Studying South African apartheid literature as an Emerson-sponsored summer research project was more than an intellectual endeavor for Ntokozo Xaba '08; it was about understanding something his family experienced first hand. Xaba, now of Dethewini, South Africa, was born into a state of emergency during apartheid, the social and political policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by white minority governments in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. His name means "happiness," a way of brightening up bad times, and is a common one for his generation.
Xaba, advised by Professor of English Vincent Odamtten, applied for and won an Emerson grant to support his research on post-apartheid literature and stayed on campus to complete his project which focuses on the changes in literature from pre-apartheid, apartheid and post-apartheid periods. "Protest literature was very strong during pre-apartheid," said Xaba. "Now at the end, I wanted to investigate if literature is still protest or praise."
Xaba's choice of project combines learning about his country's experiences with his love of literature. His mother is an English teacher, and he was brought up surrounded by books. He saw this as an opportunity to "catch up on literature," as he primarily reads newspapers during the academic year.
Xaba chose African writers who produced work before, during and after apartheid for his research. During his summer he was also able to meet with other African scholars at other colleges universities in the Northeast. "It was interesting to get their opinions," he said. While Xaba's hypothesis that post-apartheid literature would see a decline in a protest was correct, he found that it was still evident, manifested in different ways. "Current literature celebrates the people, but it still protests the conditions [of South Africa], such as AIDS and poverty," explained Xaba.
The most difficult part of the project for Xaba was avoiding his own
bias. He made sure to read about the psychology of all sides involved,
as a means to understand more of where each writer was coming from.
This is also the reason he chose to pursue his research on campus. "I
needed to step out from the environment to study my own society. Here,
there is nothing around me to effect how I see the books," Xaba said.
Xaba's
project is a more in-depth continuation of his high school thesis and
is a topic he would like to pursue after this summer. "It's interesting
because it's still happening—I live in it," he said.
Xaba, who is planning to pursue a public policy major and a minor in
a foreign language, hopes to eventually work in politics in his native
South Africa.
Created in 1997, the Emerson Foundation Grant
program was designed to provide students with significant opportunities
to work collaboratively with faculty members, researching an area of
interest. The recipients, covering a range of topics, explore
fieldwork, laboratory and library research and the development of
teaching materials.
-- by Laura Trubiano '07
