Abstract

This essay takes as its starting point the final scene of H. I. E. Dhlomo’s The Girl who Killed to Save (1935). Ostensibly an account of ‘Nongqause the Liberator,’ the prophet behind the Cattle Killing of 1856–1857, Dhlomo’s play presents ‘not merely a work of historical recovery or a reflection of increasing segregation but also an engagement with the full range of nationalist imaginings at work in the New African era’ (Wenzel 83). In this regard, it is pertinent to recall that a more immediate precursor for the millenarianism presented in the play was the arrest of Nontetha Nkwekwe in 1922 and her death in the same year of its publication. Like Nongqause, Nkwenkwe was a millennialist prophet. Responding to the Spanish Influenza, Nkwekwe’s prophecies eventually provoked the South African authorities to incarcerate and then institutionalize her. Given the increased attention on the influenza as a shaping influence on the modernism of 1922 and after, this essay figures Dhlomo with an expanded global modernism that engages more explicitly with its millenarian correspondents.

摘要

本文以 HIE Dhlomo 的《为拯救而杀戮的女孩》的最后一幕为出发点（1935 年）。Dhlomo 的戏剧表面上是对 1856-1857 年杀牛事件背后的先知“解放者农加斯”的描述，它“不仅是一部历史复兴的作品或对日益加剧的种族隔离的反映，而且还涉及到各种民族主义想象。在新非洲时代工作”（Wenzel 83）。在这方面，有必要回想一下，该剧中呈现的千禧年主义的一个更直接的前兆是 Nontetha Nkwekwe 于 1922 年被捕，她在该剧出版的同一年去世。像 Nongqause 一样，Nkwenkwe 是一位千年预言家。作为对西班牙流感的回应，恩奎奎的预言最终激怒了南非当局，将她关押起来，然后将她送进监狱。鉴于人们越来越关注流感对 1922 年及之后的现代主义的塑造影响，