Paper short abstract:

Izinganekwane are histories that had been narrated for almost two hundred years in the KwaZulu-Natal region, South Africa. This work proposes a comparison between history analysis and its influence on everyday life. The connection between trickster strategies and empowerment paths will be analyzed.

Paper long abstract:

Izinganekwane's narration corpus is one of the most important outcomes of isiZulu language literature. Since a few years ago, it has been both an entertainment instrument and a tool for education. Historical and ethnographical accounts demonstrate also that those narrations have been very influential in Zulu history. The rigid structure of Zulu Kingdom compared with the fluid trickstering strategies of Izinganekwane characters is a clear example. If transmission authority was clearly regulated by strict succession rules, almost all Zulu kings have been trickster-usurpers. Nowadays, Izinganekwane are one of the few 'olden time' symbolic objects still remembered by the people.

Nevertheless, bibliographical research evidences the lack of analysis on the influence of this history on everyday life. This paper will try to grasp connections between story analysis and people´s interaction. In particular, the main narration´s character, Hlakanyane, seems to be a recognized 'model' for men. The term 'hlaka', nowadays translated as 'cleverness', appears as a key for individual empowerment strategy and a required feature for a male youth to become adult. In connection with today's huge spread of neoliberal influence, the trickstering strategies seem to be useful to justify some life story moment. Accumulation of economic or symbolic capital, often require actions on the limit of morality, and Hlakanyane´s actions sometimes seem to be a framework to accept it. On the other side, this process seems to be morally accepted only if linked to redistribution process that can empower not only the individual but also his whole social network.