Ezekiel Mphahlele Summary

Biography EssayEs'kia (born Ezekiel) Mphahlele has been involved in almost every phase of black, English-language African literature, either as a participant or commentator. His importance lies in the... Read more

Es'kia (born Ezekiel) Mphahlele has been involved in almost every phase of black, English-language African literature, either as a participant or commentator. His importance lies in the bold and clear... Read more

In the following review, Mackay praises Mphahlele's Down Second Avenue for its powerful story and characterizations. [Down Second Avenue] is a powerful and pathetic book, explaining the degr... Read more

In the following review, Worsfold asserts that Bury Me at the Marketplace, a collection of Mphahlele's letters edited by N. Chabani Manganyi, “Read[s at a continuous piece and not random... Read more

In the following interview, Mphahlele discusses African humanism, his writing, and life in Africa. The following interview was part of a one-month research project on new developments in Black Sout... Read more

In the following review, Harries questions the stated purpose of Mphahlele's African Writing Today, but praises the anthology as a good introduction to African writing. This anthology of wri... Read more

In the following review, Ramraj lauds Mphahlele's study of the African image in politics, culture, and literature in The African Image. [The African Image] is both a socio-political and lite... Read more

In the following excerpt, Kaye complains that Mphahlele had too many purposes in mind in Chirundu. She states, “The shifting tone which results from these many purposes is at times perplexing a... Read more

In the following essay, Jarrett-Kerr discusses how much of Mphahlele's writing derives from his sense of exile and alienation. Exile is a prime cause of alienation, and alienation is (surely... Read more

Critical Essay by Adrian Roscoe The problem of imagination in South African writing … is illustrated by the career of Ezekiel Mphahlele, scholar, teacher, lucid provocative critic, wanderer, a... Read more

Critical Essay by Gerald Moore The advent of Ezekiel Mphahlele's first book, Down Second Avenue (1959), at the same moment that West African writing was beginning to assert itself, was a chall... Read more

Critical Essay by Martin Tucker Mphahlele's story [Chirundu], about the self-made Chimba Chirundu, minister of transport and public works in an imaginary African country, is well crafted. The ... Read more

Critical Essay by Barney C. Mccartney Because Mphahlele has established himself as a major African literary critic, cultural commentator, and short story writer, we awaited his first published novel ... Read more

Critical Essay by The Times Literary Supplement [Ezekiel Mphahlele] writes a clear and serviceable, if unexciting—and sometimes too baldly didactic—prose, has a zest and a fair talent f... Read more

Critical Essay by Addison Gayle, Jr. [The series of essays included in Voices in the Whirlwind] were written over a period of years. As a result, the statements concerning the Black Aesthetic, the Ne... Read more

Critical Essay by Ursula A. Barnett [Man Must Live is] Mphahlele's first collection of short stories…. (p. 17) Although the characters in the stories are not as yet realistic portrai... Read more