Can Themba

Siphiwo Mahala

Description

Mahala's biography views the life and writing of Can Themba (1924–1967), an iconic figure of the South African literary world and Drum journalist who died in exile.

This rich and absorbing biography of Can Themba, iconic Drum-era journalist and writer, is the definitive history of a larger-than-life man who died too young. Siphiwo Mahala's intensive and often fresh research features unprecedented archival access and interviews with Themba's surviving colleagues and family.

Mahala’s biography takes a critical historical approach to Themba’s life and writing, giving a picture of the whole man, from his early beginnings in Marabastad to his sombre end in exile in Swaziland. The better-known elements of his life – his political views, passion for teaching and mentoring, family life and his drinking – are woven together with an examination of his literary influences and the impact of his own writing (especially his famous short story 'The Suit') on modern African writers in turn. Mahala, a master storyteller, deftly follows the threads of Themba's dynamic life, showcasing his intellectual acumen, scholarly aptitude and wit, along with his flaws, contradictions and heartbreaks, against a backdrop of the sparkle and pathos of Sophiatown of the 1950s.

Can Themba’s successes and failures as well as his triumphs and tribulations reverberate on the pages of this long-awaited biography. The result is an authoritative and entertaining account of an often misunderstood figure in South Africa's literary canon.

Introduction

Part I: Death and Birth of a Scribe

Chapter 1 A Knock on the Door

Chapter 2 The Poet Laureate of Fort Hare

Chapter 3 The Teacher of Life and Letters

Chapter 4 From Marabastad to Sophiatown and beyond

Part II: Living Fast, Dying Young

Chapter 5 The Drum Seduction

Chapter 6 Occasions for Loving

Chapter 7 Drumming Up a Storm

Chapter 8 Destruction and Demise

Chapter 9 The Road to Swaziland: A Kind of Suicide

Part III: The ‘Intellectual Tsotsi’: The Identities, Politics and Intellectual Legacy of Can Themba

Chapter 10 Black Englishman or Detribalised African? A Quest for Shared Identities

Chapter 11 A Politico in a Poet

Chapter 12 The People’s Intellectual

Part IV: Dances with Texts: the Writings of Can Themba

Chapter 13 No Ordinary Storyteller

Chapter 14 Intertextuality and the Making of Mr Shakespeare

Chapter 15 ‘The Suit’ For All Seasons

Part V: The Immortality of Can Themba

Chapter 16 Re-Membering the Fragments

Postscript: The Three Burials of Can Themba

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Literary Figures
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• África
• General officer
• History of Africa
• General
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: WITS University Press
• Date de parution: 30 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776147342
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

Can Themba
Can Themba
The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi
A BIOGRAPHY
Siphiwo Mahala
Published in South Africa by:
Wits University Press
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
Johannesburg 2001
www.witspress.co.za
Copyright © Siphiwo Mahala 2022
Published edition © Wits University Press 2022
Images and figures © Copyright holders
First published 2022
http://dx.doi.org.10.18772/12022037311
978-1-77614-731-1 (Paperback)
978-1-77614-732-8 (Hardback)
978-1-77614-733-5 (Web PDF)
978-1-77614-734-2 (EPUB)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, Act 98 of 1978.
All images remain the property of the copyright holders. The publishers gratefully acknowledge the publishers, institutions and individuals referenced in captions for the use of images. Every effort has been made to locate the original copyright holders of the images reproduced here; please contact Wits University Press in case of any omissions or errors.
This work is based on research supported by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Opinions expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NIHSS.

Project manager: Alison Paulin
Editor: Helen Moffett
Copyeditor: Sally Hines
Proofreader: Lisa Compton
Indexer: Elaine Williams
Cover design: Hybrid Creative
Cover image: © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Typeset in 10.5 point Plantin
In memory of Professor Mbulelo Mzamane, whose light still shines my path
Can Themba was what he was and not what he could have been because his country is what it is.
Harry Mashabela — The Classic (1968), 10
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: Death and Birth of a Scribe
1 A Knock on the Door
2 The Poet Laureate of Fort Hare
3 The Teacher of Life and Letters
4 From Marabastad to Sophiatown and Beyond
Part II: ‘Live Fast and Die Young’
5 The Drum Seduction
6 Occasions for Loving
7 Drumming up a Storm
8 Destruction and Demise
9 The Road to Swaziland: A Kind of Suicide
Part III: The ‘Intellectual Tsotsi’
10 Black Englishman or Detribalised African? A Quest for Shared Identities
11 A Politico in a Poet
12 The People’s Intellectual
Part IV: Dances with Texts: Writing and Storytelling
13 No Ordinary Storyteller
14 Intertextuality and the Making of Mr Shakespeare
15 The Suit for All Seasons
Part V: A Writer’s Immortality
16 Re-Membering the Fragments
Postscript: The Three Burials of Can Themba
Notes
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
Figure 1 Can Themba read widely. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 2 University of Fort Hare, 1948. Photographer unknown; permission to use granted by Daniel Massey.
Figure 3 Can Themba receiving prize for inaugural Drum short story competition. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 4 Can Themba with his right-hand man, Casey Motsisi. The Fifties People of South Africa: Black Life – Politics, Jazz, Sport , edited by Jürgen Schadeberg, Bailey’s African Photo Archives, 1987. Unable to trace original photographer or copyright holders.
Figure 5 Can Themba as a 28-year-old teacher in his room in Sophiatown. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 6 Can Themba, the family man. Photographer unknown; permission to use granted by Themba family.
Figure 7 Maizzie Maphisa. Photographer unknown; permission to use granted by Linda Maphisa.
Figure 8 Juby Mayet. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 9 Can Themba and Dolly Rathebe. Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.
Figure 10 A moment of fun in the newsroom. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 11 Drum journalists Can Themba and Arthur Maimane with beauty queens. Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.
Figure 12 Can Themba was always smartly dressed and wore a tie when he joined the newsroom. Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.
Figure 13 Sol Rachilo. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 14 The cohort that turned Drum magazine into an iconic publication. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 15 Can Themba was known for his penchant for debate. Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.
Figure 16 The 1956 Treason Trial. © Peter Magubane; permission to use granted by BAHA/Africa Media Online.
Figure 17 Can Themba, associate editor of Drum magazine in the 1950s. Amazwi South African Museum of Literature, Sylvester Stein Collection, Acc. 2018. 56.2.1. © Jürgen Schadeberg.
Figure 18 Can Themba bundled out of the Seventh Day Adventist church. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 19 Can Themba and Bob Gosani. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 20 Can Themba with Parks Mangena. Photographer unknown; permission to use granted by Parks Mangena.
Figure 21 At times Can Themba dressed like a tsotsi and spoke their language. © Jürgen Schadeberg; permission to use granted by Claudia Schadeberg.
Figure 1 . Can Themba read widely, including Drum’s competitors such as The Star. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 2 . In this 1948 University of Fort Hare picture, Can Themba (3rd row from bottom, 11th from left) is seen alongside his Beda Hall housemates, including Alfred Hutchinson (top row, 4th from right), Godfrey Pitje (3rd row, 8th from left), Ntsu Mokhehle (2nd row, 1st on right) Lionel Ngakane (1st row, 3rd from left), and Nthato Motlana (3rd row, 2nd to the right of Themba). (Private collection, Daniel Massey; photographer unknown.)

Figure 3 . Can Themba (left) receiving the first prize from Henry Nxumalo for the inaugural Drum short story competition. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 4 . Can Themba with his right-hand man, Casey Motsisi, celebrating the first anniversary of Africa! magazine, where they served as editor and assistant editor, respectively. (From Jürgen Schadeberg, ed., The Fifties People of South Africa ; Bailey’s African Photo Archives, 1987; photographer unknown.)

Figure 5 . Can Themba as a 28-year-old teacher in his room in Sophiatown, before he started working as a journalist. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 6 . Can, the family man, seen here with his wife, Anne, and their eldest daughter, Morongwa. (Private collection, Themba family; photographer unknown.)

Figure 7 . Elizabeth Maizzie Maphisa was a nurse with whom Can Themba had a son. (Private collection, Linda Maphisa; photographer unknown.)

Figure 8 . Juby Mayet was one of Can Themba’s protégés in the newsroom. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 9 . Can Themba wrote extensively about Dolly Rathebe and ‘her men’ and, according to Drum magazine, he was one of the men in her romantic life. (Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.)

Figure 10 . A moment of fun in the newsroom. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 11 . Drum journalists Can Themba and Arthur Maimane often hung out with actresses and beauty queens like Dottie Tiyo and Selina Kolae, as seen in this picture. (Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.)

Figure 12 . When he joined the newsroom, Can Themba was always smartly dressed and wore a tie – Jürgen Schadeberg said he seemed out of place. (Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.)

Figure 13 . Sol Rachilo remembers Can Themba as a teacher with an intuitive gift for imparting knowledge. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 14 . From left: Henry Nxumalo, Es’kia Mphahlele, Casey Motsisi, Can Themba, Jerry Ntsipe, Arthur Maimane (wearing hat, with cigarette), Victor Xashimba, Dan Chocho and Bob Gosani (standing, with camera), Kenneth Mtetwa and Benson Dyantyi (on floor, left and right) were all part of the cohort that turned Drum magazine into an iconic publication. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 15 . Can Themba was known for his penchant for debate in the newsroom and shebeens, as well as in his House of Truth. (Drum Photographer/BAHA/Africa Media Online.)

Figure 16 . From left to right: Robert Resha, Patrick Molaoa and Nelson Mandela arriving at the Drill Hall in Johannesburg for the 1956 Treason Trial. Can Themba had conducted a mock trial in which he found Resha guilty of treason the day before Resha was arrested for high treason. (Photograph by Peter Magubane; courtesy of BAHA/Africa Media Online.)

Figure 17 . Can Themba as the associate editor of Drum magazine in the 1950s. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg, Sylvester Stein Collection.)

Figure 18 . Can Themba was bundled out of a Seventh Day Adventist church during his investigation of whether white churches would admit a black worshipper. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 19 . Can Themba and Bob Gosani were arrested in Potchefstroom for possession of liquor while travelling in a company car. According to Can, they were arrested for kindness as they were helping a white man rescue bottles of alcohol from a raging fire. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)

Figure 20 . Can Themba with Parks Mangena in what they called the ‘Can Themba corner’ at the Central Hotel in Mbabane, Swaziland. (Private collection, Parks Mangena; photographer unknown.)

Figure 21 . Although Can Themba was not a tsotsi in the criminal and conventional sense, at times he dressed like a tsotsi and spoke tsotitaal. (Photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg.)
Acknowledgements
This book is based on my thesis ‘Inside the House of Truth: The Construction, Destr