Abstract:
The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the origin
of the es say and its development in South Sotho, taking a
close look at the theme, structure and style of the Southern
Sotho essay in the acknowledged collections of Mocoancoeng's,
Moiloa's, Ntsane's, Mofokeng's and Morojele's.
In the first chapter, the origin and nature of the essay are
discussed, ending with the early essayistic writings in
Southern Sotho which opened the way to modern essay writing.
This was traced from early translations and explanations of
biblical texts, through articles in the Leselinyana series,
to Motsamai's and Segoete's writings. A drifting away from
religious subjects was noticed from the 1880's, and from 1909,
writings on all kinds of themes emerged. It was also noticed
that the traditional themes in Segoete's book re-appeared in
the modern essays of Moiloa's, Ntsane's1 Mofokeng's and
Morojele's.
A thematic survey in chapter two showed that Moiloa and
Mocoancoeng were more traditionally orientated, Moiloa being
more informative and defensive of certain customers, while
Mocoancoeng ridiculed them. Even in the socio-political
theme, Mocoancoeng ridiculed the status quo, while Moiloa
expressed his discontent with the lack of human iustice
directly or essayistically. Ntsane and Mofokeng wrote more
on human nature and life, respectively. While Ntsane
satirised man's tendencies, Mofokeng pondered over life in
all connotations of the word, always overlapping into the
' hereafter. His entire volume was found to be structured into
a thematic unity always reflecting on life, his main theme.
Morojele wrote on a variety of subjects which leaned on the
traditional theme. He was found to be the most essayistic
of the five, always arguing cleverly on both sides of his
subject.
In chapter three the structure of the Southern Sotho essay
was analysed. Many variations were found which were
largely Within the conventional introduction-contentsconclusion
form. Each of these three parts also exhibited a
standard form and variations. The effects of the variations
on each Writer's works were studied and compared. While
Moiloa's, Ntsane's and Morojele's essays were largely conventional
in form, the tendency to divide the body into phases
was noticed in Mocoancoeng's and Mofokeng's.
Chapter four dealt with the stylistic deVices emnloved bv each L / •
writer, and their effect. While all the writers made great
use of parallelism and the rhetorical question, Moiloa's use
of alliteration, Morojele's proverbial themes, Mocoancoeng's
skilful use of the narrative and Ntsane's and Mofokeng's
constant contact with the reader by means of the apostrophy,
were distinctive features.
In reviewing the dissertation according to Scholes and Klaus,
in chapt e r five, the Southern Sotho essay was re-classified
into the persuasive essay, the narrative essay, the dramatic
essay and the meditative essay. The narrative and meditative
essays we re represented overKhelmingly in
Mocoanco e ng's and Mofokeng's respectively.
Most of t he collections revealed a positive relationship
between their titles and their contents.
