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'Second Interregnum' South African Drama, 2001-2014

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Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2016 National Crises and Moments of Laughter in ‘Second Interregnum’ South African Drama, 2001-2014 J. Coplen Rose Wilfrid Laurier University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons Recommended Citation Rose, J. Coplen, "National Crises and Moments of Laughter in ‘Second Interregnum’ South African Drama, 2001-2014" (2016). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1806. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1806 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. National Crises and Moments of Laughter in ‘Second Interregnum’ South African Drama, 2001-2014 By J. Coplen Rose Bachelor of Arts, Bishop’s University, 2006 Master of Arts, Lakehead University, 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted to the Department of English and Film Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Doctor of Philosophy in English and Film Studies Wilfrid Laurier University © Jonathon Coplen Russell Rose 2016 i Abstract This dissertation analyzes Anglophone South African dramatic critiques of national crises in the post-apartheid moment. Focusing specifically on the years after Nelson Mandela’s retirement, it examines some of the country’s prominent plays produced between 2001 and 2014. This was an important period of social and political change in South Africa, described by drama theorist Marcia Blumberg as a second interregnum where acts of reconciliation or disaffection were staged frequently (“Reconciling” 140). I build on Blumberg’s temporal model by extending her framework to account for recent events of national significance leading up to, and including, Mandela’s death in 2013. In addition to expanding her temporal framework, this project contributes new research on second interregnum drama by examining the rise of humour as a key component of the social and political criticism occurring in works from this period. My project is divided into four research chapters that highlight major challenges curtailing reconciliation and nation-building during this time: continuing class inequality, silence around mothers’ experiences of trauma during apartheid, ethnic minorities’ feelings of exclusion from national narratives, and continuing cycles of physical and psychological violence. Drama is an important barometer of the state of the nation. During apartheid, it was often used to oppose the state by staging “sites of conflict between different discourses” (Orkin 5). In the second interregnum drama continued to play a significant role in critiquing conditions by highlighting unaddressed areas of class, gender, and racial inequality. Playwrights in this period used drama to engage contemporary audiences in South Africa, and abroad, in order to encourage social change through debate and dialogue. This project analyzes the appearance of humour in second interregnum drama and the way it foregrounded unresolved tensions in the nation, especially discrepancies between personal ii and national narratives, and provided alternative ways of dealing with them. Moments of laughter emerge throughout the plays in this dissertation to challenge state discourses, critique social conditions, but also encourage expressions of unity through instances of collective laughter. Mapping key intersections between postcolonial studies and humour, this project provides new analysis of Pieter-Dirk Uys’s MacBeki: A Farce to be Reckoned With, Greig Coetzee’s Happy Natives, Fatima Dike’s The Return, Lara Foot Newton’s Reach, Ashwin Singh’s To House, Ntokozo Madlala and Mandisa Haarhoff’s Crush-hopper, Zakes Mda’s The Bells of Amersfoort, and David Peimer and Martina Griller’s Armed Response. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Mariam Pirbhai for all of her guidance and support. Her sound advice and broad knowledge of postcolonial theory helped my research advance far beyond the early visions I had for this thesis. Working closely with her on this project has truly been an uplifting and rewarding experience. I would also like to thank my other committee members for their insightful and constructive feedback. Dr. Maria DiCenzo, Dr. Lynn Shakinovsky, and Dr. M. Raymond Izarali positively shaped this project’s structure and focus by raising important questions at key moments in its development. Furthermore, I also wish to thank my External Examiner Dr. Neil ten Kortenaar, Joanne Buchan, and Dr. Madelaine Hron for their recommendations and encouragement. In addition to the scholarly support that sustained my work, I would like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for funding this project. A number of the chapters in my thesis could not have been completed without fieldwork that was made possible by research grants from SSHRC and Wilfrid Laurier University. Related to this, I would like to thank all of the artists, playwrights, and scholars that I interviewed as part of this project as well as the staff at the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown, South Africa. I would also like to extend a special acknowledgment to Greg Homann for meeting with me on multiple occasions and introducing me to a number of his colleagues. Lastly, I want to express my appreciation to all of the friends and family who provided unyielding assistance when I was in need, especially my parents William and Nancy Rose and my brother Laurance Rose. There are too many people to properly name, but I hope to repay everyone for their kindness and friendship in the years to come. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv Chapter I: Introduction Moving beyond the Ecstasy of Freedom: the Rise of Second Interregnum South African Drama Focus of Study ............................................................................................................................ 1 Temporal Framework ................................................................................................................. 4 Structure and Context ................................................................................................................. 7 Moments of Laughter ................................................................................................................ 14 Summary of Research Chapters ................................................................................................ 18 Chapter II Wielding the “weapon of bitter shaming laughter:” Class Movements, Mimicry, and Ridiculing Humour in Pieter-Dirk Uys’s MacBeki: A Farce to be Reckoned With and Greig Coetzee’s Happy Natives Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 22 Political Change and the Growth of Economic Divisions ........................................................ 23 Pieter-Dirk Uys’s MacBeki: A Farce to be Reckoned With ...................................................... 29 Greig Coetzee’s Happy Natives ................................................................................................ 51 Chapter III Rethinking Reconciliation beyond the TRC: Motherhood and Private Healing in Fatima Dike’s The Return and Lara Foot Newton’s Reach Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 77 The TRC and Narratives of Motherhood after Independence .................................................. 78 Fatima Dike’s The Return ......................................................................................................... 87 Lara Foot Newton’s Reach ..................................................................................................... 108 Chapter IV Claiming Space for Ethnic Minorities in the Rainbow Nation: Identity and Othering in Ashwin Singh’s To House and Ntokozo Madlala and Mandisa Haarhoff’s Crush-hopper Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 133 Race, Identity, and the Heterogeneity of South African Ethnic Minorities ............................ 135 Ashwin Singh’s To House ...................................................................................................... 144 Ntokozo Madlala and Mandisa Haarhoff’s Crush-hopper ..................................................... 167 Chapter V Attempting to Break Cycles of Violence after Apartheid: (Re)Visioning the Nation in Zakes Mda’s The Bells of Amersfoort and David Peimer and Martina Griller’s Armed Response Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 186 State Sanctioned Violence and the Transition between Apartheid and Democracy ............... 187 v Zakes Mda’s The Bells
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