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(Structural) Violence

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(Structural) Violence SILENT ACCOMPLICES & VICTIMS IN DISGUISE Representations of Structural Violence in South African Literature Diplomarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Magisters der Philosophie an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Dominik KAISERSEDER am Institut für Anglistik Begutachterin: Ao.Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr.phil. Löschnigg Maria Graz, 2017 EIDESSTAATLICHE ERKLÄRUNG Ich erkläre ehrenwörtlich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe verfasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen nicht benutzt und die den Quellen wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe. Die Arbeit wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen inländischen oder ausländischen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt und auch nicht veröffentlicht. Die vorliegende Fassung entspricht der eingereichten elektronischen Version. Graz, Mai 2017 …………………………… Dominik Kaiserseder What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over – like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? - Langston Hughes, “Harlem”, 1951 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this thesis was a process that started roughly two years ago in South Africa, where I was first provided with a holistic understanding of the causes and effects of structural violence. It goes without saying that I could not have managed to write this thesis without the support of a great number of people who I deeply admire and look up to. Firstly, I would like to thank Mr Grant Demas, who cordially welcomed me to Lynedoch Primary School and introduced me to the side of South Africa that is commonly overlooked. Your expertise and unwavering sense of justice eventually encouraged me to write this thesis. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Prof. Maria Löschnigg, whose seminar on Postcolonial African Literature provided me with ample food for thought for my research. Thank you for your guidance, your readiness to listen and your continuous support. Your vast knowledge and humility are inspiring. A very special thanks goes out to the people that have left a lasting impression on me during my studies and who I look up to as role models. Rosi, Tom, Ryan, Jack, Alex, Lisa, Daniel and Erin, thank you for your support and friendship. Although oceans lie between some of us, I know that I can always count on all of you. Most importantly, thanks to the two people who I owe everything to and without whom I would not have made it across the finish line. Mom, dad, thank you for making so many sacrifices for me, for always being patient with me and for forgiving me my stubbornness. I love you. ABSTRACT Almost a quarter of a century after the abolition of apartheid, violent crime and fear thereof continues to afflict South Africa. Until the 20th century, the country’s literary canon primarily dwelled on presentations of inter-racial violence, suggesting that whites are the sole targets of violence inflicted by ‘evil savages’. In the past seventy years, however, this notion was challenged by writers who increasingly attributed ‘native crime’ to structural (institutionalized) violence and depicted native lawbreakers as victims in disguise. Based on five literary texts, including Paton’s novel Cry, The Beloved Country, Mphahlele’s autobiography Down Second Avenue, Matthews’ short story “The Park”, Fugard’s play My Children! My Africa! and Coetzee’s novel Disgrace, this thesis aims at disclosing the origin of violent crime in present-day South Africa. An initial outline of Galtung’s ‘violence triangle’, which discusses three forms of violence (direct, structural and cultural violence), serves as a theoretical foundation for the literary analysis, on the basis of which the causality of crime shall be explored in the subsequent chapters. Succinctly summarized, twentieth and twenty-first century South African literature confirms the initial suspicion that violence is triggered by social injustice. Structural violence, which is an expression of social fears, traps natives in deprivation and ultimately forces the disadvantaged to engage in illicit income producing activities to make ends meet. Oblivious to their silent accompliceship in crime, whites react by introducing more rigid laws, unaware that by doing so, they perpetuate violence and fear thereof. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Bis heute erschüttern erschreckend hohe Kriminalitätsraten Südafrika, welches es fast fünfundzwanzig Jahre nach der Abschaffung der Apartheid nicht geschafft hat, sich von der Altlast der Rassentrennung zu lösen. Bis weit in das 20. Jahrhundert war der literarische Kanon des Landes geprägt von Erzählungen über Gewalt, welcher augenscheinlich ausschließlich Weiße zum Opfer fielen. Diese Auffassung, welche zweifellos die Angst vor dem ‘barbarischen Wilden’ schürte, wurde in den vergangenen siebzig Jahren von schwarzen und weißen Autoren gleichermaßen kritisch hinterfragt, indem sie die oft verborgene Mittäterschaft der weißen Minderheit des Landes an der hohen Kriminalität offenlegen und schwarze Rechtsbrecher als Opfer von struktureller Gewalt darstellen. Ziel dieser Diplomarbeit ist es, anhand von fünf literarischen Texten, nämlich Patons Roman Cry, The Beloved Country, Mphahleles Autobiographie Down Second Avenue, Matthews Kurzgeschichte „The Park“, Fugards Theaterstück My Children! My Africa!, sowie Coetzees Roman Disgrace, den Ursprung von Gewalt in Südafrika zu erforschen. Galtungs „Gewaltdreieck“ dient als theoretische Grundlage für die anschließende Literaturanalyse, welche in den letzten drei Kapiteln der Ursächlichkeit von Gewalt auf den Grund geht und einen Zusammenhang zwischen Armut und Kriminalität herstellt. Eine fundierte Literaturanalyse bestätigt den ursprünglichen Verdacht, dass Gewalt eine Folge sozialer Ungerechtigkeit ist, welche ihren Ursprung in sozialen Ängsten wiederfindet und sich in Form von struktureller Gewalt manifestiert. Letztere wiederum bewirkt, dass sich benachteiligte Schwarze in der Falle der Deprivation wiederfinden, welche ihnen jegliche Lebensgrundlage raubt und sie dazu zwingt, illegalen Einkommen schaffenden Tätigkeiten nachzugehen, um damit ihr Existenzminimum zu sichern. Folglich verschärfen Weiße die Gesetzesgrundlage, nichtsahnend, dass sie dadurch der Gewalt – und der Angst davor – einen Nährboden bieten. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA 2. VIOLENCE IN PRESENT-DAY SOUTH AFRICA ........................................................................ 5 2.1. The problem of defining violence ................................................................................ 8 2.2. Violence and its many layers ..................................................................................... 10 2.3. Direct Violence ........................................................................................................... 10 2.4. Structural Violence ..................................................................................................... 11 2.4.1. Exploitation ......................................................................................................... 13 2.4.2. Shame: ‘The Emotion of Revolution’................................................................... 15 2.5. Cultural Violence ........................................................................................................ 16 2.5.1. Religion ................................................................................................................ 18 2.5.2. Ideology ............................................................................................................... 19 2.5.3. Science ................................................................................................................. 21 2.5.4. Language ............................................................................................................. 22 2.6. The interconnected nature of the violence triangle .................................................. 23 2.7. The rationale behind apartheid ................................................................................. 25 2.7.1. A brief outline of South Africa’s history between 1898 and 1948 ...................... 26 CHAPTER TWO: SELECTION OF TEXTS 3. LITERATURE AS HISTORICAL SOURCE ................................................................................... 32 3.1. Selection of texts ........................................................................................................ 35 CHAPTER THREE: REPRESENTATIONS OF DIRECT VIOLENCE 4. FEAR OF SWART GEVAAR ...................................................................................................... 42 4.1. Direct Violence ........................................................................................................... 47 4.2. The psychology behind black-on-white violence ....................................................... 51 4.3. Does literature perpetuate racial stereotypes and fear of violence? ....................... 55 CHAPTER FOUR: REPRESENTATIONS OF STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE 5. THE DEPRIVATION TRAP ......................................................................................................... 59 5.1. Land-theft as recurrent theme in South African literature ....................................... 60 5.2.
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