Folklore Writing by South African Diasporic Writers—Taking Zakes Mda’s Novels as an Example

Abstract

As a diasporic writer, while suffering from “island consciousness” that resulted from the conflicts of heterogeneous cultures, Zakes Mda had the opportunity to re-examine his home country as both an insider and an outsider. By deeply rooting his writing in the African continent and focusing on African folklore, Mda opens up space for another discourse to express his ideals and conscience as a diasporic intellectual, and he conveys the voice of Africa to the world. Through folklore writing, Mda not only expresses his identification with national culture, but also explores the charm and value of global indigenous culture in a modern situation within the framework of global culture and expresses his concern for human existence in a broad vision.