Abstract
The parody figures noteworthy in Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People . It has been used as a postmodern form to deconstruct what it challenges. It provides both historical and racial investigation of a crucial period in the history of South Africa. Moreover, it rethinks and reevaluate the power relationship. It never rejects one structure of power in favor of the other. As such, it sometime takes up racism and problematizes it by a reactionary denial and exclusion or provides a paradoxical attitude towards the forms which it contests. This paper seeks to examine Gordimer’s novel from a postmodern deconstructive perspective by drawing on major theorists of the parody like Jacques Derrida and Linda Hutcheon, in an attempt to bring to the light the reflexive function of parody and show how it challenges the notion of Apartheid in July’s People . The analysis of this paper shows that in this novel, there is an approach of recognition and rejection, of accepting and undermining to challenge the idea of subjectivity by an implication of the parody as a postmodern form. This usage of parody reflects a redefinition of parody as a critical vehicle that allows ironic conveying of difference at the very essence of similarity. Keywords : Nadine Gordimer, July’s People, parody, deconstruction, Hutcheon
Highlights
Postmodernism has always been related to the notions such as “decentering”, “interruption”, and “discontinuity.” It is mostly because of the loss of center around which subjects generally construct their thoughts
Gardimer’s novel is not characterized by a reactionary denial or exclusion of the whites, but by its paradoxical attitude towards this liberation movement urges the readers to think over any revolutionary act
Linda Hutcheon believes that it “The collective weight of parodic practice suggests a redefinition of parody as repetition with critical distance that allows ironic signalling of difference at the very heart of similarity” (A Poetics of Postmodernism, p. 26)
Summary
Postmodernism has always been related to the notions such as “decentering”, “interruption”, and “discontinuity.” It is mostly because of the loss of center around which subjects generally construct their thoughts It has a paradoxical relationship with history and has been benefited from the internalization and investigation of the nature of limits in any significant areas such as literature, architecture, history, music and so on. Gardimer’s novel is not characterized by a reactionary denial or exclusion of the whites, but by its paradoxical attitude towards this liberation movement urges the readers to think over any revolutionary act This characteristic of her novel along with its open ending structure makes inevitable the usage of parody as a technique for questioning of any subversion. To discuss what is termed ‘deconstructive reading’ and ‘postmodern technique of parody’, this study begins by defining the concept of parody
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