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Negotiating Memory and Nation Building in New South African Drama

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Negotiating Memory and Nation Building in New South African Drama NEGOTIATING MEMORY AND NATION BUILDING IN NEW SOUTH AFRICAN DRAMA _____________________________________________________________________ BUSUYI MEKUSI A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2009 DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university. __________________________ STUDENT: BUSUYI MEKUSI 25th day of February 2010 ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines the representation of trauma and memory in six post-Apartheid plays. The topic is explored through a treatment of the tropes of racial segregation, different forms of dispossession as well as violence. The thesis draws its inspiration from the critical and self-reflexive engagements with which South African playwrights depict the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The dramatists are concerned with the contested nature of the TRC as an experiential and historical archive. Others explore the idea of disputed and seemingly elusive notions of truth (from the embodied to the forensic). Through the unpacking of the TRC, as reflected in three of the plays, the thesis argues that apart from the idea of an absolute or forensic truth, the TRC is also characterised by the repression of truth. Furthermore, there is a consideration of debates around amnesty, justice, and reparations. Underpinning the politics and representations of trauma and memory, the thesis also interrogates the concomitant explorations and implications of identity and citizenship in the dramas. In the experience of violence, subjugation and exile, the characters in the dramas wrestle with the physical and psychological implications of their lived experiences. This creates anxieties around notions of self and community whether at home or in exile and such representations foreground the centrality of memory in identity construction. All these complex personal and social challenges are further exacerbated by the presence of endemic violence against women and children as well as that of rampart crime. The thesis, therefore, explores the negotiation of memory and identity in relation to how trauma could be mitigated or healing could be attained. The thesis substantially blurs the orthodox lines of differentiation between race and class, but emphasises the centrality of the individual or self in recent post-Apartheid engagements. KEYWORDS: Post-Apartheid Drama, Transition, Nation-Building, Memory, Identity, ‘Self’ and ‘Other’, New Historicism, Crime and Corruption, Public Space. iii DEDICATION Dedicated to all the victims of irreconcilable divisions and pervasive tyranny. iv AKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe the Almighty God profound appreciation for making it possible for me to push through this research. He brought me, helped me to see and empowered me to conquer. This research would not have been possible if not for the commitment put into the reading of my drafts, and the useful guidance and suggestions offered by my supervisor, Professor Bhekizizwe Peterson. He, like a good ‗Woli‘ (Prophet), saw the spots and blemishes and provided the hyssop to sentence them to oblivion. I am delighted that you only started using a pair of reading glasses towards the end of our interactions. The same level of appreciation is extended to all the staff members in the Discipline of African Literature, Professors Isabel Hofmeyr and James Ogude, as well as Dr. Dan Ojwang, who enthusiastically constitute a robust academic community that helped nourish my academic rigour. This community includes Mrs Merle Govind, for her ubuntu spirit, and for joining many others to replace my first name with Mèkúsì. Many thanks too to all the staff members of the different libraries I interacted with at Wits, most especially Mapule Mazubiko for all her kindness. No doubt, my memory of you resonates with the sense of my interaction with South Africa. I am hugely indebted to certain organisations for giving me the required funding assistance that made this research possible. These included Doris & Harrold Tothill, Wits University Council and Financial Aid and Scholarships. Many thanks to the management of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria, for the assistance it could offer. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Financial Aid and Scholarships, the Research Committee, the School of Literature and Language Studies, and the Department of African Literature for the travel support to attend the ―Terror Conference‖ in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, and the ―Migrating Minds: Imagined Journeys–Imagined Homecomings Conference‖, at the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, where I presented aspects of my thesis. I also appreciate the ‗Platform for Public Intellectuals‘, University of the Witwatersrand, for the opportunity to present one of my chapters. Many thanks to my colleague, Dr. Senayon Olaoluwa, who chose to send me University of the Witwatersrand application forms when I asked for assistance to obtain some post-apartheid plays. All your initial support to get me settled in and everything subsequent to it are all appreciated. Dr. Osita Ezeliora deserves my v profound appreciation for the invaluable contribution he made during my initial readings and the eventual mapping of the research. I value my relationships with Jendele Hungbo and Dr. Adeyemi Adegoju, for reading parts of my drafts. My postgraduate colleagues in the Discipline of African Literature are also appreciated for every contribution they made to my work. All the students that I encountered at Wits are all acknowledged, most especially all my tutorial students in African Literature and Business Communication. It is good that we had belief in one another and were able to tolerate each other‘s accents. The decision I took to come to South Africa for the PhD programme was disastrous for my wife and kids who could not be part of the flight to South Africa. For them, it was a series of longings, wishes and desires. I therefore openly acknowledge the profound support my wife, Mrs. Ibiyemi Eyitayo Mekusi, who bore the heavy burden of running the home, for all the pains and stress, plus the enormous pressure of certain loneliness. I wasn‘t wicked, it was for us all. I am so sorry for those lonely, cold and frightening nights. I also wish to acknowledge my wonderful children, Peter and Sharon, for their naivety and belief that I can buy them anything, even aeroplanes. Every encounter with children of your ages in South Africa was a painful reminder of the reality of my physical dislocation. I love you for everything you are to me. Thank you too, my brother, Ayo Ige, my younger sister, Iyabo Mekusi and my niece, Opeyemi Adebayo. I have benefited immensely from my acquaintance and working relationships with some enthusiastic academics. My academic mentor, Dr. N. O. Fashina, deserves my sincere appreciation. Many thanks for your encouragement as a budding academic and for spurring me to venture beyond familiar and immediate literary landscapes. Such people also include Professor Femi Mimiko, Olukoya Ogen, Funso Aluko, Richard Douglas-Chin and Cyril-Mary Olatunji. For my colleagues in the Department of English, Adekunle Ajasin University, many thanks for holding the fort while I was away. For Dr. Z. A. Adejumo, this is a dream come true. Mr. Roy Fasakin, Mr. J. Obamehinti and Mrs Bolatito Oloketuyi, my best regards for attenuating the pains of bureaucracy. To all my students in the department in Akungba, many thanks to those who genuinely wanted me to be back on time, and I congratulate everyone that escaped my dreaded ‗fastidiousness‘. vi This reminds me of all who supported members of my family while my exile lasted: Mr. & Mrs Feyisola Oladejo and family, Mr. & Mrs Oladayo Abe and family, Mr. & Mrs K. B. Orimolade, Mr. & Mrs Rotimi Davids, Mr. & Mrs Yinka Ajibade and family, Mr. & Mrs Tunde Obata and family, Mr. & Mrs Lanre Omotuase and family, Mr. & Mrs Adedayo Afe and family, Mr. & Dr. Mrs Alade, as well as Mummy Fadahunsi. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. & Mrs Jide Ajidahun, Pastors and Mrs M. J. C. Omatule as well as Pastors and Mrs Jonathan Olaade, for all the moral and spiritual support. More importantly, I wish to place on record the immense moral support I received from Engr. & Mrs Kehinde Olatunde and family, for all the discomfort caused them when I was ‗coming and going several seasons‘. I especially acknowledge my parents, Mr. & Mrs J. A. Mekusi, for the small beginning and the pains of nurture, as well as Chief & Mrs O. E. Oni, for their transposition from in- laws to parents. And to all my many acquaintances, I say ngiyabonga for every positive impact. These acknowledgements would not be complete if I did not mention members of the household of faith, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa, for all their brotherly love. Many thanks to Pastor/Dr. & Mrs Pius Oba, Dr. & Mrs Bonny Cheyip, Mr. & Mrs Tunde Orimoloye, Mr. & Mrs Wale Idebi, Mr. & Mrs Stephen Castley, and many other brethren who I cannot mention here. May the good Lord keep us all. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE i DECLARATION ii ABSTRACT iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v-vii Chapter One: A Nation in Transition: Post-Apartheid Drama and Engagements with Memory, Exile, and Identity 1 Chapter Two: Aesthetics and the Quest
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