POST-APARTHEID LITERATURE: A BREIF OVERVIEW HISTORY, POLITICS AND NATION: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO LITERATURE POST-APARTHEID LITERATURE: A BREIF OVERVIEW
ABSTRACT: One of the chief challenges facing by the writers of Post Apartheid period has been the need to produce literature which is capable to produce the work through the losses of Apartheid and the struggle. The road which took forward the work of Post Apartheid is Race, and the resistance question of racialisation. Also, with the change in the political codes, the writers have adapted to write a new form of writing which deals with the social and cultural problems. But, still today also we find that many of writers are facing the difficulty of reestablishing oneself, with reference of Mda. In this study of literary representation of women are examined in order to evaluate the effects of social and cultural transformation in post- apartheid South Africa. With the study of historical and political events and with the reference work of J.M.Coetzee, describes the personal crises of a man who is problemized by South African shifiting. Also, Nobantu Rasebotsa, Dhaswane Mpe, etc one can understand how the literary work is affected not only in South Africa but also all over the world.
POST-APARTHEID LITERATURE: A BREIF OVERVIEW
South Africa is a country of great physical beauty but its soul is dead, strangulated by an ideology based on color where to be white enable you to enjoy the goodness of the land and if black, you would be better off dead. The whites of South Africa are afflicted with a sickness that blinds them to the suffering of the rest of us, blacks. - James Matthews (1972).
The study of historical, political events of the years through literature which immediately took after apartheid and how this moment affected not only the social life, but also the literature was the most different experience for South Africans and also for the whole world. In looking back at development of literature especially of the South African literature, since the transition and also looking ahead in order to consider the present and future challenges in this area, it is necessary to start putting forward the questions which would be concerned with the relationship between the current South African writing (post-apartheid) and the apartheid. Also, the question can be raised as to why this literature is considered for the inquiry, must consider it is the extent to which apartheid still dominates in South African literature. The most notorious political fact of South African history is the apartheid. The term comes from the Afrikaans apart heid (to be apart). Apartheid was a system of racial segregation which was forced by the National Party government of South Africans between 1948-1994, under which the rights of majority of non-white inhabitants of South Africans were curtailed and white supremacy and the Afrikaner minority was maintained. This code was developed after World War-II. Though this rule began in colonial times, but as an official policy was introduced following the general elections of 1948. Because of this the black people were deprived of their citizenship and the government segregated education, medical care, beaches, and other public services providing superiority status to white. In 1990, President Frederik William de Klerk, began the negotiation to end up apartheid, putting forward multiracial democratic election which was won by Nelson Mandela, member of African National Congress. But, even after this the traces of apartheid can be seen to still shape African politics and the society. During the final years of the apartheid era and the transition to democracy, South African literature became prominent throughout the world. Writers satirized the state enforced racism. As, the apartheid was over writers were questioning the conceptions of reconciliation and rebuilding. The work of post apartheid literature was the work by South African author both black and white in the last decade of 20 th century. The apartheid did dominate imaginative writing also. The authors such as Nadine Gordimer, J.M.Coetzee, Athol Fugard and Andre Brink played a major role in bringing the worlds attention to the unjust rule through their literary work. Though still the writers were mainly concerned with the writings of the racial and political issues, but as the wind of change blew all over South African society and it brought the sudden transformation in law and attitude to everyday life. This created a new emergence of writing which involved the contemporary issues such as violence, crime, homosexuality, spread of AIDS virus etc. the author also paid attention to poverty, unemployment, western influence materialism, sociocultural changes in South African population. So, the key element of classification of South African literature was no longer racial discrimination but the language and issues used by writers. The common feature in post apartheid literature was a concern with nation building projects. Authors explode the possibility of re-assessing passed identities to construct new identity which was based on transcultural prospective. Looking at these writing projects we find that every five South African are HIV positive, so the writers on every side of gender and culture joined hands to use their artistic arena to fight against the epidemic. For example, Nobantu Rasebotsas; Nobody ever said AIDS, poem and stories from South African (2004). A similar work which showed apartheid racism replaced by Xenophobia by Dhaswane Mpe in Welcome to our Hillbrow (2001). The theme of Ecology handled by Zakes Mdas in The Whale color (2005) and The Heart of Redness are the most newly constructed ideas. The other themes such as Feminism by Kasigo Lesegos in Dancing in the Dust; Njabulo S.Ndebeles in The Cry of Winnie Mandela (2003) dominated in this era. The role of women in nation building was always largely being blank. The history of South African womens literature by notable feminist explored the lives of black women in different sociocultural, linguistic and religious manner. In Theorizing the feminist novel: women and the state of African literature today Rose Ure Mezu, explains that women actually are seen moving beyond socio-cultural protests against voicelessness and become aware of the options open to them. This essay by Rose Ure Mezu, provided a broad view of the geo-linguistic and cultural purviews of A History of Africana Women literature. Gloria Chuku, presented evaluative and reconstructive survey of the socio-economic and political activities and traditional women, and their place and participation in economic building and communal cultural preservation. The story of Yvonne Vera shows the wave of modern Zimbabwean feminist thoughts. In the thesis of Stephane Serge Ibinga, titled as The Representation of Women in the works of Three South African Novelist of the Transition he showed the reason of choosing such a topic. He says that the women issues should not be the preserve of female critics and writers only. He also mentions that the male writers should play a role in changing the perception of women society. Also, mentioned that the criticism focused on the South African women used to be the political pressure of the apartheid era. In this thesis Stephane Serge Ibinga has choosen ten different novels of three different authors, to mention them are Zakes Mda, Mandla Langa and Nadine Gordimer. Which depicts wide range of rural women, the interpretation of novelistic depiction on womens live to show to what extent images of female character can reflect certain cultural norms and values. He also pointed out that his analysis and fictional representation of women in his thesis contributed for the assessment of the changing place of women in transforming society. His thesis can be observed to show the kind and quality of life style and social roles available to South African women. This is done by analyzing the authors portrayal of womens circumstances both in the private and public sphere. Stephane has also tried to mention female political activism and leadership, and tried to balance the previous preoccupation in South African English literature with depictions of male political activity. Similarly, one of the social and personal problem discussed in the novel Disgrace in 1999, by J.M.Coetzee. This novel received Booker Prize and also the Nobel Prize; which describes the personal crisis of a man whose life is problemised by South African shifting cultural norms. Even though apartheid was legally ended its legacy still haunted the country and robbery and vandalism were seen frequently on the country side. Rape was a common occurrence and the writer brings out this racial tension through his work. It is also seen that after the writers and artist return to South Africa, after seeking exile from apartheid they emphasized the difficulty of re-eastablishing their life in culture for different than the one they originally left. They noted the difficulty between the younger and older generation of post apartheid writers. For example, Zakes Mda, who spent 35 years outside South Africa has made a record of the Struggle of South African citizen as well as expatriates in adjusting to the wealth of social changes in post apartheid society. Thus, though the racial injustice remained the strong theme in post apartheid literature, critics identified a growing trend towards more personal and universal narrative by post apartheid writers. This showed that despite of long history of racial segregation, race is less and less the principle preoccupation of todays writer. By dealing with the present social issues, writers attempt to go beyond the range and express race in order to construct a new national identity that promotes the countrys cultural diversity. Thus, post apartheid literature became a crucial site not simply for the recovery of communal traditions of remembrance, but also for reinvention of memorial practices and thus reinvention of new community.
REFERENCE: 1. Ibingo Stephane, Serga. Post Apartheid literature Beyond Race. This century review: Copy right 2006-2010. 2. Ibingo Stephane, Serga. The Representation of Women in the works of three South African Novelists of the transition. scholar.sun.ac.za/ bitstream/handle. 3. Durrant, Sam. The invention of Mourning in Post-Apartheid literature. Third world quarterly, vol. 26, no. 3, Connecting Cultures, 2005. 4. Post apartheid literature criticism. www.enotes.com. 5. Roodt, Dan. South African literature II: Post-apartheid literature. myfundi. 6. Graham, Shane. The Truth Commission and Post-apartheid literature in South Africa. Research in African literatures: Copyright 2003. 7. Cengage, Gale. Contemporary literary Criticism. Copyright 2004. 8. Mezu Rose, Ure. A History of Africana Womens literature. Baltimore: Black Academy Press, 2004. ( www.nathaniel turner.com/history).
(Bloomsbury Sources in Ancient History) Donahue, John F-Food and Drink in Antiquity - Readings From The Graeco-Roman World - A Sourcebook-Bloomsbury Academic (2015)