Herbert Dhlomo, William Shakespeare and South African Drama

Among the countless writers who have engaged with the Shakespearean dramatic corpus in their literary production, the South African playwright Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo (1903-1956) offers the opportunity to investigate the relationship of one of the most prominent African intellectuals of his time with the Western cultural tradition. On the one hand, Dhlomo’s plays are a heartfelt celebration of the English literary canon; on the other hand, they are a means of denouncing the oppressive rule of British and Afrikaner colonial powers. The present article discusses this unresolved ambivalence at the basis of Dhlomo’s literary works. My analysis focuses on the two historical plays that engage with Shakespeare the most: Dingane and Cetshwayo, dated between 1936-37. It is my opinion that the two possible readings of the Zulu writer’s works – as celebration and as opposition – are not in conflict; instead, they testify to the great complexity underlying not only the literary activity of black early-twentieth century writers but also their thorny position in the cultural context of their time.