Carnival and hybridity in texts by Dambudzo Marechera and Lesego Rampolokeng

In the post‐independence era, a multi‐layered perception has replaced the dichotomies of the anti‐colonial struggle. But white Africanists still have a bias towards a nation‐based outlook and favour writings which reflect some kind of African identity. African writers have rejected such patronising classification. They have moved away from unilateral ways of thinking and developed modes of writing which surpass the realism of the literature of resistance. This paper focuses on the elements of hybridity and of carnival as major characteristics of postcolonial literature. Examples from the works of Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera and South African poet Lesego Rampolokeng illustrate the subversive quality of syncretic, carnivalesque art which aims at decentring dominant discourses. Such writings undermine and challenge discourses of African identity which have not only become outdated and obsolete but extremely dangerous as they are used by black elites to justify their autocratic rule.