South African Literature Research Articles

How Do I Write in This Strange Place?: The Treatment of Shame and Whiteliness in Contemporary White South African Post- Apartheid Literature

SummaryPost-apartheid literature is a genre that, in its aesthetic and political complexity, still largely eludes neat definition, but the discussions around its development are various. Many have suggested that the change in literary tradition from the apartheid era has not been very substantial at all. At the 2015 Franschoek Literary Festival, Thando Mqgolozana correctly identified that South Africa’s literary sphere, from published writing to literary festivals, was not demographically representative, and still revolved around serving the interests of white South Africans. Literature is not the only part of post-apartheid South African society that ethically demands the decentring of historical whiteness, and white South Africans are grappling with this moral necessity in various ways. Because many white South Africans feel ashamed of the nation’s racial inequalities, Samantha Vice argues, they are critically assessing their own ways of living and how they are part of the problem. This attitude is evident in much contemporary white South African literature. Here I aim to critically compare two post- apartheid novels by white South African authors: Ken Barris’s What Kind of Child (2006) and Justin Cartwright’s White Lightning (2002). I will interrogate their differing approaches to decentring whites, whiteness and whiteliness, noting not only where they are useful, but also – and more specifically – how both these approaches inevitably fall back into an ingrained white centrality. This article, being a contribution to whiteness studies, also somewhat ironically re-centres whiteness despite its own criticisms. It accordingly aims to both practice and advocate a careful self-reflexivity that may be useful for white South African writing going forward. These analyses will be grounded within existential discussions regarding whiteness and whiteliness, and national post-apartheid rebuilding and development.

“Telling freedom” or “telling the spades back home how to behave”? re-examining Peter Abrahams’s writing in London

This article considers the notable dearth of recent scholarship on Peter Abrahams’s writing in the context of his exile and his complex, shifting ideological self-positioning throughout his career. To attempt to address this lacuna in South African literary criticism, and to partially explain why Abrahams has been under-researched, I look at key moments during his early career, including the publication of Dark Testament (1942), Song of the City (1945) and Return to Goli (1953). By focusing on texts by Abrahams that were published during his time in London, I also wish to address the significance of the city in the history of South African literature, and in African anti-colonial and anti-racist thinking more broadly.Keywords: Peter Abrahams, London, Black Atlantic, transnationalism, anti-colonialism, Pan-Africanism, liberal humanism

Coetzee’s stones: Dusklands and the nonhuman witness

Bringing together theoretical writing on objects, testimony, and trauma to develop the category of the “nonhuman witness,” this essay considers the narrative, ethical, and ecological work performed by peripheral objects in J. M. Coetzee’s Dusklands (1974). Coetzee’s insistent object catalogues acquire narrative agency and provide material for a counter-narrative parody of first-personal reports of violence in Dusklands. Such collections of nonhuman witnesses further disclose the longer temporality of ecological violence that extends beyond the text’s represented and imagined casualties. Linking the paired novellas of Dusklands, which concern 1970s America and 1760s South Africa, the essay finds in Coetzee’s strange early work a durable ethical contribution to South African literature precisely for its attention to nonhuman claimants and environments.

Verstedeliking: Vergelyking tussen Suid-Afrikaanse letterkundes en die kultuurteks

Despite many efforts to publish comprehensive literary histories of South or Southern Africa in recent years, few studies existin which a thorough comparative study is undertaken between two or more South African literatures. This article wants to provide a practical example of such a study by comparing the urbanisation of Afrikaners in Afrikaans literature with that of black people as seen in English and Zulu literature. The statement made by Ampie Coetzee that comparative studies should take place within the framework of discursive formations is one of the fundamental starting points of this study. Maaike Meijer’s concept of the “cultural text” is further employed as a theoretical instrument. The identification of repeating sets of representation is central to the demarcation of a “cultural text about urbanisation” in Afrikaans, English and Zulu literature respectively. The cultural text forms the basis from which a valid comparative study can be embarked upon, and the results of the research have important implications for further comparative studies but also literary historiography.

Travelling Concepts in J. M. Coetzee’s Apartheid and Post-apartheid Novels

Nobel-prize winner John Maxwell Coetzee is considered one of the most controversial novelists and essayists in South African literature. He witnessed two crucial eras in South Africa: apartheid and post-apartheid. Being a white author put him in a difficult situation when he began expressing his ideas on political and social issues in his country during times of conflict. Critics see that Coetzee’s apartheid novels are evasively indirect when they comment on the prevalence of injustice in South Africa. Coetzee defended his position as a writer who rejected realism as a fixed norm for fictional representation, favouring an allegorical depiction of resistance against oppression. In his post-apartheid novels, however, there seems to be a shift in his mode of writing as he resorts more to realism to comment on the switch of balance and power in South Africa. Moreover, his apartheid allegories experience a similar change where they gain new dimensions and perform different functions in the post-apartheid context. This sudden modification in Coetzee’s novelistic practice has always perplexed his readers and critics as well. He has been accused of being an elusive writer who avoids any specific political orientation. Take as an example his apartheid novel Life and Times of Michael K (1983), which is considered an allegorical representation of resistance against oppression and injustice; where the silence of the colonized protagonist Michael K stands as an allegory of peaceful resistance rather than submission. On the contrary, his post-apartheid novel Disgrace (1999) adopts an opposite novelistic approach where realism stands out clearly, while allegory recedes. The silenced this time is not the colonized but the former colonizer and thus silence becomes an allegory of atonement rather than resistance. Nevertheless, Coetzee’s bewildering and allegedly paradoxical mode of writing can be explained when the two novels are read in the light of his talk ‘The Novel Today’, which is an articulation of the responsibilities of authorship. The aim of the paper is to use Edward Said’s ‘Traveling Theory’ to trace the origins or genesis of Coetzee’s concepts and ideas of authorship, which are expressed in his talk and practiced in his apartheid novel Life and Times of Michael K, and then to follow up the changes and developments that occurred in his mode of writing after these concepts and ideas travel to the new context of the post-apartheid era as manifested in his novel Disgrace. Finally, the paper provides a theoretically-based perspective that establishes Coetzee’s critical consciousness as the norm for his authorship and thus denies the accusations levelled against him of being ambivalent and paradoxical.

A systematic review of research on educational leadership and management in South Africa: mapping knowledge production in a developing society

For much of the past 60 years, the ‘visible’ knowledge base consisted almost entirely of studies that described EDLM policies and practices from a relatively small number of Anglo-American societies. Over the past five years, reviews of research have revealed abundant evidence of rapidly increasing publication output from developing societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America. A recent review of Africa’s EDLM literature identified South Africa as a ‘positive outlier’ in knowledge production. The current review examined South Africa’s published EDLM scholarship in terms of its volume, growth over time, distribution across scholarly journals and authors, citation impact, as well as types of studies, research methods, conceptual models and topics. The database of sources for the review consisted of 292 EDLM articles published in English language journals up to the end of 2016. The review employed quantitative ‘topographical analysis’ aimed at describing key features of the African knowledge base in EDLM. Patterns in the topography of the South African literature identified in this review were also benchmarked against findings reported in reviews of research conducted in other societies and regions of the world.

Re-conceptualizing identity in the post-Apartheid South African literature : Nadine Gordimer’s The Pick Up (2001)

Re-conceptualizing identity in the post-Apartheid South African literature : Nadine Gordimer’s The Pick Up (2001)

South African Literature's Russian Soul: Narrative Forms of Global Isolation

South African Literature's Russian Soul: Narrative Forms of Global Isolation

Indigeneity in modernity. The cases of Kgebetli Moele and Niq Mhlongo

The study of South African English literature written by black people in the postapartheid period has focused, among others, on the so-called Hillbrow novels of Phaswane Mpe and Niq Mhlongo, and narratives such as Kgebetli Moele's Book of the Dead (2009) set in Pretoria. A number of studies show how the fiction of these writers handles black concerns that some critics believe to have replaced a thematic preoccupation with apartheid, as soon as political freedom was attained in 1994. However, adequate analyses are yet to be made of works produced by some of these black writers in their more rounded scrutiny of the first decade of democracy, apart from what one may describe as an indigenous/traditional weaning from preoccupation with the theme of apartheid. This study intends to fill this gap, as well as examine how such a richer social commentary is refracted in its imaginative critique of South African democratic life beyond its first decade of existence. I consider Mhlongo's novels Dog Eat Dog (2004) and After Tears (2007); together with Moele's narratives reflecting on the same epoch Room 207 (2006) and The Book of the Dead (2009). For the portrayal of black lives after ten years of democracy, I unpack the discursive content of Mhlongo's and Moele's novels Way Back Home (2013) and Untitled (2013) respectively. I probe new ways in which these postapartheid writers critique the new living conditions of blacks in their novelistic discourses. I argue that their evolving approaches interrogate literary imaginaries, presumed modernities and visions on socio-political freedom of a postapartheid South Africa, in ways deserving critical attention.  I demonstrate how Moele and Mhlongo in their novels progressively assert a self-determining indigeneity in a postapartheid modernity unfolding in the context of some pertinent discursive views around ideas such as colourblindness and transnationalism. I show how the discourses of the author's novels enable a comparison both their individual handling of the concepts of persisting institutional racism and the hegemonic silencing of white privilege; and distinguishable ways in which each of the two authors grapples with such issues in their fiction depicting black conditions in the first decade of South African democratic rule, differently from the way they do with portrayals of the socio-economic challenges faced by black people beyond the first ten years of South African democracy.

The “Pleasure Streets” of Exile: Queer Subjectivities and the Body in Arthur Nortje’s London Poems

SummaryIn this article, I aim to expand our understanding of Arthur Nortje as a poet of “exile” by exploring the dialectic between self-loathing and pleasure, as well as between engagement and isolation, which he portrays performatively through his London poetry. While critics have emphasised Nortje’s “marginality” or “liminality”, both as an “exile” and a “coloured” South African, I draw on the critical writing of Zoë Wicomb in order to extend readings of his poetry beyond this tragic paradigm. I furthermore take up Sarah Nuttall’s suggestion that Nortje’s London poetry describes a degree of immersion within the city and that this aspect of his work demands further study. After tracing Nortje’s playful use of literary influences and his reworking of the trope of flânerie, I provide a series of close readings of poems in which Nortje depicts an exploration of queer subjectivities, staged within the city. In his London poetry, Nortje subverts and eludes fixed racial, sexual, national and class identities. Nortje’s London poetry exemplifies how South African literature was developed in response to the alienating condition of exile, but also through engagement with the places where exile occurred.

South African Literature: Deconstructing Patriarchal and Colonial Ideology in J.M. Coetzee's, In the Heart of the Country

South African Literature: Deconstructing Patriarchal and Colonial Ideology in J.M. Coetzee's, In the Heart of the Country

South African Young Adult Literature in English, 2000–2014 by Sandra Stadler

South African Young Adult Literature in English, 2000–2014 by Sandra Stadler

Occupational therapy students' experiences and perceptions of culture during fieldwork education

BACKGROUND: Understanding a client's culture allows practitioners to consider the planning of intervention and allows for a client centred approach to be provided. During fieldwork education occupational therapy students can face the challenge of other cultural practices, standards, morals and ways of life coming into conflict with their own. PURPOSE: There is minimal South African literature discussing the challenges and supporting factors that assist students in becoming culturally competent across cross-cultural settings. This article explored occupational therapy students' experiences of culture, and their perceptions of the barriers and enablers that culture presents during fieldwork education. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with undergraduate occupational therapy students from a university in Cape Town, South Africa. Data were collected using focus groups with each group of students from first to fourth year and were analysed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: The two main themes that emerged from the analysis, were: 1) "Culture is easily defined but not easily described", which focuses on the students own understandings and interpretations of culture, and 2) "Is there no 'me' in OT?" which specifically describes students' experiences of culture during fieldwork practice. IMPLICATIONS: The findings of this study questioned whether cultural competence is static but determined that exposure to, positive attitudes towards and self-reflection on culturally diverse experiences are the factors that contribute towards developing cultural competence in culturally diverse situations. Key words: Occupational therapy; Students; Culture; Cultural Competence; Cultural Sensitivity; Acculturalization; Fieldwork Education

Life among the Vermin: Nineveh and Ecological Relocation

Henrietta Rose-Innes's novel Nineveh (2011) catalogs the activities of a humane pest expert as she discovers, on an estate under construction outside Cape Town, how human and insect actors undermine the spatial expectations of post-apartheid South Africa. Rose-Innes advances a vision of interspecies connection by recasting controversial themes drawn from South Africa's history to address ecological concerns. Rose-Innes transforms South African literature's "vermin" imaginary to collapse figurative boundaries among humans and nonhumans, and repurposes the fraught concept of "relocation" to spotlight creaturely entanglements in the post-apartheid city. These gestures of reclamation produce a representational tension, reframing immediate political matters to focus on more durable ecological concerns. Yet Nineveh further tilts these discourses into an "ethics of transience" attentive to ecological scale but still cognizant of historical and ongoing injustices. The novel thus undertakes an "ecological relocation," understood along the lines of the essay's three movements as figurative interchange, spatial transit, and perceptual rescaling.

Cloud computing activities: South African normal tax source determination

The location-independent nature of cloud-based transactions results in many source-related difficulties for normal tax purposes. This study considered the source determination for each of the possible classifications of cloud-based income (lease, service and royalty income, and/or income from know-how) by performing a doctrinal study based on South African and international literature. This study identified and formulated the challenges in applying traditional source tests in the context of cloud-based transactions. These challenges stem from the potential absence of physical presence of the provider in the country of consumption, in contrast to traditional source tests where physical presence indicate a tax presence; as well as the location-independent nature of cloud-based transactions from the perspective of both the provider and the consumer. The findings of the study suggest that the source determination for cloud-based transactions could be based on the source of the payment or residency of the payer, rather than the physical location.

Cloud computing activities: Guidelines on the South African income tax classification

The classification of income from cloud computing activities, according to the substance-over-form doctrine, is fundamental to the application of the correct taxation source test. The designation of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, the three main cloud computing service models, clearly denotes the form of cloud computing activities as that of a service. However, the nature of cloud computing inherently raises the question of whether or not cloud computing income should not rather be classified as income from leasing activities or the imparting of know-how. In fact, the findings of this study suggest the classification would not necessarily always be that of a service. The possible classification as lease income can be either income from the lease of tangible computer hardware and/or of intellectual property (royalty income). The aim of this study was to formulate guidelines to assist in the correct classification of income from cloud computing activities. This was achieved by performing doctrinal research based on the South African and international literature.

Hepatitis C: A South African literature review and results from a burden of disease study among a cohort of drug-using men who have sex with men in Cape Town, South Africa.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a chronic infection of increasing importance, especially among people living with HIV/AIDS. Co-infection with HIV can accelerate progression of HCV liver disease to cirrhosis and end-stage liver failure and elevate the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Globally, men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who inject drugs are at increased risk of HCV infection compared with the general population. Few studies on HCV in these key populations have been done in South Africa (SA). To describe the disease burden of HCV in drug-using MSM who attend harm-reduction services at the Anova Health Institute's Health4Men clinic in Cape Town, SA. In 2012 - 2014, attendees of an MSM-focused harm-reduction programme were invited to participate in our study. After informed consent, participants completed a brief demographic questionnaire and underwent phlebotomy for anti-HCV antibody, hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen and surface antibody testing. Participants received counselling and education with regard to their results. HIV status was extracted from the case notes of participants who had previously been tested at the study site. Data were analysed using standard statistical techniques. Forty-one MSM were enrolled - 11 (27.0%) tested anti-HCV antibody-positive, indicating prior exposure to HCV or chronic infection; 10/11 (91.0%) were positive for HBV surface antibodies, suggesting previous HBV exposure or vaccination; and 1 (2.0%) screened positive for HBV. Of the HCV-seropositive individuals, HIV status was known in 8/11; 3/8 (37.5%) were HIV-positive. We demonstrated a high burden of HCV exposure or infection among a small urban cohort of MSM who inject drugs. We recommend active screening of MSM (especially those who report drug use) for HCV, and the development of referral networks for access to treatment.

The Sound of South Africa: Johan Vlok Louw’s <i>Karoo Dusk</i>

This article examines the choices some South African authors have recently made as regards the setting and style of their writing, and the implications of these choices. It looks in some detail at Johan Vlok Louw’s Karoo Dusk (2014), and concludes with a brief look at Steven Boykey Sidley’s latest novel, Free Association (2017). The article was written with the current calls for decolonising the university curriculum in mind. It speculates about what a decolonised South African literature would be like and whether or not this is even possible. It argues that the global marketplace and increasingly borderless nature of modern culture are likely to be forces that the decolonisers will be unable to resist.Keywords: Johan Vlok Louw, Karoo Dusk, Steven Boykey Sidley, Free Association, Lauren Beukes, Zakes Mda, decolonisation, language and literature, Karoo

HIV and Depression: A Scoping Review of the South African Literature

This scoping review attempts to contextualise the current state of research regarding responding to co-morbid depression and HIV in primary healthcare, identify the gaps in research and develop appropriate recommendations. The researcher used Arksey and O’Malley’s six-stage scoping review method. The researcher reviewed articles from Springer Link, Ebsco Host, Pub Med and Psych Info that were found using the keywords ‘depression’; ‘HIV’; and ‘primary healthcare’ and that were published between 2010 and 2015. A final number of 27 articles were included in the scoping review. The review found that symptoms of depression in HIV positive patients can have a detrimental effect on their health-seeking behaviour and disease progression. Patients often do not report psychological symptoms of depression, unless enquired into, and usually focus on their physical symptoms. Additionally, there is a clear relationship between depression and antiretroviral treatment non-adherence and that treating depression with antidepressants or psychotherapy results in increased levels of adherence. Standardised and routine screening for depression in people living with HIV in primary care is the most ideal solution to this problem; a context-specific model that takes into account the shortage of resources in South Africa is greatly needed.

A Specific Kind of Violence: Insanity and Identity in Contemporary Brazilian and South African Literature

The recent histories of South Africa and Brazil share many commonalities. Most obviously, both have experienced a shared political history of democratic transition. Two somewhat similar forms of socio-political oppression and manipulation – military rule in Brazil (ended 1985) and South African apartheid (ended 1994) – have been replaced by democratic regimes and exceedingly optimistic hopes for the future. Yet neither transition has been as smooth as expected. Consequently, a liminal situation has been created, where past and present discourses compete for space. This has recently been explored in each country’s respective literatures: K. Sello Duiker’s The Quiet Violence of Dreams and Rodrigo de Souza Leão’s All Dogs Are Blue are just two examples. This article will explore the common theme of madness in these novels to highlight liminality. In particular, I argue that the treatment of insanity denies the patient’s individuality and replicates the identity politics of the colonial situation. This, I suggest, reveals how postcolonial modernity in Brazil and South Africa relies on a continuing and normalised psycho-politics of otherness. Further, I will consider questions revolving around language, reliability and everyday emotions, focusing on the uncomfortable juxtaposition of global, national and local in both countries as they struggle to enter the modern world order. Ultimately, the only way we can alleviate madness and harness the social benefits of modernity and globalisation comes through accepting difference and understanding the specific individual circumstances of those we call ‘mad’.