Contesting ideologies of Segregation and Africanism affect the isiXhosa written poetry created between 1912 and 1934. The contents of assayed and read elected texts (facets of culture) created by eminent writers of the time, viz. Mqhayi, Mgqwetho and Solilo, foster the ideology of Africanism. The study asserts that the Union of South Africa opposed the spread of this ideology by claiming Segregation ideology's hegemony. Marxist theory informed by Antonio Gramsci’s cultural construction theory has been employed to assay and read textual significations of isiXhosa written poetry. Gramsci assumes that ideology and culture play a notable role in asserting hegemony.