NAME : HM

SURNAME : NYAKANE
STUDENT NUMBER : ********
MODULE : THL1502
ASSIGMENT NO : 03
YEAR : 2022
 Chosen Short Story:
Edward Chinhanhu,
Our Christmas Reunion

Question 1.1: (Fabula and Sjuzét)

The story or Fabula is the ‘the underlying story’ of a narrative text, the ‘actual chronological
sequence of events’ of the story (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.93). For Example, in ‘Our Christmas
Reunion’, the story or fabula would be as follows: Two brothers, Selby and Tawanda, are raised
by their mother; their father having since drowned in the nearby river. They grow up together,
their bond unbreakable. Selby attends a Catholic school and gets into trouble for an incident
with a condom. He eventually leaves the school and goes off to London. On his return, he lands
a job with a big bank. Selby comes home for Christmas for the first time in two years, but his
family barely recognizes him. He then reveals to Tawanda that he has AIDS. Upon seeing Selby’s
condition, his mother disappears, and Selby dies on December 29 th. The fabula appears within
the Sjuzét, but it is not obvious, it has to be extracted from the sjuzét and reconstructed
chronologically.
The Sjuxét is the ‘manner in which [this] basic data [the fabula] are artistically transformed,’
adapted and restructured to form the actual narrative text that is presented to the reader
(Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.57).For example, when the short story begins, Tawanda is already
18, it is ‘December 24th and Selby was coming home’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 83). Tawanda was busy
skinning a goat that he had bought on behalf of his big brother Selby. While skinning the goat,
he takes us through events in his childhood, talks about his parents and his relationship with his
big brother Selby. He then outlines a vivid flashback of an event that occurred in his childhood
involving a condom. Tawanda then goes to meet his brother at the buss station, but barely
recognizesSelby, ‘too dark, too thin’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 88). Selby then tellshis brother that,
‘I’m not well, Tawanda,’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 88). They walk home and find dogs tearingthe goat
apart, flies everywhere. Selby asks Tawanda if he knows ‘anything about AIDS’ (Chinhanhu,
2004: 89). Tawanda collapses and when he wakes up, his relatives tell him that his mother ran
off after seeing Selby’s condition, and a search party is underway. He is barely able to see Selby,
who sleeps all the time, and on December 29th, Selby passes away with Tawanda holding his
hand.
Question 1.2: (Character and Focaliser)
Firstly, a ‘focaliser is the agency that observes the story elements, and this function may be
assigned either to a narrator or to a character’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.67).The general rule
is that in order for one to narrate, focalization or observation must have taken place first. In
‘Our Christmas Reunion’, the narrator is Tawanda, who is also the focaliser, and this is an
example of a "primary narrator-focaliser" where the narrator and the chief focaliser are one
and the same person. (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.67). We know this because, in the second
sentence of the story, the narrator said, “I'd done well at school, the rains had been excellent
and, to top it all, Selby was coming home” (Chinhanhu, 2004: 83). Which means that the older
Tawanda is narrating about events he observed and experienced as the younger Tawanda.
Secondly, ‘although narration cannot take place without focalisation, the opposite is possible:
someone can focalise without narrating’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.67). It means that
characters may become focalisers. A character is the ‘personage’ that experiences the actions
and events within the fictional world of a narrative text (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.67).In ‘Our
Christmas Reunion’, an example of a character or characters who become focalisers, are the
crowd of people who gather around Selby and Tawanda at the bus station. …‘ quite a crowd had
gathered around us. People were peering unashamedly into my brother's face with questioning eyes.
Some even hazarded the question, "Is this Selby? Really? "’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 88).The primary
narrator, Tawanda, allows the reader to see and experience Selby’s condition from the
perspective of other characters, qualifying and amplifying his own shock. From this passage we
are able to see that it is not only the primary narrator who observes Selby’s ‘too dark, too thin’
condition, but those around them are also shocked giving the reader another vivid perspective
of Selby’s state of health (Chinhanhu, 2004: 88).
QUESTION 2: (Temporal Relation)
The Core terms constituting temporal relations are Order, Duration and frequency. In the
following discussion, I will attempt to explain their roles and effects when deployed win a short
story, while giving examples from ‘Our Christmas Reunion’, by Edward Chinhanhu.
When we reconstruct the story or fabula of a narrative text, we are able to ascertain the actual
chronological Order that event occur within the narrative text. This reconstruction is important
because from it, we are then able to point out any ‘time deviations’ in the Sjuzét presentation
of the narrative, which usually ‘entails changes in their chronological order. (Carusi&Oliphant:
2007, p.83). For example; in ‘Our Christmas Reunion’, Chinhanhu throws the reader ‘in medias
res’ (in the middle of events) right from the beginning, and leads us ‘back though the narrative
to earlier events’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.83). Already, when the story begins, ‘The day was
December 24th, and Selby was coming home’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 83), Tawanda is eighteen and
he is busy skinning a goat that he had bought for the celebration on behalf of his brother Selby.
This disturbance in the natural order of events creates anticipation on the part of the reader
and ‘tension in a narrative text’ as the reader is ‘kept in suspense while waiting for’ thing long
awaited celebration and reunion between the narrator and his brother.
Another example of a disturbance in order or time deviation is a flashback. This is when the
narratorrefers to an event that occurred in the past. In ‘Our ChristmasReunion’, Tawanda refers
to an event which he believes ‘has a symbiotic relationship with the tale’ that he wants to
tellthe reader, an incident involving the two brothers, a Nun and a condom. Flashbacks give the
reader ‘supplementary information that elucidates events in the "present" of the narrative’
(Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.83). It means that, by highlighting this particularevent, the
flashback, the narrator gives the reader more details to clarify, explain or illuminate present
events or events that are still to take place in the future of the narrative. For example, as we
read ‘Our Christmas Reunion’, we later find out that Selby has AIDS, whereas earlier in the
story, the narrator had already given the reader a bit of background information in the
mentioned flashback.
Another core term constituting temporal relation, is Duration. In simple terms, it means the
amount of time that something lasts. In a narrative text, ‘the time in the story (fabula) is
traditionally referred to as narrated time, while that of the narrative (sjužet) presentation is
known as narrating time’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.83). For example, in ‘Our Christmas
Reunion’the narrated time of the flashback incident with the condom is different from the
narrating time in the actual text presented to the reader. When the story or fabula is
reconstructed, that incident could be summed up in two lines: One day Tawanda wonders into
Selby’s school and finds his brother and a bunch of boys playing with a condom. They are
caught by a Nun and Selby gets into trouble for it. But in the actual narrative text, the narrating
time of that incident is almost three pages long out of seven pages. The amount of time taken
up by an event in a text is connected to its level of importance in adding meaning in the
narrative. Which means, Chinhanhu, in ‘Our Christmas Reunion’, deliberately expanded that
specific event and spent so much time narrating it in detail, because he wanted to draw
inference that this incident is directly linked to the reason why Selby had AIDS. And so we can
see that when duration is deployed within a short story, it forces the reader to focus on events
that add meaning to the point of the story.
Frequency is another core term constituting Temporal relation.Frequency is about how often
‘an event is told in a narrative compared to its occurrence in the story’. (Carusi & Oliphant:
2007, p.83). It is possible that an incidentthatonly happens once in the fabula is repeated more
than once in the Sjuzét. And it is possible that an event that happens repeatedly in the story, is
told only once in the narrative. For example, when we reconstruct ‘Our Christmas Reunion’
down to the story level or fabula, we can deduct that Tawanda and Selby slept together under
the same blankets quite frequently when they were young. ‘We slept between the same
blankets, which I inevitably soiled from time to time’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 83). But in this
occurrence is only mentioned once in the sjuzét. Another example of this is when Selby went
away to London, he wrote letters to Tawanda and his mother very frequently, but this is
mentioned only once in the sjuzet. ‘It was a month before I eventually accepted the letters he
wrote every week and agreed to look at the photographs he sent us’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 86).
When frequency is used in a short story, it is used to highlight important events that have
significant meaning in the narrative.
QUESTION 3: (Characterisation)

3.1 Characterisation is the process through which an actor within a narrative is given certain
personality features and qualities that make them stand out as an individual in the
story, and in this way they become a character or personality in the narrative.
Characterisation takes place by ‘direct definition and indirect portrayal’ (Carusi &
Oliphant: 2007, p.73).
3.2 Characterisation by Direct Definition is when an actor in a narrative is given and
inventory of traits in a direct and obvious manner. This can be done by referring to the
actor using adjectives, abstract nouns, and nouns. For example: Tawanda was a mild-
mannered (adjective) young boy; Selby’s success (abstract noun) in school made his
mother very proud; Selby was a real star (noun) in school.
Characterisation by Indirect Portrayal is when an actor in a narrative is given certain
qualities and features in an indirect manner. In this way, the reader makes their own
deductions about which qualities are presented. These characteristics can be deduced
via the character’s actions, speech, outward appearance and the character’s
environment.
3.3 An example of the direct characterization method from ‘Our Christmas Reunion’, is the
narrator’s description of the Catholics and Nuns that had taken over the school Selby
was attending. ‘This one had been taken over by a group of zealous Catholic
missionaries and nuns’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 83). He used the word ‘zealous’, which is an
adjective to describe the character of the Nuns and other Catholics that had taken over
the school.
The first example of indirect characterization in the short story is in the way the narrator
described Selby’s actions. ‘He paid my fees at a good boarding school, and built two new
houses to expand our homestead’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 87). Although the narrator does
not say explicitly say that Selby was ‘responsible’ and ‘honorable’, the reader is able to
deduce from his actions that he possessed these characteristics.
Another example of indirect characterization iswhen the Nun was peaking to Selbyafter
she had caught theboys playing with a condom. ‘"You!" she spat, "you're a prefect aren't
you? And you bring such filthy things into our school?" "No, Madame Sister ... " "Do you
know that this is a clean Catholic school, a godly, holy institution? "…"I can't let this
pass,"’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 85). From this conversation, the reader is able to pick up that
besides being a zealous Catholic, the Nun is also a prude, a characteristic of someone
who is easily offended by anything concerning sex and nakedness.
QUESTION 4: Space
In ‘Our Christmas Reunion’, the narrator describes an event which he believes has great
symbolic significance to the tale that he wants to tell the reader. This event took place on the
grounds of the missionary school which Selby attended. It was ‘one of those…hastily
constructed, under-funded secondary schools built at independence and generically called
"upper-tops" (Chinhanhu, 2004: 83). Before this institution existed, we can assume that there
were no schools in the village of Matida. And because schools represent a beacon of hope that
drives societies forward, a lack of this space is symbolic in that, it represents the desperate
state in which the ‘deep…sequestered mountainous village of Matida’, was in at the time
(Chinhanhu, 2004: 83). The village was isolated, remote and hidden away from the rest of the
world. The people were poverty stricken ‘peasants’ who made a living by ‘tilling the hard, rocky
ground whose yield seemed to dwindle year after year’ (Chinhanhu, 2004: 83). Without an
education through schools, there was no hope of ever alleviating the dire circumstances in
which these people were living in. And, like all the families and children in the village, Tawanda
and Selby were on the road to becoming another generation of uneducated peasants; until that
school was built and ‘taken over by a group of zealous Catholic missionaries and nuns,’
(Chinhanhu, 2004: 83).
The missionaries had come to bring the word of God, to restore hope, and bring enlightenment
to the village of Matida. The existence of this space is now representative of a beacon of
liberation and hope, because, the prospect of a brighter future, and lucrative careers for the
children of the village, was an actual possibility. For Selby, he would become the first person in
his family to be empowered, through education, to liberate them from poverty. That was a
turning point in Selby’s life, a pivotal moment that would set him apart from the rest. However,
it was this very institution of education and enlightenment, that failed to educate and inform
Selby how to protect himself against HIV/ AIDS.
On the day in question, a Nun caught Tawanda, Selby and a group of teenage boys playing with
a condom on the school’s playground.The Nun came upon the boys and ceased Tawanda as the
others got away. Selby, to protect his little brother, stuck his neck out and paid for it dearly.
‘"you're a prefect, aren't you? And you bring such filthy things into our school?"’ (Chinhanhu,
2004: 85). Schools are supposed to be a safe place of learning, where children, especially
teenagers, should be educated in all manner of things, including safe sex practices. This was the
perfect space and time for the Nun to use as a teachable moment, to enlighten the boys further
about how to practice safe sex. Instead of addressing the issue at hand accordingly, the Nun
turned into a beast that drove fear into the boys and they scattered in every direction. She
dragged Selby and Tawanda to the headmaster and scolded them in front of other learners.
Both the Nun and Headmaster could not even say the word ‘condom’, they called it a ‘filthy
thing’, insinuating that sex and everything that has to do with it are impure, dirty and vile.
The Nun described the school as ‘a clean Catholic school, a godly, holy institution?’ (Chinhanhu,
2004: 85). Her description of this space is inaccurate because even though the missionaries
running the school are Catholic, the whole point of a school is education, regardless. And
education includes teachings about safe sex, contraceptives and healthy living. School is about
preparing the learner to be able to handle the challenges that they are going to face as adults.
And because they were unable to put their prudish ideals aside to teach Selby when that
incident occurred, Selby left the school and ventured into the world without the knowledge
that could have saved his life. Instead of teaching him, he was persecuted and punished, and
‘for a long time, he was viewed with suspicion by the nuns and brothers who ran the school,’
(Chinhanhu, 2004: 86). A place of learning and enlightenment was turned into a place of
punishment and persecution.
They way that Selby was handled, birated and humiliated over the incident that happed at the
school, he walked away with a lot of shame attached to all matters concerning sex. His own
teachers had reacted in a way that told him that sex is dirty and it cannot be associated with
the things of God. Selby walked into the school a bright and hopeful young man with a bright
future, but he ended up leaving the school worse off than when he first started because they
sent him off to die in the world. Through the missionaries’ failure in their duty to educate a
community desperate for education and information, the school ultimately failed in its mission
in bringing enlightenment to the village of Matida.
BIBLIOGRAPGY

1. Carusi, A. and Oliphant, A. W. 2007. Introduction to theory of literature: study guide1 for
THL1501/ THL801U. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

2. Chinhanhu, E. 2004. ‘Our Christmas Reunion’. In: Nobody ever said AIDS/ Rasebotsa, N.
Kwela Books, 2004.