It is obvious, then,that the rules governingsex and marriagewere complex.Punishments for their infringement were also severe.It was a serious crimefor a woman to become pregnantbefore a formal marriage. It was also a serious crimefor a man to make love to a woman from a clan tooclosely related to his own. In the heat of their affectionfor each other, Chaka's mother Nandi and his fatherSenzangakona broke both prohibitions. The father,being a chief, had the power to protect himself from

punishment. But he left the mother and the child un-protected, and the society's anger fell heavily on them.Chaka's childhood was therefore a grim time. Hesuffered real, sustained persecution clearly aimed atdestroying him mentally, emotionally and physically.From his society he knew only hate. His only sourceof love was his mother. Nandi's love for Chaka wasconstant and intense. But she herself was an object ofpersecution precisely because she'd had Chaka. Herlove was therefore impotent love, the solidarity of afellow sufferer. It could not protect the child. Thechild had to work out his own salvation.In the beginning, Chaka tried to come to terms with

the hostile society around him by integratingpeacefullyinto it. He was amiable. He was peaceable. He con-ducted himself in a way that should have demon-strated to any who cared how harmless he was, howmuch goodwill he had in him. Not that he was acoward. He was the very opposite. Physically he hadenormous strength. Mentally he was not merely sharp;he was highly active, and extraordinarily agile. Inaddition, he had fantastic courage.Possessing such impressivenaturalabilities, and beingunder constant pressure to fight for his life, Chaka ashe grew developed great fighting skills, all in the purestself-defence. These skills he at first used in the serviceof his society. His exploits were many. Several times,

for instance, he killed singlehandedly wild animals10

r. I I I L LI I Il PI P L - I d I I- I I I . I I I PI


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CH'INDABA 1terrorizinghis people and their cattle, the most pre-cious property,he measureof all materialwealth.

Chaka'snaturalexpectationwas that these exploitswould bring him the recognitionand affection hissociety had so persistentlydenied him. The realitywas the opposite. Insteadof praise,his exploitsearnedhim jealousy. Theyoungmen of his age resentedhim.His exploitsunderlined is superiorityo them. Unableto competewithhim,theytriedto destroy him, oftenin pitched fights in whichseveralyouthsjumpedhim.Chaka was strongenoughandskilledenough o defendhimself against these attacks from his peers. Butagainst hehostilityof his eldersand of his ownfatherthe youngChakahadno answer. At the endof one ofthese unjust fights for his life, an amazed Chakaone day found himself condemned to death by hisown father for the crime of killing his attackers.Ratherthan submit,Chaka chose escape,and exile.

Exile was good for Chaka. For the first time hefoundprotectionandunderstandingroman olderman,King Dingiswayo,who controlledall the chiefs of thearea, includingChaka'sfather. It was as a soldierinDingiswayo's army that Chaka tested and developedthe fightingtechniqueshis hard life had taught him.In little time he had risen to a commandingpositionin thearmy.

His fatherSenzangakonaied. Chakadidnot quarreloverthe legalnicetiesof succession. He simplytook astrongarmy,wenthome,foughtfor power,and wonit.In time his protectorDingiswayoalso died. Chakafilledthe powervacuumhe'd left. He scatteredall theneighbouring ribes who resistedconquest. All whoyieldedhe united into a new nation over-riding llthetribes: heZulu nation.In his time and in his world,Chakabecameundis-

putablythe most powerfulof men. The methodsbywhichhe achieved his powerwerebloodyand ruthless.Greatnumbersof peopledied eitherbecause heystoodin his pathor because heirdeath wasnecessaryor theachievementof his aims. It is the vastness of thechanges he caused, and the bold ruthlessnesswithwhichheaccomplishedverything,hathaveencourageda tendency o considerChakaas belonging o a scalebeyond the human-either superhuman r subhuman,a god or a monster.This is unfortunate. BecauseChaka's ife, his psy-chology, his problems and his achievementsofferinsights central to the African condition, the mostprofoundlyhuman condition.It is sillyto deify Chaka;

it is idioticto vilify him. The reasonableneed is forunderstanding.That is exactlywhat Mofolo offers inthis book: understanding.There s, to start with,an admirable,starkclarity nthewayMofolopresentsChaka's hildhoodandgrowth.He shows his childhoodas the crucial ormativeperiod,the seedtime or all the crisesof his adultlife. As forthe processof Chaka'sgrowth,Mofolo shows it to usas a difficult,complexprogression,but so sure is histechnique, o masterlyhisgraspof psychological etails,that the resulthas that clear,hyalinequalitythatoftenmarks the most profoundworks of genius. Growthbecomesa seriesof crises, n each of whichChakamovesan inexorable tep forward o his chosendestiny,and

ultimatelyo his fate.

ThesocietyChakagrowsupin is dominated ymales.Butthe childChakagrowsup havingno malefigure oturn to for help in solvingthe problems hruston him.Mofolo gives the infant Chakathreeprotectiveadultfigures.All arefemale. TwoMofolo takesfromhistory:Chaka's mother and grandmother. The third is amyth,an artistic nventionof Mofolo's: a witchdoctorwho clearly stands for that internal psychologicalresource which in his first crisis of self knowledgehelpsChakacometo termswitha worldsaturatedwithviolence and injustice. According to Mofolo, theimportant hingthis witchdoctordoes for Chakais toinoculatehim with a protectivemedicinewhichchangeshis attitudeto violence. In this way she enhanceshispotentialfor survival. Before the inoculation,Chakahas tendedto regretthe pervasiveness f violence,andto wish he could escapethe grimnecessityof it. Butafterthe inoculation,

"Chakahad a wonderful ove for fighting-eitherwith the club or the spear. Whenhe sleptat nighthe dreamtof it. Whenhe sawa manwitha stickorspear n his hand his wholebody itched to come intocontactwith him. He dreamtthat tribeafter tribewasattackinghim,and he saw himselfscatteringhemsingle-handedwith none of his people to help him.The onlyconversation e enjoyedwas aboutfighting.Even before this Chakawas a greatfighter,but hewas neverthe challengeror the aggressor;but nowthesemedicines xcitedhim ..."

The first crisis is over. The strong, courageousbutunaggressiveChaka s no more. In his placeis a new-bornman: the strong,courageous ndaggressiveChaka.The female witchdoctordies shortlyafter this, butnot beforepromisingChaka hata greaterwitchdoctor,a male,will cometo replaceheras hishelper.Chaka's econdcrisisof selfknowledges broughtonby his forcedflight nto exile.Chakahas heard his ownfatherorderhim killedforhavingdareddefend himself.Self knowledgecomes this time when Chakais quiteexhausted, ungry,bitter,a hunted ugitivenotknowingwhere o go for protection.

"Inhis mind he reviewed ll his life since his child-hood, and he foundthat it was evil, terrifying,ear-some.Hethoughtof thetimewhenhe washerdinghecattleand discoveredhat therewas a plotagainsthim,of how theboysattacked im nthefields,of hiskillingof the lion and the hyena,and he saw that on earthmanlivesby mightand not by right.He saw that onearththe wiseman,the strongman,the man who isadmired ndrespecteds the man who knowshow towieldhis spear, who,whenpeopletry to hinderhim,settles the matter with his club. He resolvedthat fromthattimeon hewoulddoas heliked:whethera man wasguiltyor nothe wouldkillhim if hewished,for that was the law of man."It is in this grim mood that a mysterious igure-Isanusi, the promisedwitchdoctor-comes to Chaka.Isanusi s not merelya witchdoctor.He is in additionadiviner,a seerinto the future.It is preciselyo discussthe futurewithChaka hathe hascome.Isanusihascometravelling over land, over such great distancesthatwhenChakaasks in whichdirectionhis home is he canonly point to the sky. Pointing to even the farthest

mountainswould give a wrongimpressionof nearness.11


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TRANSITION 50Isanusi comes, just as prophesiedby the femalewitchdoctor,o offerChakaaid.A greatpartof hisabilityto helpliesin hisprophetic ision. This vision s subtle.Isanusidoesnot offerChaka nflexibly ertain ies aboutthe future.His visionis of optionsopento Chaka,andof the logicalconsequences f each choice.Isanusi asks Chaka what he desires most. Chaka

answersunhesitatingly:power over his fellow men.First hechieftaincy,henthekingly, heimperial ower.Isanusiwarns Chaka the road to poweris a hard roadalongwhichonlyhardmensurvive. s Chakawillingtoput awayfromhis heartall mercy,allcompassion,sincealong he road to power hemercifulmangets destroyedandthecompassionateman s lost?Chaka s willing;morethanwilling, ager.Isanusire-peatshiswarning:hemedicinehatbrings power is evil,a medicinensatiablyraving lood.But Chakadoesnotchangehis mind. No matterhow evil the medicinemaybe, Chakadesires t, just as long as it will bringhimpowerof lifeanddeathovermenallroundhim.SoIsanusidoctorsChakawith hepowerdrug, heone for achievingthechieftaincy.nChaka'smindnow, the need forpowerovershadows ll other needs. He has becomea man"withall spiritof humanity one out of him. To killwas his sole aim... This terribledesire for revengein his heartwasnearlydrivinghim demented."Isanusi departs. Chaka makes his way, notbackhome wherehoseclosest ohimhave ried o destroyhim,butsouthward,o thecourtandcapitalof the greatkingDingiswayo.In the traditionalpraisesongssungin Chaka'shonorby the most accomplishedf his praisesingers,Magol-wane,certainqualities rerepeatedlymentioned s beingtypical of Chaka:extreme ntelligence,efficiencyandprecision n executionon one hand; and extremeguile,secretivenessnddeceptivenessn planningon the other.These praisestell the historicaltruth. Chaka'sgeniusencompassed ll thosequalitiesn a highdegree.Mofolorespectshis truth.But hispresentation f it isnot documentary;t is artistic.Facedwiththe problemof explaininghighlycomplicatednternalpsychologicalforces, Mofolo uses his favorite artistic device: heexternalizeshese internalforces. Chaka'sintelligence,efficiency ndprecisionareembodied n thepersonof amythicalcharactercalled Ndlebe. Ndlebe is a giant,strongand swift, with an intellectas toweringas hisphysicalbuild. He is "not only a braveman but anaccomplishedman."There s a secondsuchmythical haracter.Hisname sMalunga.In appearancehe is quite unlike the other:malformed, epulsive,utterlyugly,"withdroopingears and a loose mouth. His earswere the largestever seen, like caves to receivethewind,or rather he tidingsandtalk of men. His eyeswerewatery, ull of deceitand treachery.Theycouldnot meet another'seyes; they were weak. And evenwhenthey looked at any one they did not seem likethe eyes of a humanbeing,but like the eyes of animage."Malunga'sappearances of coursedeceptive.He is fullof intelligence,but his strongpoint is guile,not frank-ness. Becausehe looks and acts likean idiot,Malungacan roam freely everywhere, istening o everybody'smost intimatediscussions.All thisincomingnformation

he transmitso Chaka. Is there n arta moreaccurateand economicalportraitof the securityand intelligenceorgansin a state power system?NdlebeandMalungaalsocome from somefar Africancountry, Isanusi's land. The two are messengersofIsanusi. That is, they are facets of Chaka's genius.Chaka's elationshipwiththem s subtlydrawn,andfas-cinating.He is very dependent nthem;but so are heyon him.Occasionally, henChakahesitatesnthefaceofsomeimportantdecision,Ndlebe andMalunga ake theinitiative.By their actionsthey commit Chaka to themostruthless ourse. t is therefore evercertainwhethertheyare servantsand Chaka he master,or theyaretherealmanipulators,nd Chakathe manipulated ne.The combination-Chaka-Ndlebe-Malunga rovesunbeatable n thebattlefieldn wartime and atcourt npeace ime.SoonChakarisesto the top of Dingiswayo'sarmies.Still,Chaka s dissatisfied,mpatient.He is notyet supremeamongmen.Furthermore, ingiswayo s aman of great virtuesand his virtues-mercy, compas-sion, trust in otherhumans-irritatethe power hungryChakaunbearably.In opportune ime Dingiswayo'svirtuesdestroyhim.Heistricked,rapped,henmurdered yZwide,a ruthlessbloodthirstyhiefhe himselfhaspardonedbefore.NowChakamoves boldlyto gain paramountpower.UsingDingiswayo's rmieshe defeats hetreacherousZwide na seriesof classicbattles, henmops up all the remainingopposition.Chaka s at last supremeamongmen.Still,satisfaction ludeshim.His powerstill seemstohim insufficientbecause t is only relative, imited. Hewants to makeit absolute so deepis the man's inse-curity.

Isanusi, n firstgivingChaka hepowerdrug,withholdsthemostpotentof hismedicines,hemedicineorachiev-ing absolutepower. He gives Chaka his reason: thatmedicinebrings nfinitepower;but it also demands hedoing of infiniteevil. Isanusi thereforeurgesChakatospendalong, houghtfulimebeforemakinguphis mind.Now, when Chakahas achievedhis desiredkingship,he undergoesa new crisisof self-knowledge.The ques-tionis, whichshouldbe his furtherdirection?

Again Isanusicomesto Chaka. He reminds Chakaof theevilsideof power. He tellshimit is not too lateto changedirections.It is stillpossible o choose lovein placeof power. But Chakahasa deep knowledge fpowerlessness,nd knows that that state is also evil.Between he evil of powerlessnessnd the evilof powerhe muchprefers he evil of power. He choosespower,andthespillingof moreblood.Isanusihesitates, hen he revealsthe prime require:mentsof absolutepower. The requirements symbolic:the sacrificeof the one persondearest to the seekerafterpower. Chaka hinksof his mother. Butso greatis his hungerfor power that he is willing to sacrificeeven Nandi to achieveit. It is not Nandi, however,whose blood must be used to make the medicine ofabsolutepower. The dearest one is called Noliwe.

Noliweis anotherof Mofolo's creations.Traditionalsources do not mentionher. Mofolo makes her awomanofexquisite, entlebeauty,physical nd spiritual.Chaka ovesNoliwe,butonlyto theextent hat a personso long starvedof affection n his childhood, and sofuriouslydriven n his adult ife,can loveanyone. That12


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CH'INDABA Iis, not verymuch. Chaka decides to kill Noliwe. Isanusiurges Chaka to take a whole year to reconsider hisdecision. Then he departs.In Isanusi'sabsenceChaka'spower grows. He rejoicesin the possession of the greatest empire ever known inthe land. He invents a new name for his people. Zulu.Amazulu. People of the sky. He builds himself a greatnew capital, a perfect circle in shape, with wide greatroads, and calls it Umgungundhlovu, the Elephant'sHome. He designs a new greeting for himself alone, agreeting eloquent with the arrogance of ascendantpower: Bayete Hail, intermediaryof God

Isanusi's year runs its course. The seer returns toask Chaka if he has changed his mind-decided infavour of Noliwe, life and love; or chosen death andpower. Chaka has not changed his mind. That eveninghe goes to his beloved Noliwe. She is ready for love,happy. Chaka stabs her under her armpitwith a specialneedle, killing her in such a way that her blood can besaved for the medicine of absolute power. Chaka'sclimb to the top of the world is over, From now onhis path leads downward.He who actually achieves absolutely everything he'sdreamed of is not blessed;he is cursed. Having achievedall his ambitions of power, Chaka is left with no re-maining sources of fulfilment. There is nothing leftto conquer,but he seeksexcitement in continued fightingcontinued violence. A terrible boredom, an unbearablefrustration destroys his peace of mind. Trying torelieve it, Chaka does insane, destructive things. Hedivides his own armies, then orders one side to destroythe other. He sends his best divisions on suicidal raids.The chronicle is one of ceaseless carnage, which doesnot end till Chaka's own half brothers assassinate him.Chaka is said with his dying breathto have prophesiedan era of harsh oppression for his people under thenew white power. At the book's end Mofolo himselfsounds a personal note of sheer regret for what mighthave been:"And this was the last of Chaka, the son of Senzangakona. Even today the Amazulu remember howthey were men once, in the time of Chaka, and howthe tribes in fear and trembling came to them forprotection. And when they think of their lost empirethe tears pour down their cheeks and they say:'Kingdom wax and wane. Springs that once weremighty dry away.' "The fact bears repetition. Mofolo's CHAKA is amasterpiece. It is also a work of art essentiallyAfrican.

By all accounts the book in its original Sesotho languageis breathtakingly beautiful. Despite this excellence, or,to put it more accurately, precisely because of thisexcellence, the book almost never saw print. That isbecause its author wrote under the most unfavourablepublishing circumstances any black artist has everfaced. He was writing for his fellow Africans, but noAfrican individual or group owned a printing press,much less a publishing house. Mofolo was thereforeentirely dependent upon whites-and missionary whitesat that-for publication facilities.Mofolo was aware of his difficult situation, but hisinspiration was deep, and the work he planned was areal labour of love. He spent theyear 1909 travallingallover Natal, South Africa, the site of Chaka's Zuluempire, gathering and checking background material

for his book. He was 33 years old then. The traditionalhistorians, storytellersand poets among the Zulu peoplelooked kindly upon this man who came to them askingso many earnest questions, wanting to know so much.And they helped him.The book was finished in 1910. But Mofolo had towait fifteen years before he could get it published. Theonly publishing house available to him was a Christianoutfit set up by European missionaries in his countryto churn out religious propaganda tracts for convertingAfricans. The main difficulty was that like all goodwhite people these missionaries were racists. Theybelieved firmly that Africans were incapable of worksof genius. Mofolo's work, bearing the bold, openstamp of genius, unnerved them. What was more,Mofolo had already wiitten three previous works.This fact was held against him. One white missionarydeclared it was "unwisc" for an African to show suchhigh creativity. The missionaries had already managedto "accidentally lose" one of the other books while itwas still in manuscript form. They called CHAKA anevil book, because it treated traditional African issuesseriously. The irony of it all was that Mofolo himselfhad had a considerable amount of Christian indoctrina-tion inflicted on his mind, and he considered himself aChristian. He had spent years working for the mission-aries, reeding proofs for them and even teaching Bibleclasses.

In writing CHAKAMofolo seems to have anticipatedpublication difficulties. Hence the occasional insertionof preachments against Chaka for being a pagan. Noneof this appeased the missionaries,however. The book'smain intentwas clear, and it was unquestionably African.It took fifteen years for the missionaries to decide torelease the book after all. The Sotho publication wasin 1925. An English translation appeared in 1931; aFrench version came in 1940.But the white missionaries had accomplished onething: they had succeeded in discouraging Mofolofrom further creative work, or at least from seekingpublication. After he had written CHAKA the author'slife turned into one of long, restless wandering fromplace to place, from occupation to occupation, fromdisappointment to heartbreakingdisappointment. Oncehankering after an elusive economic independence, heeven triedfarming. He saved up his money and boughtgood farming and from a white landowner. Immediatelythe white government took it from him by force. Theirreason: it was good land; an African had no right toown that kind of land.In his last yearsMofolo was not merelya disappointedman. He was a sick man forced to depend on a smallhandout from a white colonial administrator. He diedin 1948.

The masttrpiece he left us is out of print, practicallyunknown. It shouldn't be. From the points of viewof both content and style, it offers invaluable materialfor any serious reader of African Literature. The style,even in translation, bears the mark of genius. And thatis merely the outer form. The inner content is of com-pelling interest. It will remain so as long as humanbeings have reason to contemplate tbe genesis of powerfrom powerlessness, the often inverse relationshipbetweengreat personalpower and love, the rise and ruinof famous men, and the rise and fall of great empires.13

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The Definitive Chaka