Pule Lechesa is the author of a string of books with a strong chord of literary appreciation/criticism. The books include Four FS Authors, The evolution of FS Black Literature, Essays on FS Black Literature, Bolaji in his pomp, The Awesome Literary Legacy of Dr KPD Maphalla, A penny for Lechesa's Thoughts.
Q. You
evidently have so much passion for literary criticism, the evaluation of
books...
LECHESA
That is quite true. Like many other writers I relished the exhilarating world
of books from a very young age. It was not easy, but over the years I got to
meet other writers, and things began to click. I began to analyse books, my
analyses was published, my books began to be stocked in major libraries et al .
Q. You have
acquired a reputation as a ruthless critic, so to speak. Are you not
worried about that?
LECHESA: (smiling).
So I am some sort of ogre! (laughter). Maybe I am not as bad as some might
think, maybe I have mellowed. But seriously I do like the type of apparent
confrontational approach of the late great Lewis Nkosi, or Brian Glanville in
Britain. It is just an approach. I recall that I published some
unflattering essays on the early work of Hector Kunene, JahRose and a few
others, and people began to exaggerate how "ruthless" I was! But
generally I just love books, and comment on the same intermittently. Maybe I
was a trifle robust in the beginning!
Q. You have published superb monographs on authors like
Bolaji and Maphalla. Your work on Dr Maphalla has been very well received. In fact, here
are two brief reviews of the book...
“This work
is a veritable labour of love by the author, Mr Lechesa, a tour de force. This
marmoreal study on arguably Sesotho Literature's greatest ever writer sparkles
and gallops in spades...it can hardly be bettered.”
“One thing
that often depresses me about African literature is that the works of many of
its outstanding writers are completely unknown to the majority of readers in
the continent. especially when the writer puts pen to paper only in his or her
mother tongue. Eg how would Chinua Achebe s name or works be known all over
Africa and the world if he wrote in his own Igbo language? I never knew
anything about the writer, Dr Maphalla, until I saw and read this book
(Maphalla writes in a south African language). But thanks to this superb study
on Maphalla by the author Pule Lechesa, I now fully realise that Maphalla is
one of Africa's greatest writers ..”
How do you feel when you are
appreciated like this?
LECHESA: it
is awesome, and yes the work was a labour of love. Dr Maphalla is a magnificent,
prolific quality writer and should be celebrated globally. In fact I published
one of his recent works - and I am happy the book is stocked in
libraries like Leiden in Europe.
Q. How important is it to make sure books
published get to the right centres or people?
LECHESA:
Very important, vital. We cannot be writing books nobody sees or appreciates,
or are not stocked at the right places. The distribution chain might not be
easy, but in Africa in particular we must try to get it right. Universities,
NELM in Grahamstown, other literary centres in other places worldwide, we must
try to ensure our works are stocked there. And the book reviewers,
critics - in ideal conditions, they should have easy access to new works.
Keep up the great work, Dr LECHESA!!
ReplyDeleteMr Lechesa has been a bastion of Free State Writing in general for many years, since he burst onto the scene. His great love and passion for the written word, and especially the much misunderstood sphere of literary criticism stamp him out very brightly in the African continent. It must be pleasing and reassuring for him that respect, and recognition for his efforts and publications is now firmly established
ReplyDeleteMr Lechesa has done many good things for African writing in general; that he also promotes literature in his Mother tongue a lot (Sesotho) is an extra thing worthy of praise
ReplyDeleteMr Lechesa’s works underline the importance of literary appreciation of books, presentation, expatiation of ideas and critical perspectives. To his credit he seems light-hearted in this interview
ReplyDeleteThe internet is very important as far as literature is concerned. For example I learnt a lot about South African critics like Pule Lechesa and Ishmael Soqaga initially from the internet, before I became closer to Soqaga. Mr Lechesa has a strong, perhaps even frightening international reputation as a literary critic. But at the end of the day the simple truth would be that he loves literature a lot, and has contributed his own fair quota to African books and criticism.
ReplyDeleteThere is no running away from the fact that many people, even writers have negative attitudes towards critics - but that is in Africa here. In advanced countries critics are pivotal with some of them revered and quoted extensively. Mr Lechesa, we can see, has published many books based on literary criticism/appreciation, which I think is rare in Africa. His published works include whole books on certain writers, including our own Bolaji. Literature is truly universal.
ReplyDeleteThese days in Africa few of us seem to be very interested in the world of books and we seem to hear about the likes of Achebe, Soyinka, Chimamanda Adichie (thank heavens) for ever - whilst this profile shows that there are other writers and experts on books across Africa. Mr Lechesa is the type of brilliant intellectual who seem to have read thousands of books and have published widely on this, which can be scary. But with people like him on the scene, African literature will surely continue to be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMr lechesa is one of the best. When I realised that I had a talent is when I met him in Tshwane University of Technology. He made me realised my talent. And now I have publish two books. Keep doing the best Mr Lechesa.
DeleteAmukelani