THE HUNGRY EARTH

Maishe Maponya’s The Hungry Earth  looks different  from other dramas  .As it is an  African drama it tries to bring out how colonized people feels when they are  oppressed. This drama shares the oppressive experience of colonialism. This work is also marked by attitudes of resistance and attempts at negotiation of colonialism. Maishe takes the readers into a world which rejects the claims of universalism and  superiority of European culture.

The Hungry Earth consists of five scenes depicting conditions of working class in south Africa and each scene is introduced by a narrator. I think maishe tries to express his protest against umlungu (the white man) and their rule over them. Even though he wrote it in English he deliberately used vernacular, especially in songs. It might be because he in order  wants to  maintain patriotism and respect their language.

The Hungry Earth opens with a prologue. There are four actors playing different roles. Scene one is a Hostel room where four workers (Matlhoko,Usiviko,Sethotho&Beshwana)share their experiences and perform their history and coming of whites to the land  of Africa and the changes brought by them. Next is the second scene The Sugar Plantation and it depicts the conditions of labourers in the plantation. It reveals about low wages ,poor working condition and about child labour. Scene three, The Train, presents the picture of a men who is travelling to Egoli.On the train a cruel ticket examiner arrests the men for smoking dagga.Next is the Mine scene.It depicts the working conditions of miners:danger ,dissatisfying living standard, workers and the relationship of Makhulubaas.The last scene is The Compound. It gives us a picture of the living conditions, the loneliness and poverty. The scene ends  with a death  of a young husband on the mines. In the last scene we can see  the presence of a female character.

The song in the last scene illustrates the tone of this play. The song is of course a demand for consideration. Through the song Mashie tries to make audiences aware of the disorders during that time. The playwright tries  to expose  and challenge colonial ideology. He tries to reclaim the past and history of colonised people. This play should be read from the angle of colonized people then only one can understand their problems.

In scene one we can see Sethotho speaking in favour of the whites. The main   problem in Africa is the apartheid ideology imposed by the dominant group. In scene four The Mine there is a reference to gumboot dance. In Africa gumboot dance has got something to do with their culture and way of expressing themselves. The importance of gumboot dance cannot be conveyed through textual means. The reality and their spirit can only be understood through watching their performance.

I think the title Hungry Earth can be related to the hunger for freedom of the people of South Africa. Maishe has used simple language inorder to expiain a complex theme.It is not  a matter about black or white.But  it is all about humanity. It is high time for us to think on such matters since we were  once under colonial rule. Hence we should thank Maishe Maponya for presenting  the real life situation of South Africans.