Customer Reviews

Emperor Shaka the Great: A Zulu Epic (Unesco Collection of Representative Works. African Authors Series)

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This book is unique among many others in African history. This is the story of Shaka translated directly from Zulu oral history into English. I felt as if I were in the time of Shaka in a way that I never felt from reading other histories of Africa. This book made me realized that my perception of Africa needed looking into. I always approached books about African history as if I were going to a place and time that is inherently alien. Then I read "Shaka," and because it was the current events, or at least recent history, to the historians of the day, the events and characters are reported as the stories of men and women, and I realized that I was not reading "African" history -- I was reading World history, and there is only one history.

This story stands shoulder-to-shoulder with other great first-hand accounts of history and warfare for military accuracy (not that I've attempted to re-trace the route of Shaka's campaigns for accuracy!): the Pelopennesian War, the Punic Wars, the campaigns of Napoleon.

This history, insofar as it is verbal and just happened to be transcribed, is also a very long poem, and the instances of poetic adornment are many, but bear them! for they are as much a part of the story as what they describe. And don't skip over the reflections on the application of the power of the king and political philosophy. For the non-African, these are essential to beginning to understand African (or at least Zulu) aesthetics and philosophy.

A must-read (not just a must-OWN, by the way) for the casual student or scholar of history, African or otherwise.

Mazisi Kunene's penchant for history is alive in this collection. As a scholar of Zulu literature, it is no surprise that Kunene is able to present the story/legend of Shaka in poetic language that is both engaging and skillfully constructed. Also, Kunene's brilliant execution of folklore, myths, images and metaphors affords the reader a rare opportunity of experiencing his virtuoso and visionary commitment. Inspiring!!
--Dike Festus Okoro
Milwaukee, WI USA

Mazisi Kunene, the great Zulu Poet, relates the story of Emperor Shaka from various oral sources. This is an excellent read and very enlightening account of the Shakan times.

Sadly, this work is out of print. But if you can find a copy, it is well worth your time, particularly if you enjoy epic poetry. While it does not quite rival Homer or Virgil, it is easily superior to such works as The Song of Roland, El Cid, Táin Bó Cúalnge, or The Nibelungenlied, and therefore deserves a much wider audience.

The introduction provides an informative summary of Shaka's life, ambitions, military innovations, and political achievements. It also provides a brief discussion of the Zulu oral tradition in transmitting stories.

The story itself covers Shaka's entire life, including the prophecy of his birth and rise to greatness; his illegitimate birth; his lonely childhood in exile; his rise as a creative and innovative soldier; his eventual kingship; his numerous battles to rid his lands of outlaws, to build an empire, and to stabilize Zululand; his dealings with white settlers; his internal struggles with jealous familial rivals; and his tragic assassination.

Kunene's language is superb. It is artful, colorful, and lively. The imagery is always strong, and the characters are vivid and memorable. Kunene is as his finest when he meditates on the nature of ambition, power, obligation, and doubt. His reflections on human nature are what elevate the poem from a cultural artifact to a story of universal importance. Kunene really knows his craft. Like all good writers, he shows us that people have the same cares and motivations everywhere, regardless of time, place, and culture.

To me, the work suffers somewhat from its frequent "praise poems." Hardly a page goes by where someone isn't "singing Shaka's epics" or "reciting poems of Shaka's excellence." They add little to the work, except to emphasize their importance to Zulu culture. Perhaps sensing how they bog down the story, Kunene's introduction mentions that praise poems are an essential part of Zulu culture, and their inclusion was necessary to preserve the flavor of the original Zulu oral epics. He also points out that he edited them liberally to make them more accessible to Western readers. Be that as it may, the praise poems add a lot of filler without greatly enhancing the story. I read all of them carefully, thinking they might be important to the story, but only a few actually were.

It would have been nice if the introduction included a technical discussion of Zulu poetry. I'm curious how Kunene structured the poem in the original Zulu, and what challenges he had in rendering them into English. As it stands, we have no understanding of how the original epic was structured.

Even so, this is a marvelous work. It is worth reading simply for the poetic language and the razor-sharp insights into human nature. The bonus is that Shaka is a character worthy of an epic. He was a titan among men. When you read his story, you get a great sense of what the Zulu civilization was like at its peak, under a brilliant, ambitious, and charismatic leader. Read it, and learn why the Zulus still sing Shaka's praises.