''Ways of Dying'' is a 1995 novel by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n novelist and playwright

Zakes Mda Zakes Mda ( ), legally Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda (born 1948) is a South African novelist, poet and playwright and he is the son of politician A. P. Mda. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays. He ...

. The text follows the wanderings and creative endeavors of Toloki, a self-employed

professional mourner Professional mourning or paid mourning is an occupation that originates from Egyptian, Chinese, Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures. Professional mourners, also called moirologists and mutes, are compensated to lament or deliver a eulogy an ...

, as he traverses an unnamed South African city during the nation's transitional period. ''Ways of Dying'' examines the concepts of nation-building after the communal trauma of

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. It is an examination of the interregnum period in South African history. Mda experiments with

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

, using it to highlight the interplay of tragedy and laughter in confronting crisis, and the conflicts between social classes and government authority.

Plot

The novel takes place in an unnamed South African city, five years after the first elections to occur after Apartheid. Toloki, an itinerant professional mourner, contemplates the various forms of violence plaguing the shantytowns in which he works. He runs into Noria, whom he had known as a child from his home village, while mourning at her son Vutha's funeral, the second funeral she has had for a child. The two move in together and start a relationship, each claiming the other knows and can teach how to live.

Criticism

Grant Farred, writing in ''

Modern Fiction Studies ''Modern Fiction Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1955 at Purdue University's Department of English, where it is still edited. It publishes general and themed issues on the topic of modernist and contemporary fiction ...

'', criticized Mda for his implicit condemnation of the historical, violent tactics used to resist Apartheid. Farred characterizes this lack of sympathy with historical actors as typical of Post-Apartheid viewpoints. Alternatively, Rita Barnard praised the book for what she believed to be an "optimistic" tone, stating that it did not "offer a ratification of received codes of conduct". Further, she praised the novel's lightness, and its willingness to replace a "sober militancy with gaiety and laughter".

References

1995 novels 20th-century South African novels Novels set in South Africa 1995 debut novels {{1990s-SouthAfrica-novel-stub