Resurrecting the "Black Archives": Revisiting Benedict Wallet Vilakazi with a Focus on the Utility and Meaning of African Languages and Literatures in Higher Education

Autor/in	Zondi, Nompumelelo B.
Titel	Resurrecting the "Black Archives": Revisiting Benedict Wallet Vilakazi with a Focus on the Utility and Meaning of African Languages and Literatures in Higher Education
Quelle	In: Education as Change, 24 (2020), Artikel 4626 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Zondi, Nompumelelo B.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1947-9417
Schlagwörter	African Languages; Literature; Blacks; Authors; Educational Change; Higher Education; Curriculum Development; Archives; Poetry; Gender Differences; Self Concept; African Culture; Teaching Methods; Writing (Composition); Intervention; Intellectual Disciplines; Multilingualism; Foreign Countries; Reader Text Relationship; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Africa; Language; Languages; Afrika; Sprachen; Afrikanische Sprache; Literatur; Black person; Schwarzer; Author; Autor; Autorin; Bildungsreform; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung; Archivwesen; Archiv; Lyrik; Poesie; Geschlechterkonflikt; Selbstkonzept; Culture; Kultur; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Schreibübung; Geisteswissenschaften; Mehrsprachigkeit; Multilingualismus; Ausland; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	Although viewed (and dismissed) by many as primarily a tool for communication, language (and literature) cannot be understood only in relation to "what" it communicates. A study of "how" it is shaped uncovers the social forces that provide its broad and complex template in the acts of reading and writing. This article focuses on the utility and meaning of African languages and literatures in higher education, with Benedict Wallet Vilakazi's (1906-1947) poetry at the centre. It argues how, by resurrecting "black archives," in this article epitomised by revisiting the work of one iconic writer and scholar, Vilakazi, we could give further impetus to the prospect of intellectual efforts in African languages. In this context, the article upholds the value and meaning of this scholar while offering perspectives on the saliency of his work for "inter alia" the meanings and location of African languages and literatures with regard to epistemic diversity, the "transformation" of curricula, tradition versus modernity, gender, the meaning of identity, and the broader humanist project. In essence, therefore, the article suggests that in an academic context, African languages and literatures require a serious engagement with the "implied reader," "the native subject" and consequently necessitates greater troubling, unsettling in the way we teach, the way we write, and the way we read. It suggests that acts of rereading (albeit preliminary) are an important intervention in the project of the intellectualisation of our discipline. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Education as Change. The Centre for Education Rights and Transformation, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa. Tel: +27-11-5591148; e-mail: journal-ed@uj.ac.za; Web site: https://upjournals.co.za/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01