Who really cares if the ancestors are angry? A.C. Jordan's The wrath of the ancestors ‘Inqgumbo yeminyanya’

Abstract

The wrath of the ancestors is a sensational, if not admirably haunting, tide for a novel. In this novel Jordan goes beyond the surface emotions of the wrathful ancestors, and puts much effort into the preparation of his readers for those incidents of the story that ‘involve’ ancestor participation. Furthermore, there exists a well-guarded mutual relationship between the ancestors and the living throughout the novel. In order to thoroughly scrutinize this relationship, one needs also to screen those characters best associated with the ancestors, a process that may further help to demonstrate how much it means for these characters to maintain this relationship, and whether it would cost them anything at all if the relationship was suddenly curtailed or virtually stopped, as Nobantu's act of killing the sacred snake might suggest. The title of the article is drawn from that spirit of investigation.

The wrath of the ancestors is 'n sensasionele, indien nie 'n voortreflike spokerige titel vir 'n roman nie. In hierdie roman gaan Jordan verder as die oppervlakkige emosies van die wraakgierige voorvaders, en doen baie moeite om sy lesers voor te berei vir dié insidente in die verhaal waar voorvaderlike deelname betrokke is. Verder bestaan daar 'n goed beskermde verhouding tussen die voorvaders en die lewendes dwarsdeur die roman. Ten einde hierdie verhouding deeglik te deurskou, is dit nodig om ook die karakters wat die beste met die voorvaders geassosieer word, te belig, 'n proses wat verder daartoe kan bydra om te toon hoeveel dit vir hierdie karakters beteken om die verhouding in stand te hou en of dit hulle hoegenaamd sou benadeel as die verhouding skielik opgeskort sou word of vrywel beëindig sou word, soos Nobantu se daad om die heilige slang te dood, kan suggereer. Die titel van die artikel verwys na daardie ondersoekende houding.