Extraordinary events and primeval images: Magic realism in the works of Northern Sotho novelist O.K. Matsepe

Abstract

Fictive reality in the conventional novel is required to adhere to the laws of real life. Magic realism, however, presents a peculiar and unique world: a fictive but everyday reality, interspersed with extraordinary or 'unreal’ events. In addition, primeval images or archetypes operate in the text, e.g. the image of happiness or paradise, of the father, of the wise old man, of the Messiah and of the eternal return. The art of O.K. Matsepe sufficiently displays these features to justify the conclusion that he may be regarded as a magic realist in the mould of Hubert Lampo and Gabriel García Márquez, among others.