South Africa: Consequences
of Apartheid (2)
the Movement, Imprisonment and
Riots
Starting Questions
Which of the three stories do you like
the best? And why? Does any of the
stories allow us to know more than the
others?
Are there any similarities (in themes) or
differences (in themes and styles)
among them?
Central Themes
Resistance and Survival, in and out of
prison;
The distortion of humanity in the prison
or during the riots;
Three black persons’ lives seen from
different perspectives:
1st person -- a female teacher of a farm
school;
3rd person -- a prisoner, Brille,
omniscient 3rd person –Venter & Sipho’s
family and the Riots
Outline
1.
2.
3.
1.
Imprisonment and the Movement:
Background: inequality & Robben
Island
Gordimer (2): Her Treatment of Black
Race & “Amnesty”
Bessie Head: “The Prisoner . . .”
Race Relations during the Riots:
Mbuleo Mzamane: “The Days of the
Riots”
1978 – the days of the Riots
Robben Island
prisoners crushing rocks at Robben Island
e.g.: Nelson Mendala in prison
18 years in Robben Island; 27 years in prison.
On the Island: 1 letter every 6 months, 1 visitor for
30 minutes a year, hard labor at the quarry.
During this period, Mandela was in many ways a
forgotten man; his image and words were banned
throughout Africa.
He assumed leadership over his jailed comrads;
His way of resistance, “walked” when he was
required to run.
(source:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/prison/ )
Nadine Gordimer:
treatments of races
earlier fiction: white middle class characters
and their relationship to Black characters
under the system of apartheid (e.g. “Six Feet
of the Country”)
Later: used first-person voice to express
position of Black characters
criticized – presumptuous of her to represent
an experience which cannot be her own
Her defense: has her right to write about
Black characters; acknowledging the need to
ensure that their voices must be heard (source:
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~bweber/NadineGordimer.html )
Example of the criticism (1):
“the least convincing. There is
something faux-naïf [artfully simple]
about the perception and diction; it
feels patronising. . . It seems odd that
Gordimer even tries to feel black.”
(source: Nadine Gordimer 173)
Example of the criticism (2):
July’s People (1981)–banned in Gauteng province
"the subject matter is questionable ... the
language that is used is not acceptable, as it does
not encourage good grammatical practices ... the
reader is bombarded with nuances that do not
achieve much ... any condemnation of racism is
difficult to discover - so the story comes across as
being deeply racist, superior and patronizing.“
(source with an excerpt from the book:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,475098,0
0.html).
Gordimer’s view (2)
“key areas of both white and black
experience are self-contained in South
Africa” (Nadine Gordimer 17)
E.g. she would not attempt, for
example, to “narrate the experience of
the Soweto riots, knowing ‘it would be
false.’”
"Amnesty"
published in Jump, a collection of short
stories, shortly before Gordimer won
the Nobel prize.
Told from the wife of one who joins a
Union first and then the “Movement.”
Questions
How much do we know, through the
narrator, about her lover’s revolutionary
ideas? How is he related to the
narrator and their families?
What role does the narrator play in
between an activist and her peasant
family? How much does she learn
from her lover?
The Anti-Apartheid Movements
and Ideas
From a Union to full-time participation
in the Movement;
well-dressed (no stupid yes-baas black
men) p. 26; exercise in their cells 29;
Criticism of his people’s self-content,
belief in God, and ignorance p. 26; 28;
Criticism of racial inequality: 30;
Work for the future:
The lover: distanced from his
family
absent-minded, something in his mind
29-30;
Have sex like taking a meal 31;
the comrades: confirming “our culture”
patronizing—wanting her to learn 31
The Narrator’s position
Her lover &
his comrades
The narrator
The peasants
Squatters
• Gender: p. 25 (needs the father’s permission to get
married);
•Education: standard 8  teach in a farm school;
•Knowledge: has not seen the island
her lover: learns from newspaper wrapping 25; as a
worker 26
Gender differences in the story
The narrator– happy about his return; 25;
Get well-dressed to go see him p. 27; has to
wait again at the end.
learning e.g. p. 26; about not having a
“home” 30;
has her distinct perception the use of
nature p. 27; the view of the earth and the
clouds 32
Standard 8
In South Africa, studies at high school level
are called “Standards” and they maintain a
high academic level. South African students
study five years of high school, Standards 610. Standard 10, which is the graduate year,
is also called “Matric”. (source)
Standard 8 – about Grade 12 in American
system, the third-year in our senior high.
Bessie Head (1937-1986)
One of the “colored” South Africans.
Born in a mental hospital of an "illicit"
union between a Scottish woman and a
black man, who worked for her family.
Major Novels: When Rain Clouds Gather,
Maru, and A Question of Power
Info and image source
“The Prisoner who Wore Glasses” ”
How are the political prisoners presented in
the story? Are they just exploited?
Why is Brille called this name? Does he
suffer from any of his weaknesses?
How does Brille join politics? How does he
get to change his view of politics?
To combine the above questions, what does
the author think about power relation and
politics?
The political prisoners & Brille
Span One –assertive 68-69; best
thieves and liars;
Warder Hannetjie –he discovers
their tricks
Brille his views of the clouds p. 68
beaten up by WH
Brille’s adjustment and findings
keep on stealing;
Found WH stealing; found the “evils” of
prison life; p. 71;
His open defiance 72;
Politics in the prison:
1) an eye for an eye;
2) the fittest survive and the apparently
powerful is only a child;
3) The warder and the prisoner as a mirror to
each other  mutually supportive thieves
Mbuleo Mzamane
Realistic in style;
Against using
“western criteria
alone” in the
evaluation of
committed African
literature.
The Children of Soweto -set in South Africa during the 1976 uprisings
against apartheid.
3 parts:
1st - describes students’ schooldays and then the
protests by students against education imposed by
the apartheid.
2nd (“The Days of the Riots”) - an African man to
hide his white friend caught in the middle of a riot.
3rd - graphic detail about the children’s riots.
“The Days of the Riots”
How are the students’ riots described?
How are Sipho’s and Venter’s positions
changed during the riots?
Why does Sipho not go back to work
the next day?
Riots
marching and demonstration; 135students get wiser p. 136; and more
violent;
Eddie’s experience: 140 –virtual
government;
the story of Chabeli and Rathebe pp.
141 - 143
Sipho and Venter
Before the riots:
Sipho – poverty 133;
Sipho – not trusted by his company to
drive the car home 145;
Sipho – has a BA but does not want people
to know. 148
Venter – prejudiced
goes with Sipho for black women; rely on
him more;
Sipho and Venter(2) during the Riots:
Venter’s
increasing fear: 148;
In a dilemma – cannot go home, cannot stay at
Sipho’s either.
under constant threats and insecurity
in the coal box: 138;
Sipho’s perspective  Daphne’s & Miekie’s
keep the basic human concern: not wanting him
to die out in the cold and the riots;
think more for his own family;
Sipho and Venter(3) ironic ending
Venter’s
Wants to promote Sipho
Sipho
“one-hearted” in drinking; almost forget
about sending Venter home.
Does not show up – many possibilities
References
Head, Dominic. Nadine Gordimer.
Cambridge UP, 1994.