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Transgressive, Testimonial Fiction in Post- TRC South Africa

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Transgressive, Testimonial Fiction in Post- TRC South Africa “How can you build a nation without telling its stories?”: Transgressive, Testimonial Fiction in Post- TRC South Africa A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Rhodes University by Keenan Collett June 2019 Supervisor: Dr Sue Marais Abstract Transgressive fiction refers to works of literature that are fundamentally concerned with the provocation of their reader. This effect is typically accomplished by authors crafting novels that feature upsetting content: extreme violence, taboo sex acts, and drug abuse – often narrated by protagonists who are either the recipients or enactors of violence and trauma. Given their rootedness in familiar social settings, these works of fiction manage to relay critiques of their particular societies. Over the past three decades, transgressive fiction has amassed a small critical reception with focus predominantly directed toward texts from the United States and the United Kingdom. In an attempt to build on existing scholarship, this thesis explores recent and disturbing works of South African literature in order to gauge whether the markers of transgressive fiction are as easily applicable in a new national setting. K. Sello Duiker’s Thirteen Cents, Kgebetli Moele’s The Book of the Dead and Jason Staggie’s Risk form the basis of the discussion. Each novel exposes a concern with social developments within a ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa, and codes its respective critique in narratives concerned with the violation of consent, as depicted in profoundly unsettling ways. The spread of publication dates across the three novels also allows for an examination of morphing social critique from 2000-2013. Acknowledgments This thesis could not have been completed without the support of the following individuals: Dr Sue Marais, my supervisor and academic role model, for exhibiting supernatural patience and whose probing questions caused me to rethink not only aspects of this thesis, but many facets of my personal life. My parents and siblings, for their unwavering love through the best and worst of times. Various members of my department for their support throughout my university career. These include Dr Minesh Dass, Prof. Mike Marais, Karen, Yolisa, Michael, Chelsey, Keagan and Beth. Your assistance – whatever form it took – is and always will be greatly appreciated. Prof. Paul Walters, for providing an enduring friendship and being an unshakeable pillar of support. Murray and Darren, whose constant friendship and intellectual engagement has sent me down many intriguing paths. Emma, my beloved partner, for each reassuring touch, every tear wiped, and whom I trust will understand why language fails me now. The financial assistance from the Mellon Focus Area Scholarship towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to Rhodes University or the donor. The financial assistance from the Mandela Rhodes Foundation towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to Rhodes University or the donor. Table of Contents Chapter I: Rainbow-Faded Finger Trap: Locating Transgressive Fiction in Post-TRC South Africa 1.1) Introduction . 1 1.2) Transgression: (Re)Crossing the Uncrossable . 2 1.3) Post-TRC South Africa and the Role of Violent Narrative . .20 1.4) Empathy and Transgressive Fiction: Keeping Your Own Shoes On . 27 Chapter II: The Elusive Child: Thirteen Cents and the Disruption of Interpretation 2.1) Introduction . 33 2.2) Reading with One Eye Open: Transgressive Fiction and Interpretive Strategies . 34 2.3) Azure Refracted: Academic Interpretation . .. 41 2.4) Offering My Thirteen Cents: Trauma and the Resistance of Interpretation . .. 44 2.5) Hindsight is 20/20: The Canonisation of Thirteen Cents. 53 Chapter III: Framing Gods and Tracing Citizens: Biological Citizenship and Violent Inscription in The Book of the Dead 3.1) Introduction………………………………………………………………………….….55 3.2) “You have never seen my face”: Complicating the Presence of HIV in The Book of the Dead………………………………………………………………………………………....56 3.3) “A human being is a traceable thing”: Biological Citizenship in South Africa….….….65 3.4) The Hollow Women: HIV Discourse and the Violence of Inscription………..………..70 Chapter IV: The First Rule Is You Do Not Rewrite Fight Club: (Inter)Textual Violence in Risk 4.1) Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….78 4.2) Can You Spot the Differences?: Risk’s Intertextual Web……………………………...78 4.3) Breaking the Spine: Risk as Metafictional Analogy……………………………………84 4.4) Protest or Terrorism?: Violence and Ambiguity……………………………………….87 Conclusion: “How can you build a nation without telling its stories?”..…………….....99 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….103 Chapter I Rainbow-Faded Finger Trap: Locating Transgressive Fiction in Post-TRC South Africa Attempting to achieve subversive transgression within a literary text that does not first clearly posit the boundaries that are being transgressed would be pointless, on the order of attempting to play tennis without a net. (Booker 208) For there is no logic, no body of evidence by which decorum can plead for and justify itself. It is the essence of decorum to be tacit. Decorum marks off a domain about which there shall be silence, and preserves silence about how the boundaries of that domain are determined. Decorum can therefore be gestured towards but not codified. Once questioned, it turns to smoke. (Coetzee 50–51) 1.1) Introduction In 1993, Michael Silverblatt published an article in the Los Angeles Times titled “SHOCK APPEAL/Who Are These Writers, and Why Do They Want to Hurt Us?: The New Fiction of Transgression”. In his article, Silverblatt drew attention to a rising trend in American fiction, one which “has violation at its core: violation of norms, of humanistic enterprise, of the body” (para. 2). Since Silverblatt identified the genre “transgressive fiction”, various attempts have been made to assemble authors beneath its banner, and some of these authors stretch as far back as to Euripides (Gardner 54). A number of articles and texts from around the world have attempted to describe and study what is an essentially nebulous form of literature. As transgression is not a concept exclusively owned by any nation, time period or culture, literary transgression must have a global presence, manifesting differently in individual societies. That said, there exists an irreconcilable tension at the heart of discussing transgressive fiction, and this is the same tension demonstrated between the two epigraphs above: transgressive fiction necessarily exceeds the boundaries of decorum (among others), yet attempting to identify those boundaries can be as difficult as catching smoke. Molly Hoey has described transgressive fiction best in likening it to a finger trap: a tension- based puzzle that resolves itself if one could only relax (“The Generic Veronica” 162). This thesis inserts itself into the unfolding discourse regarding transgressive fiction by examining three South African novels as unique and contemporary examples of this contested literary form. It is crucial, then, to construct a clear historical and theoretical framework from within which this thesis may be read. This opening chapter will provide such a framework by presenting an overview of transgressive fiction with its identificatory, categorical and ethical dilemmas; discussing the particular importance of studying violent testimonial fiction in South 1 Africa following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and examining the effect of these two concerns on readers’ empathy whilst reading the texts. 1.2) Transgression: (Re)Crossing the Uncrossable As transgressive fiction is a disputed literary form, it is paramount that a historical and theoretical exploration considers both the scholarship surrounding literary transgression as well as the fictional texts. As a term, “transgression” provides a wide range of interpretations, which severely hampers any ensuing exploration of its presence in fiction. By “transgressive fiction”, a very specific form of prose is invoked – one which has experienced a peculiar treatment is academia, if considered at all. This first section is arranged by scholarship: first analysing critical writing on literary transgression prior to Silverblatt’s 1993 article and coining of the term, then proceeding to discuss the article and its implications, and finally exploring subsequent criticism. Though Silverblatt’s writing does not feature the depth or range of that by academic critics such as M. Keith Booker and Robin Mookerjee, its publication in the Los Angeles Times ensured that a wider audience became aware of this particularly curious literary form. By structuring the section to include both scholarship as well as texts, some core literary aspects – such as the carnivalesque or Menippean satire – and their recurrence in transgressive fiction and academic commentary on transgressive texts can be mapped. It seems prudent to discuss the varied sources of theoretical writing that inform this section. In comparison with other groupings of literature – such as crime fiction, horror, and chick-lit. – transgressive fiction lacks academic attention. Whilst one can find dedicated texts or edited collections of essays examining an author’s oeuvre, a survey across countries and time periods is clearly underexplored.1 Given the aforementioned
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