Tshekatsheko ya basadi lwa reng? Ya ga T.G. Motsaathebe Jaaka padi ya botseka mo Setswaneng

Abstract

Crime is one of the major social problems threatening lives of people worldwide. In a normal society crime calls for detection and prosecution. Literature as a reflection of life is bound to explore this as its theme. Detective novels are written for this purpose. Cause for concern is that South Africa, one of the hotspots of crime in the world, has until lately been producing few works of detective fiction, particularly in the African languages. African language communities are mostly affected by crime: they feature as victims, perpetrators and investigators in the very novels written in English and Afrikaans. Most of the English novels are written by African language speaking Blacks themselves. It is in this context that the present study, Tshekatsheko ya "Basadi lwa reng," ya ga Motsaathebe jaaka padi ya botseka mo Setswaneng (A critical analysis of Motsaathebe 's Basadi lwa reng as a detective novel in Setswana), explores Motsaathebe's novel as the first work of detective fiction in Setswana. This is achieved by investigating elements of the detective novel in this chosen text, focussing mainly on aspects of theme, narrative structuring (plot) and characterization. This is not a comparative study, but references are made to similar works of fiction in the other South African languages. A few critical observations on the nature and structure of detective fiction are outlined which will be applied in the analysis of Basadi lwa reng. A section of the first chapter is dedicated to the argument that, contrary to a long-held opinion among some Setswana literary scholars, Masaikategang a magodimo by Mekgwe, lacks in the key elements of the genre (particularly sustained detective investigation), and can therefore not be regarded as a predecessor to Basadi lwa reng. Apart from works and guides on scholarly writing (notably Mouton and Hofslee), critical works by scholars (Mojalefa, Craig, Lodge, Todorov, Cawelti and Harrington) have been consulted , particularly on genre study, approaches to literary analysis, as well as the nature and form of detective fiction. The study further relies on approaches such as Russian Formalism and Structuralism, which deal with the form and organization of narrative. These approaches are found to be particularly useful in the analysis of detective narratives, which are formulaic by nature.