Question One
Mupotsa’s analysis of the text, Happiness is a Four-Letter Word, raises questions on the elusive nature of love, middle-class aspirations and material consumption, choice making and the practice/celebration of democracy through the ubiquitous ‘New Black South African Woman’. Discuss how Jele uses the ‘New Black South African Woman ‘ figure to question the limitations faced by South African Women today. Your discussion must focus on the four friends as they are the epitome of the ‘New Black South African Woman’.
Question 2
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions that follow.
They also lived an extravagant lifestyle filled with local weekend getaways, annual overseas vacations and visits to upmarket restaurants, and in the process accumulated large credit card debts. All the profits from the sale of their (emphasis mine) house went into settling those debts. In the end Nandi had to start piecing her life together from scratch. She moved in with Princess for a while and downgraded her lifestyle; a broke CA, it wasn’t pretty. It was in fact, quite embarrassing. Nandi sniffled into the phone, holding back tears. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to evoke those forgotten feelings”, Zaza said (Happiness is a Four-Letter Word).
a) Identify the narrator and the context of the above narrative. (15)
b) To whom does the pronoun, their, refer in the above excerpt? (5)
c) What are “forgotten feelings” that Zaza is referring to? (10)
d) Discuss how this passage is linked to the overall themes of the novel. Your discussion should focus on the Black middle class’s material consumption packaged as choice, freedom and happiness in the postapartheid dispensation. (20)
Answers to Above Questions on English
Expert Answer 1: Cynthia Jele utilises four middle class urban black women in Johannesburg known as Nandi, Zaza, Tumi and Princess in order to question the limitations faced by the South African women today. All these women are faced with the issues in relation to personal fulfillment, societal expectations and historical legacies. These characters clearly portray the New Black South African women that are highly educated and independent, but at the same time they are grappling with the issues related to gender, culture and identity. This raises questions as to whether the promise of happiness in a democratic South Africa is real or it is simply a four letter word. An analysis of the four characters as selected is performed as follows to understand the contradictions they face to better understand their situation.
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