Although Dominic Mulaisho's The Tongue of the Dumb (1971) was arguably the first post-colonial Zambian novel to gain any measure of international recognition, it has not yet been the subject of noteworthy scholarly enquiry. In this work, Mulaisho challenges categorical generalisations about Christian missionaries which had become a Leitmotiv in the fiction of Mongo Beti, Ferdinand Oyo, and many other novelists elsewhere in Africa by creating a varied gallery of Jesuits at a conventional station in eastern Zambia. These characters, though perhaps overdrawn in their differences, embody a broad spectrum of attitudes towards indigenous Nsenga culture and types of Christian spirituality. The contours of their diversity as purveyors of the Gospel are especially illuminated through Mulaisho's treatment of their interaction with Nsenga beliefs and practices regarding divination, witchcraft, marriage, healing and other dimensions of indigenous culture which have challenged missionaries throughout much of Africa.
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