A textual analysis of detective novels in Northern Sotho

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to carry out a textual analysis of detective novels and short stories appearing in Northem Sotho. Abundant use will be made of the opinions and theories of different authorities on the detective novel. The study will comprise seven chapters. Chapter one will serve as the introduction. giving the preliminaries such as the aims, objectives, and scope of the study as well as the definitions of a detective story and its nature. A synopsis of each of the four detective novels will be given, followed by a brief biography of each of the authors. The second chapter will basically be a theoretical one in which the focus will be on the requirements of a detective story. Amongst others the following concepts will receive attention, with examples given of each component from the four chosen detective short stories in this chapter as well as from the four chosen detective novels in chapters Three to Six: (a) Detection pattern. (b) Detection and evasion. (c) Arrest. (d) Punishment. The third chapter mainly pays attention to the detection pattern itself. In this chapter, an analysis of the different patterns of detection will be made. evaluating and comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the texts concerned. The fourth chapter will focus on the actual detection by the detective(s) in each of the chosen no els. Chinamen and supermen must be avoided: the detective should be fairly ordinary in appearance. The tricks and cunning actions of the criminal(s) in the endeavor to evade arrest will also receive attention. The fifth chapter wiII deals with the arrest of the criminal(s). Here attention wilI be devoted to how convincingly the arrest is depicted in each novel, and a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses will follow. Punishment of the criminal(s) will comprise the sixth chapter. Here the focus will be on the evaluation of the punishment: whether it was just or unjust. The seventh chapter will summarise the foregoing chapters and link them together into a cohesive unit. Some concluding remarks will wrap up this chapter.