Johannesburg, South Africa - September 26, 2023 - Heritage Day Aftershock Announcement
In association with the International African Institute, hosted at SOAS University of London, and The Morija Museum & Archives in Lesotho, M³C (Making Media Move Culture ©) is proud to announce the launch of; “The Voices of our Ancestors'' - a new double volume NFT book collection of classic African tales by father and son. Included in the collection is a new limited special family edition of Thomas Mofolo’s critically acclaimed novel ‘Chaka’, and a copy of ‘Phakoana-Tšooana’ (Black Hawk), a novel written by his firstborn son, Mofolo Thomas Mofolo. The latter has recently been translated into English for the first time, and is exclusively available in this anthology.
Written in Sesotho in 1909, and first translated into English in 1931 by F.H Dutton with an introduction by Sir Henry Newbolt for the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures by the Oxford University Press, Thomas Mofolo’s classic South African novel has formed the foundation of all modern interpretations of the Shaka Zulu legend. Heritage Day, which took place yesterday, was traditionally known as Shaka day in honour of the Zulu Warrior King, but has since been commercialised into just another public holiday instead of celebrating the stories that have defined the history of the nation. This cultural apathy is even more concerning given that South Africa was recently ranked last out of 57 countries in the latest Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls). Among the many reasons identified behind this literacy crisis is a dearth of books published in African languages.
Chaka is a genuine masterpiece that represents one of the earliest major contributions from Africa to the corpus of modern world literature. In 2002 it was ranked in the top 12 of Africa's 100 best books of the 20th century. This latest edition includes Daniel P. Kunene’s English translation, new artwork for select chapters, a foreword by Stephen Gill, the head of the Morija Museum & Archives in Lesotho, and a new interpretation of the text by celebrated South African author and poet Antjie Krog. Over 127 editions of the book have been published in over 40 languages but this is the very first one to be published by the author's family. Only 20,000 hardcopies of the anthology are available, and will be redeemable upon purchasing any one of the 5 pieces of chapter themed artworks in the NFT collection. For every piece of artwork purchased, an additional free copy of the anthology in Sesotho will be reserved for disadvantaged schools and under-resourced community libraries to help improve literacy and reading culture among the youth.
# # #
About the author:
Thomas Mokopu Mofolo (moh-FOH-loh) was a Mosotho writer whose three novels established a literary tradition in his native language, Sesotho, and influenced African writers throughout the twentieth century. His literary legacy rests on his first novel and Chaka, a work honoured by many later African writers, who have commented on its groundbreaking influence on their own work.
He is considered to be one of the greatest of the African authors who flourished during the early 20th century. He wrote in Sesotho for the Morija mission, and it was with Chaka, his third novel after Moeti oa Bochabela The Traveller to the East (1907) and Pitseng (1910), that Mofolo established himself as author, thus making an early African contribution to modern world literature.
About M³C:
M³C (Making Media Move Culture ©) is a digital communications media lab, and a formula for improving the future with stories, and tools rooted in social change and sense making. Founded by Thomas Mofolo in 2016, the lab specialises in project managing digital outreach & advocacy campaigns, Communication for Development (C4D), civic journalism, reparative media, and social innovation.
The lab operates remotely on a fixed-term consultancy basis in collaboration with a network of independent consultants, non-profits, civil society organisations, social movements, activists, and freelance creative talent. Additionally, the lab also doubles a think tank that produces research related to critical social media pedagogy, and futures literacy for civic transformation.
For more info contact M³C at: letschat@m3c.media
コメント