The impact of Western education

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CHAPTER TWO CHANGE IN THE NEWSPAPER AGE

Introduction

The introduction of literacy among the amaXhosa was certainly a milestone in the development of this nation. The first large scale manifestation of this benefit was the emergence of the early newspapers. This immediately drew, like a magnet, great numbers of writers to the newspapers.
Obiechina (1980:3) comments as follows about the spread of literacy in West Africa, a situation that is analogous to our own:
The spread of literacy has been, obviously, a majour source of change in human life and society. Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy describes how the establishment of mass literacy introduced far-reaching changes in the culture and social habits of the British working class. The introduction of literacy into the predominantly non- literate West African societies brough about an even more profound social change. And this, in turn, registers unmistakably in the history and content of the novel in West Africa.
This addition to the study will anchor the study and focus it on the relevant issues that will inform it as we move deeper in the subject. The newspapers preceded formal literary production. A major factor is that the newspapers reflected the global views of the people of the time on various social and political issues in which the ensuing cultural debates are rooted. No serious study of isiXhosa literature could be complete without reference to the newspaper era as the foundation of isiXhosa literature and a backdrop against which it should be seen.
The start of the new printing and publishing era is explained as follows by Shepherd (1955:27):
The cherished aim of providing literature was greatly furthered by an event which took place in 1823. In September of that year the Rev. John Ross, a new missionary of the Glasgow Society, arrived in Cape Town. Ross had with him a small printing press, with a quantity of type, paper and ink. These he put on a wagon, and travelled through the Karroo with them, the journey from Cape Town to “Chumie,” with some detours, covering about a thousand miles. Arriving at “Chumie” on December 16th, the press was got in order on the 17th; on the 18 th the alphabet was set up; on the 19th fifty copies were thrown off; and on the 20th Bennie recorded that a new era had commenced in the history of the Xhosa speaking people.
The period before the advent of written literature in 1909 was not an idle one. On the contrary, it was characterised by the appearance of the early newspapers and a flurry of correspondence between them and various writers who ventured their opinions on several social and political issues. One of the most influential newspapers or journals in this period was The Kaffir Express/Isigidimi Sama-Xosa which, as suggested by  the title, appeared in both English and isiXhosa, from 1870 to 1876 when its name was changed to the Christian Express.
The following comments by Shepherd (1955:36) are informative on this pioneering drive:
In 1870 Dr. James Stewart took charge of Lovedale Institution. The Franco-German war began in that year, and it was thought that its exciting events might be used for creating, through the press, an African reading public, by establishing a bilingual newspaper with the English title of Kaffir Express – translated in the vernacular Isigidimi sama-Xosa.
In the leading article of The Kaffir Express (November 1870:1), the target audience and the aim of the newspaper are clearly set out:
The paper will be addressed to the intelligent portion of the native community who are able to read or have interest in what is going on in the world beyond their own dwellings. To make its contents suitable to those who are utterly uneducated would be a mistake, even though the paper could be read to them.

Changes in the legal system

Various interesting changes manifest themselves in this early edition of the journal. In the very first volume, under the topic Izinto ngezinto (literally titbits), readers are introduced to a major cultural issue – the need to redress the blacks when they go into the urban areas. They had to abandon their own clothing in favour of the White man’s clothes as their own traditional clothes had suddenly become objectionable. This legal order is reported as follows in Isigidimi Sama-Xosa (October 1870: 6):
Umteto wokuvata
Asikuko nokuba ngoku umteto uqinile eQonce wokuba abantu bahambe benxibile kakuhle ingubo zabelungu pakati komzi. Abatengisi bakalazela ukuti wenziwe bukali kakulu, ke ngoko utintele into eninzi yabamnyama enge yisiza kutenga.
The law on how to dress.
The law is tough in King William’s Town these days. It requires people to be decently dressed in white people’s clothes when they visit town. The business people are complaining that the law is too harsh as it prevents many black people from coming into town to buy.
The early Africans used to wear garments made of sheep skin and hides. Women wore izikhaka (traditional dresses made from hide). When these became difficult to make, both men and women resorted to blankets and such material. The new dress law forbade them from entering town wearing blankets. There are many interesting stories about how men struggled to come to terms with these dress laws which had placed them in a very invidious position. On the one hand, they had to go and pay the compulsory Poll Tax in town, while on the other they could not enter town wearing traditional blankets. It is said that the men had to take turns using one pair of trousers to go and pay the tax, leaving the others waiting outside town for their turn.
The law regulating dress went hand in hand with a law that governed criminal behaviour that, in turn, came with the Western penal system of police, magistrates and judges. Offenders faced jail, an institution that had not been there before in traditional society. This is reflected as follows in Isigidimi (October 1870: 6):
Indoda ebetiweyo ngase-Sheshegu
Ngokuhlwa okutile mayelana pakati kule nyanga ifileyo, infengu yase-Sheshegu yati ivela E-Dikeni igoduka yabetwa kunene ngokoyikekayo ngamaXosa amabini. Kutiwa loma Xosa omabini abanjiwe afakwa etolongweni.
Man assaulted near Sheshegu
One evening towards the middle of last month, a Fingo man walking home from Alice was severely assaulted by two Xhosa men. It is reported that the two Xhosa men have been arrested and detained in jail.
The long arm of the law had begun to arrest wrongdoers. Common games such as stick-playing suddenly became unlawful practices. The law could not approve of the practice of hurting one another with sticks and calling it a game. A murder case reported in the Isigidimi (October 1870: 6) clearly illustrates the changing landscape:
Umntu obulewe ngenduku
Kwesika-Mabandla amakwenkwe amabini ate ngokuxabana aselesilwa ngenduku, enye yawo ingu mzukulwana ka-Mabandla. Kwakuti nqi yabaleka leyo ingumzukulwana ka-Mabandla, yati xa iti tshiki yakupa ngenduku enye yayihlabanisela etloko, bapuma ubuc’opo.
Imantyi yati makeze atyandwe kodwa lati lakuya kona igqira elingu Palmer akavuma u-Mabandla ukulibonisa inc’waba. Kwabuya kwapindwa kwayiwa akavuma. Kute ngokwesitatu kwaya ishumi elinesitatu lamapolisa lix’obile, akwaba saqaba ntoke.
Someone killed with a stick.
In Mabandla’s area two boys had a quarrel and ended up fighting each other with sticks. One of them was Mabandla’s grandson. When things became hot Mabandla’s grandson ran away. A few paces from his adversary, the other boy struck him a fatal blow with a stick on the head, fracturing his skull.
The magistrate ordered that a post-mortem examination be held – but when Dr Palmer went to Mabandla’s place, the latter refused to show him the boy’s grave. He went there for a second time, meeting with the same refusal. On the third occasion thirteen fully armed policemen went there, and there was no resistance.
Mabandla was a traditional leader in the area. While in the past such cases were tried in his court, the arrival of the new dispensation saw his jurisdiction drastically curtailed. All serious cases had to be tried by a magistrate and the chief had to surrender all culprits to him. They could henceforth only try petty cases and civil disputes. Mabandla had one dilemma regarding the case – according to amaXhosa custom one does not temper with a buried corpse. The Western system of justice, on the other hand, demanded that the corpse be exhumed to enable the authorities to establish its exact cause of death.
A common national amaXhosa beverage was sorghum beer that had been enjoyed by all for many years. When the church came in, it supported the illegalisation of this beverage largely because it kept potential converts and new converts away from church. The police were also bent on doing away with it because it led to constant fighting and serious cases of assault among the residents. One of the meetings called to deal with the problem is reported as follows in the Isigidimi (October 1870: 7):
Utywala Bama Xosa
Kwiveki ezidlulileyo kusand’ ukubako intlanganiso ezinkulu ezintatu E-Mkubiso, zingokuc’asa lento ibutywala, nokwandisa inani lababuzilayo. Eyokuqala yangena ngokuhlwa, eyesibini yangena emini, neyesitatu yako ngolwesitatu. Iziq’amo zezo ntlanganiso ziyatandeka. Baba mayela emak’ulwini amane abantu kweyase mini. Ekupeleni kwaleyo yangokuhlwa kwabako intlanganiswana yokup’ung’ ikofu, abantu besemashumi amat’andatu.
Translated as On Kaffir Beer
There have been within the last few weeks three large gatherings at Burnshill, with a view to discourage drinking habits, and to increase the numbers of the Native Abstinence Society. Two lengthy lectures, the first held in the evening, the second at midday, in the large Church, and the third meeting on Wednesday, 14th ult. The results have been satisfactory. About 400 people attended the meetings. At the close of the last, a tea or coffee meeting took place at which about 60 of the members were present.

1. INTRODUCTION 
1.1 Aim of study
1.2 Method and approach of study
1.3 Context of the research
1.4 Literature overview and scope
1.5 Topicality and relevance of study
1.6 Recapitulation
2. CHANGE IN THE NEWSPAPER AGE 
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Changes in the legal system
2.3 Socio-economic changes
2.4 Religious and social changes
2.5 Political changes
2.6 Recapitulation
3. THE BEGINNINGS: 1909 – 1923 
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Religious changes
3.3 The impact of Western education
3.4 In defence of traditional social justice
3.5 AmaXhosa beliefs under the spotlight
3.6 Recapitulation
4. CHANGES INTENSIFY: 1924 -1953 
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Socio-political changes
4.3 Socio-economic changes
4.4 The influence of the school and the church
4.5 Recapitulation
5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS: 1954 -1983 
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Social changes in the fifties
5.3 Nostalgia for the old order
5.4 Tradition under threat
5.5 Recapitulation
6. NO TURNING BACK: 1984 -1993 
6.1 Introduction
6.2 More dramatic changes in social life
6.3 Socio-political changes reflected overtly
6.4 Moral degeneration in amaXhosa society
6.5 Recapitulation
7. DEMOCRATIC CHANGE:1994 -2003 
7.1 Introduction
7.2 New trends in post apartheid literature
7.3 Economic wealth and moral decay
7.4 Shattered dreams and entitlement
7.5 Recapitulation
8. NEW OUTLOOK IN TRANSFORMATION AND SOCIO- POLITICAL CHANGE: 2004 – 2006 186
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Religion and counter-resistance
8.3 Change as reflected by a female writer
8.4 Globalization as a new theme in literature
8.5 The impact of change on women and children
8.6 Recapitulation
9. STRANGULATION BY LANGUAGE BOARDS 
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Language Boards as government agencies
9.3 Critics’ views on the Language Boards
9.4 The Language Boards in operation
9.5 Freedom and the way forward
9.6 Recapitulation
10. GENERAL CONCLUSION 
Bibliography
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