Chinua Achebe and Ezekiel Mphahlele in various publications have addressed themselves to questions regarding the role of the African writer and his art. They view art as a craft that is responsible to African society, and as artists, regard themselves accountable to their societies. But there is often a contradiction between what they stated in articles, interviews, etc. … and what their early literatures actually express. It seems, that having realized this they are now working hard towards making their literatures committed to their society. (p. 119)
Unlike Achebe who adapts certain western aesthetics to an African context, Ezekiel Mphahlele uses it as a reference point in discussing his art. To him art is a craft and a vehicle for social criticism. Throughout his development as a critic and writer, he has demonstrated a reliance on western aesthetics. The chapter entitled, "White on Black", the subject of his B.A thesis at the University of South Africa and which appears in The African Image …, reflects his feelings about art as expressing the paradoxes and complexities of life-concepts that have their roots in western aesthetics…. In "White on Black" he selects Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster and William Faulkner as the three major white novelists who achieve a competency in depicting cultural groups other than their own. Mphahlele selects these authors primarily because they are able to go beyond the race problem in depicting human character, and into the more subtle aspects of human existence. There is no doubt that he identifies with literature that attempts to depict the complexities of life.
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