Whale Calling

Abstract In Zakes Mda’s novel The Whale Caller, the protagonist establishes an intimate relationship with a whale by playing music on a horn. This article considers Mda’s novel alongside ethnographic work with the book’s “real-world” referent in Hermanus, South Africa. What do whales hear when they hear us? Are whales musical creatures? Deploying an eclectic method, I examine possible answers to these questions in an effort to think about music and sound beyond the human. In our era of ecological destruction and anti-Black violence, human-animal interactions offer important insights into what we have in common and how we share the earth. Kwinoveli kaZakes Mda ethi, The Whale Caller, umlinganiswa ophambili wakha ubuhlobo obusondeleyo nomnenga ngokudlala umculo ngexilongo. Eli nqaku liqwalasela inoveli kaMda kunye nomsebenzi wenkcubeko nowamasiko abantu noko kumelwe yincwadi le “kwindawo yokwenene” eHermanus, eMzantsi Afrika. Yintoni eviwa yiminenga xa isimamele? Ngaba iminenga zizidalwa ezingamanxila engoma? Ndicaphula kwimithombo engafaniyo, ndiphonononga iimpendulo zale mibuzo ngelizama ukucinga ngomculo nezandi ezingaphaya kwendlebe yomntu. Kweli xesha lethu lokutshatyalaliswa kwendalo nobundlobongela obujoliswe kwabaNtsundu, ukudibana kwabantu nezilwanyana kusibonisa izinto ezibalulekileyo esifana ngazo nakwindlela esabelana ngayo ngeplanethi enguMhlaba.