SOURCE: "Sol Plaatje's 'Mhudi'," in The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Vol. VIII, No. 1, June, 1973, pp. 1-19.

In the following essay, Couzens contends that most early reviews of Mhudi failed to consider the socio-cultural background of the work.

One of the first novels written in English by an African, Mhudi, which was published in 1930 but probably largely written about 1917 or 1918, has not been considered worthy of major critical attention. In 1952, J. Snyman could dismiss the book fairly quickly and attack Plaatje for a lack of imagination:

In Mhudi (1930), Plaatje deals with the times of Mzilikazi, and especially with the war between the Matabele and Barolong. He has examined the causes of this war and finds that its origin lay in the murder of Mzilikazi's tax-collectors by the Barolong. He shows also that the Matabele had justification for some of their deeds. Plaatje takes pride in his people, and attempts...