Abstract
This study explores how Niq Mhlongo employs humour as a constitutive element of characterisation and as an integral force in his short stories. It argues that Mhlongo’s strategic deployment of literary devices like wit and an expansive sense of irony transcends mere comic relief and becomes a defining aspect of his characters’ ontological expression. Whether rendered as conventional heroes, tricksters, “unheroic heroes,” or township klevas , his characters embody the complex social dynamics and the raw comical authenticity of township life in contemporary South Africa. Mhlongo’s craftsmanship in the use of humour transforms the often bleak and distressing realities of township life into narratives that are bearable, engaging, and even desirable. Through this humour, he illuminates not only the subtleties of everyday survival but also the broader socio-economic realities that shape his characters’ world, particularly the world of the downtrodden. By foregrounding the experiences of “non-persons,” the marginalised, and the socially resented, Mhlongo’s fiction humanises those on the periphery of society, offering insights into their resilience and agency in ways that are both poignant and subversively humorous.