Confession, Embodiment and Ethics in the Poetry of Antjie Krog and Joan Metelerkamp by CHRISTINE LOUISE WEYER Dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Prof. Meg Samuelson March 2013 Stellenbosch Univeristy http://scholar.sun.ac.za DECLARATION By submitting this thesis/dissertation electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. Date: March 2013 Copyright © 2013 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved Stellenbosch Univeristy http://scholar.sun.ac.za Abstract This thesis examines the work of two contemporary South African poets, Antjie Krog and Joan Metelerkamp. Through an analytical-discursive engagement with their work, it explores the relationship between confession and embodiment, drawing attention to the ethical potential located at the confluence of these theories and modes. The theory informing this thesis is drawn from three broad fields: that of feminism, embodiment studies and ethical philosophy. More specifically, foundational insights will come from the work of Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas. While much of the theory used originates from Western Europe and North America, this will be mediated by sensitivity towards Krog and Metelerkamp’s South African location, as is fitting for a study focused on embodied confession and the ethical treatment of the other. The first chapter will establish Krog and Metelerkamp as confessional poets and explore the ethical implications of this designation. It will also explore the contextual grounds for the establishment for a confessional culture in both the United States of America of the 1950s that gave rise to the school of confessional poets, and in South Africa of the 1990s. The second chapter will use embodiment theory to discuss the relationship between poetry and the body in their work, and the ethics of this relationship. The remaining chapters concentrate on three forms of embodiment that frequently inhabit their poetry: the maternal body, the erotic body and the ageing body. Throughout the analyses of their poetic depictions of, and engagements with, these bodies, the ethical potential of these confessional engagements will be investigated. Through the argument presented in this thesis, Metelerkamp’s status as a minor South African poet will be re-evaluated, as will that of Krog’s undervalued English translations of her acclaimed Afrikaans poetry. The importance of confessional poetry and poetry of the body, often pejorative classifications, will also be asserted. Ultimately, through drawing the connections between confession, embodiment and ethics in poetry, this thesis will re-evaluate the way poetry is read, when it is read, and propose alternative reading strategies. Stellenbosch Univeristy http://scholar.sun.ac.za Opsomming Hierdie tesis ondersoek die werk van twee kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse digters, Antjie Krog en Joan Metelerkamp. ʼn Analities-beredeneerde benadering tot hulle werk verken die verband tussen belydenis en beliggaming. Klem word gelê op die etiese implikasies waar hierdie teorieë en vorme bymekaarkom. Die teorie waarop hierdie tesis berus, word vanuit drie breë velde geput: feminisme, beliggamingsteorie en etiese filosofie. Daar word meer spesifiek op die fundamentele beskouings van Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty en Emmanuel Levinas gesteun. Alhoewel die teorie grotendeels ontstaan het in Wes-Europa en Noord-Amerika, sal dit met begrip benader word ten opsigte van Krog en Metelerkamp se Suid-Afrikaanse agtergrond, wat meer gepas is vir ʼn studie wat fokus op beliggaamde belydenis en die etiese hantering van die ander. Die eerste hoofstuk vestig Krog en Metelerkamp as belydenisdigters en verken die etiese implikasies van hierdie benaming. Die kontekstuele beweegredes vir die vestiging van ʼn belydeniskultuur word ook ondersoek, in beide die Verenigde State van Amerika van die 1950s (wat geboorte geskenk het aan die era van belydenisdigters) en in Suid-Afrika van die 1990s. Die tweede hoofstuk rus op beliggamingsteorie om die verband tussen poësie en liggaam in hul werk te bespreek, asook die etiese implikasies binne hierdie verband. Die oorblywende hoofstukke fokus op drie vorme van die liggaam wat dikwels in hulle digkuns neerslag vind: die moederlike lyf, die erotiese lyf en die verouderende lyf. Die etiese implikasies van hierdie belydende betrokkenheid word deurgaans in ag geneem in die analise van hulle digterlike uitbeelding van en omgang tot hierdie liggame. Die argument in hierdie tesis herevalueer Metelerkamp se status as ʼn meer geringe Suid-Afrikaanse digter asook Krog se onderskatte Engelse vertalings van haar bekroonde Afrikaanse gedigte. Die waarde van belydenispoësie en gedigte oor die liggaam, dikwels pejoratiewe klassifikasies, sal ook verdedig word. Deur belydenis, beliggaming en etiek in digkuns met mekaar te verbind, herevalueer hierdie tesis uiteindelik die manier waarop gedigte gelees word, wanneer dit gelees word, en stel alternatiewe leesstrategieë voor. Stellenbosch Univeristy http://scholar.sun.ac.za Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to: The National Research Foundation and the trustees of the HB and MJ Thom Trust, for financial assistance during the writing of this thesis. My supervisor extraordinaire, Prof. Meg Samuelson, for her guidance and generosity, her thorough and energetic engagement with my work, and her patience. For being exemplary. The lecturers who have inspired, encouraged and assisted me throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate studies, particularly Dr Finuala Dowling, Prof. Annie Gagiano, Prof. Dirk Klopper, Ms Elke Rosochaki, Dr Daniel Roux and Dr Shaun Viljoen. The students of my Confessional Poetry, Women’s Poetry of the Body, and Poetry and Politics seminar courses, who have helped me to extend and refine my ideas through stimulating discussions. My dear friend and fellow-student, Selene Delport, for her translation assistance, and especially for her empathy. My parents, Mieke and Bernie Weyer, for bringing me up in a home full of books – and a car full of Spike Milligan’s nonsense rhymes – and for teaching me the value of a good education and the importance of hard work. My husband, Joe Loedolff, for supporting me through it all. For getting me out of the house – and out of my pajamas. For feeding me. For proofreading my thesis and inserting enthusiastic and humorous marginalia. And to Antjie Krog and Joan Metelerkamp, for the gift of their poetry. Earlier versions of sections of this thesis have been published in: Scrutiny2 16.1 (2011): 53-65. (“‘stripping’ in English: Antjie Krog’s poetry, translated and transformed”.) An Ethics of Body and Otherness: Antjie Krog as Poet, Journalist, Writer, Translator. Eds. Judith Lütge Coullie and Andries Visagie. Scottsville: UKZN Press, 2012/2013. 112-124. (“The Ambiguity of the Erotic: Antjie Krog’s Down to My Last Skin”.) English Academy Review 26.1 (2009): 120-123. (Review of Antjie Krog’s Body Bereft.) Scrutiny2 11.1 (2006): 152 - 154. (Review of Joan Metelerkamp’s carrying the fire). Litnet 2010. (Review of Joan Metelerkamp’s Burnt Offering) Stellenbosch Univeristy http://scholar.sun.ac.za CONTENTS Introduction 1 Reading Confession and Embodiment in the Poetry of Krog and Metelerkamp 1 Reading Krog’s Poetry in Translation 19 Chapter One: Confessional Poetry 35 Confession 35 The Confessional School of Poets: US in 1950s and 1960s 41 Krog and Metelerkamp as Confessional Poets: South Africa in 1990s and 2000s 55 Truth and Ethics in Confessional Poetry 65 Chapter Two: Poetry of Embodiment 79 Poetry and the Body 80 The White Body 84 Embodiment Theory 90 Poem as a Body 100 Ethics of Embodied Poetry 112 Chapter Three: The Maternal Body 117 Poetry of Birth 118 Poetry of Daily Labour 133 Writing Poetry from the Mother’s Body 142 Chapter Four: The Erotic Body 159 Take me, Break me / Take me, Make me 161 The Grotesque, Erotic Body 176 The Erotic Body of the Poem 180 Chapter Five: The Ageing Body 185 Narratives of Ageing 186 Krog’s Revisionary Narratives of Ageing and the Erotic 192 Metelerkamp: Ageing and the Matrilineal Legacy of Suicide 205 Conclusion 217 Bibliography 227 Stellenbosch Univeristy http://scholar.sun.ac.za Introduction This thesis will analyse the confessional poetry of the body of Antjie Krog and Joan Metelerkamp, arguing that connections can drawn between confession, embodiment and ethics and exploring the critical implications of these connections. Krog and Metelerkamp are important voices in contemporary South African poetry; however, their (English) work has been critically ignored, especially with regards to its use of a confessional mode and its engagement with the body. This thesis will work towards rectifying this neglect whilst developing an argument about the ethical potential that exists at the intersection of confession and embodiment. This introduction will present brief biographical sketches of the poets,1 an overview of their works and their critical reception. From this, the reasons for choosing to study these two poets in conjunction will be established. It will discuss the current academic, literary-critical status of poetry, and