Finding a Third Space: A Postcolonial Comparative study of Verdecchia’s Fronteras Americanas and Fugard’s Sizwe Basnsi is Dead

Abstract

Post colonialism is one the most influential literary theories of the Twentieth Century. It refers to the literary products by the people of the ex- colonies. Additionally, the term is also extended to include the literature produced by the people of the ex-colonies of Europe, both before and after political independence. This type of literature gives a faithful representation of the suffering of the people under the yoke of colonialism. Homi K. Bhabha is one of the most prominent critics of the post-colonial discourse. Bhabha’s theory revolves around answering one question: how can the product of a hybrid culture create his or her own cultural identity? He comes to the conclusion that this product a hybrid culture can actually produce his own new cultural identity. This can occur out of the notion of “in-between spaces”. Furthermore, Bhabha elaborates that in order to avoid any type of cultural clash between the colonizer and the colonized; they should meet in a third space. Both the colonizer and the colonized can meet together to discuss their cultural differences in this third space. Eventually, this will create a culture that is a mixture of both the colonizer and the colonized. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Verdecchia’s Fronteras Americanas (American Borders) and Fugard’s Sizwe Basnsi is Dead, represent Homi K. Bhabha’s notion of third space.