Probing the Structuralist Analysis of a Selected isiXhosa Short Story, ‘Ukuzibulala Akusiso Isisombululo’ (Suicide Is Not the Solution), as a Literary Work

Abstract

Mental health crises and suicide continue to plague young men and women in South Africa, and not irrefutably secluding other
age groups. While scholarly and non-scholarly dialogues pivot to address this conundrum, isiXhosa short stories as a literary art are no exception. As a result, this article aims to conceptualise how mental health crises and suicide are mirrored in ‘Ukuzibulala
Akusiso Isisombululo’ (Suicide Is Not the Solution). The objective was to unravel the interplaying meanings in respect of the phenomenon of interest. This particular short story was further appreciated as a source of data while structuralism as a theory
was elicited as an instrument to enact reasonable and empirical debates. Ultimately, it became evident that mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviours are acutely entrenched in the South African milieu, and that necessitates an extensive scholarly discourse beyond the limitations of this particular article.