Thomas Mokopu Mofolo (22 December 1876 – 8 September 1948) is considered the greatest

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

author. He wrote mostly in the

Sesotho Sotho () or Sesotho () or Southern Sotho is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South Africa (particularly the Free ...

language, but his most popular book, '' Chaka'', has been translated into English and other languages.

Biography

Thomas Mofolo was born in Khojane, Lesotho, on 22 December 1876. He was educated in the local schools of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society and obtained a teacher's certificate in 1898. While he was working at the book depot in

Morija Morija is a town in western Lesotho, located 35 kilometres south of the capital, Maseru. Morija is one of Lesotho's most important historical and cultural sites, known as the Selibeng sa Thuto— the Well-Spring of Learning. It was the site of the ...

, some of the missionaries encouraged him to write what was to become the first novel in Southern Sotho, ''Moeti oa bochabela'' (1907; The Traveler of the East). The edifying story of a young Sotho chieftain's conversion to Christianity, it is cleverly interwoven with traditional myths and praise poems. Its success prompted other young teachers to try their hand at fiction writing, thus launching one of the earliest literary movements in sub-Saharan Africa. Mofolo's next book, ''Pitseng'' (1910), is built on a rather clumsy love plot in imitation of European fiction. It contains perceptive descriptions of native mores in Lesotho and in South Africa and a thoughtful, by no means encomiastic, appraisal of the influence of Christianity on traditional marriage customs. Mofolo then composed ''Chaka'' (1925), a fictionalized account of the Zulu conqueror who built a mighty empire during the first quarter of the 19th century. Under Mofolo's pen, the eventful career of Chaka (

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...

) becomes the epic tragedy of a heroic figure whose overweening ambition drives him to insane cruelty and ultimate ruin. The earliest major contribution of black Africa to the corpus of modern world literature, ''Chaka'' is a genuine masterpiece; the narrative follows the austere curve of growth and decline which controls the structure of classic tragedy at its best; psychological motivation is sharply clarified at all points; and the author has cleverly manipulated the supernatural element, which is endowed with true symbolic value. Although the missionaries were sensitive to the high literary quality of ''Chaka'', the pictures of pre-Christian life that the book contains made them reluctant to publish it. In his disappointment, Mofolo left for South Africa in 1910 and gave up writing. For several years he was a labour agent, recruiting workers for the gold mines of Transvaal and the plantations of

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. After 1927 he bought a store in Lesotho; in 1937 he acquired a farm in South Africa but was evicted under the Bantu Land Act. In 1940, a broken and sick man, he returned to Lesotho, where he died on 8 September 1948.

Recognition and legacy

The library at the

National University of Lesotho The National University of Lesotho, the main and oldest university in Lesotho, is located in Roma, southeast of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The Roma valley is broad and is surrounded by a barrier of rugged mountains which provides magnific ...

is named the Thomas Mofolo Library in his honour. In 1976, the inaugural Mofolo-Plomer Prize, created by Nadine Gordimer and so named in honour of Mofolo and South African writer

William Plomer William Charles Franklyn Plomer (10 December 1903 – 20 September 1973) was a South African and British novelist, poet and literary editor. He also wrote a series of librettos for Benjamin Britten. He wrote some of his poetry under the pseud ...

, was awarded to Mbulelo Mzamane. The judges for that year were

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and '' magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

, Alan Paton and

Adam Small Adam Small (21 December 1936 – 25 June 2016) was a South African writer who was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement and other activism. He was noted as a Coloured writer who wrote works in Afrikaans that dealt with racial discriminatio ...

Achmat Dangor Achmat Dangor (2 October 1948 – 6 September 2020) was a South African writer, poet, and development professional. His most important works include the novels ''Kafka's Curse'' (1997) and '' Bitter Fruit'' (2001). He was also the author of thre ...

, JM Coetzee (1977), Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele, Rose Zwi (1982) and Peter Wilhelm have been other recipients of the prize. The Thomas Mofolo Prize for Outstanding Sesotho Fiction was launched in South Africa on 6 February 2019, to be awarded in December.

Bibliography

From the collection of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC: *'' Chaka'' (1939) *''Chaka, a historical romance'', with an introduction by Sir Henry Newbolt ... translated from the original Sesuto by F. H. Dutton (1931) *''Chaka'', 2nd enlarged edition (2000). *''Chaka'', new English translation by Daniel P. Kunene (1981) *''Chaka, une épopée bantoue'', French translation (1940) *''Chaka Zulu: Roman'', German translation and notes by Peter Sulzer (1988). *''Tjhaka'', Afrikaans translation by Chris Swanepoel (1974). *''Moeti oa Bochabela'' (1942) *''Pitseng'' (1942, 1968)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mofolo, Thomas 1876 births 1948 deaths Lesotho novelists 20th-century novelists Male novelists Lesotho male writers 20th-century male writers Sotho-language writers