Some aspects of Batswana traditional beliefs as reflected by an intertextual analysis of Mothoagae’s poetry

Abstract

In this article, the relationship between D.M. Mothoagae’s poetry and that of other Batswana poets is analysed. Mothoagae’s poetry is ingested with citations and echoes of and/or allusions to other Setswana poems. The study of relationships between texts is referred to as intertextuality. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the relationship between some Setswana poems through an intertextual analysis and to determine the relationship between the written texts and cultural practices of the Batswana. In this study, use was made of J. Hillis Miller’s theory of the host/parasite and parasite/host relationship. This means that there is a mutual relationship between the texts. The parasite text borrows the image from the host text and the image borrowed from the host text gains more meaning and clarity from the parasite text.

S.Afr.J.Afr.Lang.,2007, 1