When Chaka meets Isanusi, in the novel Chaka: An Historical Romance by Thomas Mofolo, he is injured. Chaka was initially startled by Isanusi, but realized he was not there to harm him. Isanusi can be seen as a healer as he mended Chaka’s wounds. Throughout the novel the terms isanusi and witchdoctor are used seemingly interchangeably. Often in current society the term witchdoctor carried a negative connotation. However, this novel’s use of the term witchdoctor does not carry the same negativity. The Dictionary of South African English defines isanusi as noun meaning “a traditional healer or diviner, often an aged practitioner who has developed his or her psychic gifts, and whose clairvoyant powers enable him or her to ‘smell out’ evil.” They define witchdoctor as a noun meaning “a traditional African healer or diviner, especially one dealing with afflictions thought to be caused by spirit possession or witchcraft; one dealing with physical ailments, a herbalist; one casting either good or evil spells, a sorcerer.” Both definitions share similar explications of isanusi and witchdoctor. The figure in Chaka acts as a healer who presents Chaka with a tempting offer after he heals Chaka’s wounds. In the article, “The Logic of Equivocation in Thomas Mofolo’s ‘Chaka,’” Neil Lazarus says, “Isanusi does not seek to manipulate Chaka, still less to command him. Indeed, he comes to Chaka to serve him” (52). This shows that the connotation that modern society associates with the term witchdoctor is much different than the original intentions. Annel Pieterse discusses this in their article “‘The Danger Inside:’ Witchcraft and Community in South African Literature.” They note that “witchcraft is presented as a naturalised knowledge system, arising as it were from the landscape - the natural world itself” (Pieterse 35). When Chaka asked where the witchdoctor came from, the witchdoctor says far away beyond the mountains (Mofolo). This imagery reinforces the nature-based notion of where his existence originated. This further knowledge of the terms isanusi and witchdoctor, helps to remove the negative bias about the witchdoctor when reading Chaka.

Works Cited

"Isanusi, n." Dictionary of South African English. Dictionary Unit for South African English, 2023.

Lazarus, Neil. “The Logic of Equivocation in Thomas Mofolo’s ‘Chaka.’” English in Africa, vol. 13, no. 1, 1986, pp. 41–60. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40238581.

Mofolo, Thomas. “Chaka, an Historical Romance .” Translated by F. H. Dutton, Internet Archive, London, Pub. for the International Institute of African Languages & Cultures by Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1 Jan. 1970, https://archive.org/details/chakahistoricalr00mofo/page/n5/mode/2up.

Pieterse, Annel. “‘The Danger Inside:’ Witchcraft and Community in South African Literature.” English in Africa, vol. 41, no. 3, 2014, pp. 27–55. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24389646.

"Witchdoctor, n." Dictionary of South African English. Dictionary Unit for South African English, 2023.