How did Solomon Plaatje use Black oral history in the novel Mhudi?

In his seminal historical novel Mhudi (1930), Solomon Plaatje explicitly incorporated Black oral history into his English-language writing. By doing so, he bridged the gap between traditional African narrative forms and the written novel, ensuring that historical perspectives were preserved in a changing literary landscape.1

Plaatje’s approach to the novel was deeply informed by his background as a linguist and his commitment to documenting Bantu languages, stories, and poetry. In Mhudi, he adopted the stylistic techniques of a traditional Bantu storyteller, utilizing a narrative structure that blends song and prose. This stylistic choice allowed him to infuse the 19th-century story of love and war with the rhythmic and performative qualities inherent in oral literature. Through this synthesis, Plaatje successfully utilized the richness of his cultural heritage to influence and shape the development of South African literature.21