Abstract
This paper examines the status and confines of the Johannesburg zoo as portrayed in Ivan Vladislavić's Portrait with Keys. The relationship between the zoo and the city is satirically problematised in this text. Of central concern is the human-nature dichotomy and how Vladislavić deals with the complexity of these contrasting forces. By virtue of a playful challenge to anthropocentric claims to human superiority, Portrait with Keys blurs the neat (and perhaps illusory) taxonomisations set up to delineate man from beast. This is of ecological, social, and artistic significance in South Africa today.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
