Weaving a path from the past: Gender, disability and narrative enablement in Zulu Love Letter

abstract

Two decades after the end of apartheid, many continue to see this period as having been anti-climactic, particularly with the continuing economic disparities that currently characterise the ‘rainbow nation’. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was one of the main strategies instituted by the democratically elected government as a way of fostering the smooth transition into this new dispensation. The TRC enabled public recognition of the wrongs committed against various people during the years of apartheid. Although it had its own shortfalls, this process was in fact an attempt to accord a voice to those previously denied it in the previous era. The TRC has been represented and discussed in various media, including novels and film. One such creative piece is the award-winning film, Zulu Love Letter (2004).

This piece focuses on the role of creativity as narrative enablement in Zulu Love Letter, especially through the character of Simangaliso. I argue that in this film the Deaf character exists as an enabling presence, employing her imaginative abilities to forge links between families, generations and traumatic histories. However, her ability to form these bridges is dependent on the destabilising of her position as an ‘other’ within her society. In this way the disabled character is presented as one who might hold the potential to permit both the unearthing of history and the commencement of closure for those who have experienced trauma and suffering. Through Simangaliso the film suggests ways in which the creative mode can exist as narrative enablement, affording a voice to those who may be silenced by history.

keywords:

• disability
• Deafness
• narrative enablement
• African cinema
• gender

ORCID

Ken Lipenga http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8592-8999

Notes

1. I have chosen to employ the term ‘Deaf’ instead of ‘deaf’ in this paper. As Paddy Ladd (2003:xvii) states, “‘Deaf’ refers to those born Deaf or deafened in early (sometimes late) childhood, for whom the sign languages, communities and cultures of the Deaf collective represents their primary experience and allegiance, many of whom perceive their experience as essentially akin to other language minorities”.

2. I am aware that most Deaf people refuse to be classified as ‘disabled’. While recognising the existence of Deaf culture, I also draw from various scholars in Disability Studies who have examined the portrayal of various disabilities (including those related to hearing) in literature and film.

3. A deafhearing (alternatively spelt ‘deaf-hearing’) family is one comprising both hearing and Deaf members.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ken Lipenga

KEN LIPENGA holds an MA in Literature from the University of Malawi and a PhD in Literature from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His PhD thesis was on the construction of disability in African imaginaries. He is currently a lecturer in postcolonial literature at the University of Malawi. His research interests include the exploration of intersections between disability studies and postcolonial literature; disability and folklore, and African life writing. Email: [email protected]