THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE ORAL AND THE WRITTEN: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ANALYSIS OF SELECTED POEMS BY MQHAYI AND JOLOBE
This article sets out to examine the relationship between oral and written isiXhosa poetry, and the extent of the interface between the two forms of poetry. Little attention has been paid to this interesting phenomenon. The scope of the article is limited to selected oral and written poems by Mqhayi and Jolobe. The methodology is an interdisciplinary approach that contextualises the poetry and locates it within the social and political reality of South Africa during the period under review. The article argues that the selected poems of Mqhayi and Jolobe demonstrate the dynamism of the oral and written literature, and the interface between the two forms. Mqhayi and Jolobe played the role of organic intellectuals, whose poetry, during the period 1932-1952, diffused the ideology of Africanism. The poetry of the above-mentioned artists, written or oral, directly or indirectly, influenced oral performances (music and oratory) of revolutionary musicians and orators of the following generations.