Makhanda ka Nxele has finally received official recognition by the South African government as a national hero. While recent historical research has made great contributions to our knowledge of Makhanda as an historical figure, surprisingly little attention has been paid, except in the case of Thomas Pringle’s poem ‘Makanna’s Gathering,’ to other representations of the man in English literature. This article attempts to fill this gap by comparing four substantial texts on Makanna, starting with Pringle’s poem, and followed by an anonymous novel of 1834, Makanna, Or, The Land of the Savage, Bronze Napoleon, a novel by M. Norbert Morgan (1940), and a slightly later poem by John Cargill Rae, ‘Makanna and The Battle of Grahamstown.’ Makhanda has been depicted in the historical record in a range of guises, from that of a heroic freedom fighter to a very demon. Whether he is praised or vilified, it is hard to deny that Makhanda is a man who emerged from a complex contact zone and used his knowledge of both European and amaXhosa culture to unite the majority of his own people and make a substantial mark on history. This article will investigate how the four authors have situated the character ‘Makanna’ within this dynamic, and then question how literary depictions of Makhanda might function in either negative or positive ways.

中文翻译：

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Makanna，或者，野蛮人的土地：英国文学中的 Makhanda ka Nxele

Makhanda ka Nxele 终于被南非政府正式承认为民族英雄。虽然最近的历史研究对我们对马坎达作为历史人物的了解做出了巨大贡献，但令人惊讶的是，除了托马斯·普林格 (Thomas Pringle) 的诗《马坎达的聚会》(Makanna's Gathering) 之外，人们对英国文学中其他人的形象的关注却很少。本文试图通过比较关于 Makanna 的四个重要文本来填补这一空白，从 Pringle 的诗开始，然后是 1834 年的匿名小说，Makanna, Or, The Land of the Savage, Bronze Napoleon，M. Norbert Morgan 的小说（ 1940 年），以及稍后由约翰·卡吉尔·雷 (John Cargill Rae) 创作的一首诗，“Makanna 和格雷厄姆斯敦之战”。马坎达在历史记录中被描绘成各种伪装，从一个英勇的自由战士到一个非常恶魔。无论是被赞扬还是被诋毁，都不可否认，马坎达是一个从复杂的接触区中走出来的人，他利用他对欧洲和阿马科萨文化的了解，团结了自己的大多数人民，在历史上留下了实质性的印记。本文将调查四位作者如何在这种动态中定位“Makanna”这个角色，然后质疑对 Makhanda 的文学描述如何以消极或积极的方式发挥作用。