REPRESENTATIONS OF VIOLENCE AND THE RHETORIC OF GENOCIDE IN MHUDI BY SOL PLAATJIE

The aim of this article is to critically analyse the discourse of violence and possible genocide as depicted in Mhudi(1). Scholars have focused on the pastoral romance in the novel. Romance recalls a past that was idyllic but has been disrupted by historical events. Mhudi(2) presents stark rhetorical images of human vulnerability and resilience of the Barolong who are conquered first by Mzilikazi and second by Boer white settlers. This article argues that the experience of the Barolong's past as an arcadia that is violently lost through their contact with the Matebeles and the Boers.