Characterization in some short stories of I.T. Maditsi

M.A. (African Languages)During the past few decades the short story as a literary genre has attracted much attention. Languages such as Russian, English, French, German and later Afrikaans have produced outstanding writers in this genre, whereas writers in relatively younger languages such as Northern-Sotho are- still grappling with complexities such as form and structure in this art-form. Up to the present, the North-Sotho writer I.T. Maditsi has produced three short story collections, namely Mogologolo, Monyane and Dipheko. A number of selected short stories were selected from the three anthologies for a literary analysis, with special emphasis on characterization, which is one of the most important elements of. a successful short story. Few similar attempts have been made so far in Northern-Sotho. Therefore this study will hopefully make a valuable contribution to a better understanding of the short story in general and the Northern-Sotho short story in particular