Diplomsko Delo
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UNIVERZA V MARIBORU FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA MARIBOR Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko DIPLOMSKO DELO Andrejka Šerbec Maribor, 2015 UNIVERZA V MARIBORU FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA MARIBOR Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko Diplomsko delo PROTIAPARTHEIDOVSKI VIDIK V ROMANIH NADINE GORDIMER Diploma thesis ANTI-APARTHEID POINT OF VIEW IN NADINE GORDIMER`S NOVELS Mentorica: Kandidatka: izr. prof. dr. Michelle Gadpaille Andrejka Šerbec Maribor, 2015 Lektorica: Sonja Simončič, profesorica slovenščine in zgodovine ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my mentor, dr. Michelle Gadpaille, for her guidance, encouragement and valuable advice during my writing. I would also like to thank my family for all their support. IZJAVA Podpisana Andrejka Šerbec, rojena 26. 2. 1976, študentka Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Mariboru, smer angleški in slovenski jezik s književnostjo, izjavljam, da je diplomsko delo z naslovom Anti-apartheid Point of View in Nadine Gordimer`s Novels pri mentorici izr. prof. dr. Michelle Gadpaille, avtorsko delo. V diplomskem delu so uporabljeni viri in literatura korektno navedeni; teksti niso prepisani brez navedbe avtorjev. Kraj: Maribor Datum: 23. 1. 2015 ________________________ (podpis študentke) ABSTRACT My graduation thesis focuses on four novels: Burger`s Daughter, July`s People, The World of Strangers and The Late Bourgeois World, written by Nadine Gordimer. In her novels she used point of view to signal her opposition to apartheid. Nadine Gordimer is a white author who lived in South Africa during the years when the policy of apartheid was very much alive. The novels were published between 1958 and1981. The time setting of all novels is during the apartheid, which plays a significant role in the lives and fates of the characters. These literary works present what it was like living under apartheid and the terrible consequences of it for black South Africans, but mostly for white people who wanted to make their contribution in the anti-apartheid struggle. Her anti- apartheid point of view is reflected through various themes. The main characters in her novels are whites, male and female, who strongly disagree with the institution of apartheid and want to overthrow it, but at the same time she shows the sufferings of exploited black people. She mentions many historical events that took place in South Africa, but she focuses on the lives and emotions of the protagonists and the relationships between them, and she builds a work of literature over historical details. Her literary works provide a mirror through which the people of South Africa in the decades of apartheid could view themselves. Through her characters the whole historical process is crystallized. KEY WORDS: - apartheid - anti-apartheid - Nadine Gordimer - Burger`s Daughter - The Late Bourgeois World - The World of Strangers - July`s People POVZETEK Pričujoče diplomsko delo je osredotočeno na štiri romane Nadine Gordimer, in sicer: Burger`s Daughter, July`s People, The World of Strangers in The Late Bourgeois World. V svojih romanih Nadine Gordimer zavzema stališče proti politiki apartheida. Nadine Gordimer je belka, ki je živela v Južni Afriki v času, ko je bila politika apartheida najmočnejša. Omenjeni romani so bili izdani med leti 1958 in 1981, njihovo dogajanje pa sodi v čas apartheida, ki je igral pomembno vlogo v življenju in usodah njenih literarnih likov. V svojih delih prikazuje življenje v času apartheida ter njegove grozljive posledice za temnopolte Južnoafričane, predvsem pa za belce, ki so želeli sodelovati v boju zoper apartheid. Avtoričin protiapartheidovski vidik je opaziti v številnih temah, ki jih razvija v svojih romanih. Glavne osebe v njenih romanih so belci, moški in ženske, ki so nazorno pokazali svoje nestrinjanje s političnim sistemom apartheida in ga želeli uničiti, istočasno pa prikazuje trpljenje izkoriščanih temnopoltih prebivalcev. Romani prikazujejo različne zgodovinske dogodke, ki so se zvrstili v Južni Afriki, ki ji služijo kot okvir, znotraj katerega se osredotoča zlasti na življenje in čustva glavnih junakov ter njihovih odnosov. Njena literarna dela služijo kot ogledalo, v katerem se zrcalijo prebivalci Južne Afrike v času apartheida in odsevajo celoten zgodovinski proces. KLJUČNE BESEDE: - apartheid - pritiapartheidovski vidik - Nadine Gordimer - Burger`s Daughter - The Late Bourgeois World - The World of Strangers - July`s People CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………….. 1 2 THE SYSTEM OF APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA ………………......... 2 3 NADINE GORDIMER AS A WRITER ……………………………………… 4 4 ANTI-APARTHEID POINT OF VIEW ………………………………………6 5 THEMES ……………………………………………………………………… 7 Political Engagement…………………………………………........................... 7 Collaboration …………………………………………………………………. 13 Rebellion……………………………………………………………………… 19 Passivity….. …………………………………………………………….......... 25 White supremacy and black subservience……………………………….......... 32 Search for identity……………………………………………………….......... 41 Racial role reversal……………………………………………………………. 46 Flight…………………………………………………………………….......... 49 Guilt…………………………………………………………………................ 50 6 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………… 53 7 WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED ……………………………………….56 1 INTRODUCTION Oppression has appeared throughout history in different forms and in different times and places. One of the most rigorous oppressive systems was the system of apartheid in South Africa, which was legal for more than four decades. Its severe legislation was addressed towards the native black people who represented the majority of the country`s demography, and was carried out by the country`s white minority. The system of apartheid is a frequent theme of many South African authors who used their voice to struggle and protest against oppression. One of the authors who incorporated the apartheid theme into her literature and struggled against such an unjust legal system is Nadine Gordimer who recieved the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. She represents the voice of those who could not state their mind. In her books she presents the suffering of South Africans who were deprived their individual rights under the apartheid system; therefore, her books were often banned and censored. Gordimer`s novels The World of Strangers (1958), The Late Bourgeois World (1966), Burger`s Daughter (1979) and July`s People (1981) will be analysed. Examples from the text will be given to support my arguments. These four novels portray the multiracial society and the choices ordinary people who live in oppressive regimes are forced to make. The author uses various historical events that took place in South Africa, and presents the reactions of people involved in different ways, but she mainly concentrates on their private lives and frightful experiences. Nadine Gordimer shares the anti-apartheid point of view with the majority of the world. She uses various themes through which she demonstrates her stance of apartheid resistance. Her novels concentrate on liberal white people who want to make their contribution in the anti-apartheid struggle as well as black freedom fighters. Her novels show that the endless power of white authority with which she disagrees was not only experienced by black people, but also white individuals who did not share the sympathies towards the ruling system of racial discrimination. 1 2 THE SYSTEM OF APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA Apartheid was a system of legal racial segregation in South Africa, which took place from 1948 to 1994, under the strong influence of the leading National Party. The demographic of South Africa showed that only twenty per cent of the population was white; nevertheless the minority ruled the other, non–white population. (http:// South Africa under apartheid) Apartheid developed out of racial segregation in South Africa and it appeared in all its power after the 1948 elections. The National Party brought new legislation for South African inhabitants. The first big apartheid law was the Population Registration Act (No. 30) from 1950. According to this act, the inhabitans were classified into four racial groups: black, white, coloured and Asian. People over eighteen years of age recieved an identity card, specifying their racial group (Library of Congress 1996: 54). Another law from 1950, The Group Areas Act (No. 41), defined each race its own area (Library of Congress 1996: 54). It forced people to live in separate places defined by race. The government laws deprived black people of their citizenship. During the 1960s, 1970s and the early 1980s many black people were forcibly removed to black homelands and the black townships appeared. Race laws were present in all aspects of social life and caused misery for thousands of people. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (No. 55) from 1949 prohibited marriages between people of different races, and The Immorality Act (No. 21) from the year 1950 forbade sexual relations among members of different races (Library of Congress 1996: 54). The government`s aim was to restrict African birth rates, so they also controlled marriages and births. The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act from 1953 reserved municipal grounds for a particular race, which resulted in services offered to black people that were inferior to those offered to white people. The blacks experienced racial segregation in all public services, such as education, medical care, police system and employment. There were separate buses for black and white, separate schools, universities and hospitals. Public beaches, swimming pools, parks, public toilets, 2 churches,