dc.description.abstract | The autobiographical genre exemplifies unique characteristics which non-the-less do not
reduce its worth as a creative work. It is on this strength that this study attempts a literary
analysis of Nelson Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom; investigating how
the plot is constructed to illustrate and interpret the theme of struggle for freedom
Through the analysis of the textual evidence of the autobiography the study reveals the
nature, aspects of motives, and parameters that define the autobiographical genre.
Further. textual analysis identifies the struggle for freedom as the major theme portrayed
in the autobiography
With the help of theories or Narratology. the study examines how Mandela projects in
the autobiography not only his individual role in the struggle, but also the role of all the
oppressed. The study shows that this is essentially revealed through the deliberate choices
of events and episodes and the (re) ordering and (re) shaping them in causal-effect
relationship.
The study ascertains that the aesthetic value of the autobiography is essentially due to the
author's deliberate use of premeditated artistic techniques that interprets and reshapes the
subject, and subverts linearity of the fabula. More so, to effectively communicate the major
theme of the struggle for freedom, techniques of shifting point of view to accommodate .. the views of a greater spectrum of participants in the struggle including the oppressor are
utilized. The study shows that the autobiographer has utilized intensification techniques
including description and exemplification to interpret and illustrate the action of the
struggle.
We can consequently conclude that the aesthetic appeal and the patterned, cohesive
wholeness of the story of the autobiography is to a large extent provided by the mediated
choices that inform the construction of the plot. | en |