A Critical Textual Analysis of Gender Disparities in Reneilwe Malatji’s Selected Short Stories

This article demonstrates the abstractness of the gender theory of motherism posited by Nigerian scholar Catherine Acholonu, showing its weakness as a theory by which to gauge rural women’s experiences in Africa. Using the short stories of South African writer Reneilwe Malatji as literary data, the article argues that gender works in conspiracy with culture, age, marital status and ethnicity to constrain rural women from exiting abusive marriages, speaking up against their husbands’ infidelities, ending dissatisfactory marriages, and fighting poverty. At the same time, Malatji’s short stories highlight the agency of rural women in resisting gender constraints to attain self-empowerment. The article proposes ultimately that a re-theorization of motherism must reflect the harsh realities in rural women’s lives and simultaneously show that alongside the debilitating experiences of patriarchal oppression women are also acting as agents of their own transformation.

Shouting against Silence: André Brink's Voices of Truth

<p>This thesis investigates the notion of 'Truth' upheld by the South African writer André Brink and discusses his deconstruction of the processes of truth-making. I argue that Brink understands fixed narratives, or received 'truth', as constructed to the detriment of alternative narratives, resulting in their subjugation and eventual loss. In response to authoritative discourses, Brink advocates an ongoing and evolving series of challenging narratives which refuse the closure of narrative possibilities. He urges a constant process of un-forgetting and remembering, a contestational activity that undermines the truth-claims of any oppressive group. Three central texts have been chosen as exemplary of Brink's directive to contest fixed truth claims. The first of these, Devil's Valley, offers an opportunity to examine the novelistic (and often postmodernist) blurring of distinctions between binary oppositions such as 'fact' and 'fiction', 'past' and 'present', 'real' and 'unreal'. In undermining the ostensibly dichotomous nature of these pairings, Brink challenges the bases upon which prejudicial systems such as the Apartheid regime rely. In doing so, he reveals the constructions behind both prejudice and hegemonic discourses, and ultimately undermines these foundations. Similarly, Imaginings of Sand provides a means by which to further explore Brink's engagement with prejudice, and most specifically, with the patriarchal oppression of women. I suggest that Brink's female narratives, in which multiplicity and endless possibility are foregrounded, again contest the constraints imposed by a dominant discourse, offering alternative versions. My final textual examination focuses on A Chain of Voices, in which both the polyphonic narration and the thematic content exemplify the concerns discussed previously Brink's usage of various imagery related to oppressive relationships, I claim, provides metaphors for the manner in which binary relationships are co-dependent, rather than dichotomous, undercutting the justifications associated with privileging certain narratives over others. Brink's Truth, I argue, involves an ongoing contestational process of narratorial imagining, a revisionary project central to both the prejudicial environment of Apartheid South Africa, in which much of Brink's work was written, and also to the larger context of prejudice in all its forms and geographical locations.</p>

Shouting against Silence: André Brink's Voices of Truth

<p>This thesis investigates the notion of 'Truth' upheld by the South African writer André Brink and discusses his deconstruction of the processes of truth-making. I argue that Brink understands fixed narratives, or received 'truth', as constructed to the detriment of alternative narratives, resulting in their subjugation and eventual loss. In response to authoritative discourses, Brink advocates an ongoing and evolving series of challenging narratives which refuse the closure of narrative possibilities. He urges a constant process of un-forgetting and remembering, a contestational activity that undermines the truth-claims of any oppressive group. Three central texts have been chosen as exemplary of Brink's directive to contest fixed truth claims. The first of these, Devil's Valley, offers an opportunity to examine the novelistic (and often postmodernist) blurring of distinctions between binary oppositions such as 'fact' and 'fiction', 'past' and 'present', 'real' and 'unreal'. In undermining the ostensibly dichotomous nature of these pairings, Brink challenges the bases upon which prejudicial systems such as the Apartheid regime rely. In doing so, he reveals the constructions behind both prejudice and hegemonic discourses, and ultimately undermines these foundations. Similarly, Imaginings of Sand provides a means by which to further explore Brink's engagement with prejudice, and most specifically, with the patriarchal oppression of women. I suggest that Brink's female narratives, in which multiplicity and endless possibility are foregrounded, again contest the constraints imposed by a dominant discourse, offering alternative versions. My final textual examination focuses on A Chain of Voices, in which both the polyphonic narration and the thematic content exemplify the concerns discussed previously Brink's usage of various imagery related to oppressive relationships, I claim, provides metaphors for the manner in which binary relationships are co-dependent, rather than dichotomous, undercutting the justifications associated with privileging certain narratives over others. Brink's Truth, I argue, involves an ongoing contestational process of narratorial imagining, a revisionary project central to both the prejudicial environment of Apartheid South Africa, in which much of Brink's work was written, and also to the larger context of prejudice in all its forms and geographical locations.</p>

The 'Cockroach' Waste and Wasted Life in World Literatures in English

In this essay I intend to pursue a comparative reading of three postcolonial texts – in their intertextual and counter-canonical relationship with Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915) – that deal with the ethics, but also the aesthetics, of the relationship between humans and animals. By doing so, and with the help of the Kafkian critical apparatuses, particularly Deleuze and Guattari’s critical contribution (1986), which will be the core of this study, I will also examine the nexus between literature and the environment, with particular emphasis on waste, also taking into consideration the paradigms of necropolitics (Mbembe 2003) and of écart (Jullien 2012). Kafka’s Curse (1997), by South African writer Achmat Dangor, Cockroach (2008) by Canadian-Lebanese Rawi Hage, and Blackass (2015) by Nigerian Igoni Barrett will be here analysed and scrutinised.

SUSTAINBLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE EDUCATION TO COMBAT EPIDEMIC IN ‎"L'ANNÉE DU LION" OF DEON MEYER

Several years ago, before the emergence of the Corona virus that continues to ‎sweep the world. A south African writer Deon Meyer predicts the coming of a virus ‎that will kill 95% of the world's population.‎ This virus is a mixture of a human virus and a bat virus. It is almost the same thing ‎we are experiencing right now.‎ Our work is based on a study of the story " L'Année Du Lion".‎ We focus on the friend ship son father. The education of gaining freedom and ‎courage in the challenge of disease, defending the rights of others for the birth of a ‎multinational society. Our research is divided into two parts.‎ The first part will be about the concept of education in this story and the second part ‎about sustainable development that analyse Deon Meyer‎. Keywords: Sustainble Development, Education, Epidemic.

Le Griot Dans La Litterature Postcoloniale: Une Etude De Guelwaar De Sembene Ousmane

Le griot dans la société traditionnelle africaine de l’ère précoloniale est un personnage complexe chargé d’une myriade de fonctions. Il est bien respecté et honoré. La présente étude se donne l’objectif d’examiner profondément la peinture du griot dans la littérature africaine postcoloniale utilisant Guelwaar de Sembène Ousmane comme texte de base tout en établissant ses fonctions et ses portraits. L’étude privilégie quelques théories critiques comme le postcolonialisme, les théories marxiste et féministe. De plus, l’examen s’effectue à la lumière de l’image du griot d’antan et des sept catégories de nouveaux griots postulés par Ifeoma Mabel Onyemelukwe. Nous découvrons deux types de griot dépeints par Ousmane dans Guelwaar : le griot personnage littéraire nommé Guelwaar et le griot écrivain contemporain africain, Sembène Ousmane lui-même. Ces deux griots entretiennent des rapports de similitude et de divergence avec le vrai griot. Mais le griot écrivain contemporain africain ressemble beaucoup plus au griot d’antan en dépit des points de divergence. Nous finissons par déceler dix-huit fonctions du griot et par-là arriver aux dix-huit portraits du griot dans Guelwaar dont le griot bibliothèque publique bien documentée et le griot détenteur de la littérature écrite africaine postcoloniale. Nous parvenons à la conclusion que la littérature postcoloniale, comme l’atteste Guelwaar de Sembène Ousmane, se caractérise par une revalorisation des valeurs authentiques, honorables et louables du griot de caste. Ceci est symbolisé par l’apparition du griot personnage littéraire dans certaines oeuvres de la littérature écrite postcoloniale africaine comme Guelwaar et surtout la prééminence accordée aux griots écrivains contemporains africains tel Sembène Ousmane. The griot, in the traditional African society is a complex personality charged with multiple functions. He is well respected and honoured. The objective of the present research is to make an in-depth study of the depiction of the griot in post-colonial literature using Guelwaar as study text while establishing his functions and portraits. Postcolonialism, Marxist and Feminist theories constitute the theoretical framework. Furthermore, the examination is carried out in the light of the image of the real griot and the seven categories of new griots promulgated by Ifeoma Mabel Onyemelukwe. It is found that Sembène Ousmane depicts two types of griots in Guelwaar, namely: the griot as literary character named Guelwaar and the griot as contemporary African writer, Sembène Ousmane, himself. These two griots have certain similarities and differences with the real griot. But the findings show that the griot as contemporary African writer resembles more the real griot, their points of disparity notwithstanding. Eighteen functions and eighteen portraits of the griot are established, among which are: the griot as well documented library and the griot as custodian of written postcolonial African Literature. A firm conclusion is reached, that postcolonial literature, as reflected in Sembène Ousmane’s Guelwaar, is characterized by the revalorization of the real griot’s authentic, honorable and praise-worthy values. This is symbolized in the projection of the griot as literary character in some literary works like Guelwaar and in particular, the preeminence given to griots as Contemporary African writers as typified by Sembène Ousmane.

‘Undoubtedly Love Letters’? Olive Schreiner’s Letters to Karl Pearson

Letters have sometimes been assumed to be a private form of life writing, and certainly many of the South African writer Olive Schreiner’s (1855–1920) letters have been read in this way. However, her letters trouble any simple, binary notions of public and private. This article offers a re-reading of Schreiner’s letters to the statistician and founder of the Men and Women’s Club, Karl Pearson (1857–1936). It argues that the dominant reading that has been made of these letters as ‘unrequited love letters’ needs rethinking, for when these letters are considered in their entirety and contextualised as part of Schreiner’s wider extant letters, and when the intertwining of their public and private aspects is recognised, it becomes clear that a considerably more complex interpretation of her letters is required, and that this has implications for reading letters more generally.

The Philosophical Perspective of the Poems of Maria Ajima: The Instance of Cycles

Philosophical writings and poetic rendition are both human endeavour that are universal in outlook as well as specific to indigenous societies. They are insightful discourses that contribute to learning, knowledge and sustained intellectual development of a society’s human resource. Philosophy and poetry exist in Africa’s complex of cultural mechanism and provide the foundation as well as the sustenance of Africa’s indigenous knowledge reservoir. African literature and its poetry specifically, portray perspectives of life from the experiences of the African writer who most times functions as the voice and intellectual conduit of his society. A Poetic vision of life is committed in a rendering that is philosophic and depicts shared experiences of the members of a society. Cycles by Maria Ajima is a collection of poems by a Nigerian writer. The poems provoke the reader to confront daily life issues by redressing them from the standpoint of logical reasoning, stark presentation and an existential position. The paper surmises that in this collection of poems the writer combines the aesthetic mode with a philosophic outlook that is essentially African to situate poetry as an indigenous enterprise that advances intellectual development.

J.M. Coetzee and Elizabeth Costello: Landscapes and Animals

The South African writer John Maxwell Coetzee is well-known for references to animals in his fiction, also given the fact that he and one of his well-known characters, Elizabeth Costello, raise awareness of the cruelty enacted on animals. Many studies have been conducted on Coetzee’s animals, but less attention has been placed on the settings and landscapes in which the animals are situated. Hence, this study aims at understanding the role of the landscapes surrounding the animals via an ecocritical approach. The paper focuses on Coetzee’s fiction featuring Elizabeth Costello, namely, The Lives of Animals (1999), Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons (2003), Slow Man (2005), and Moral Tales (2017) by identifying the animals and by discussing the related settings and landscapes. The research concludes that, despite the presence of several animals, there are almost no references to animals in pristine habitats, that most of the animals are in anthropized settings, and that animals’ and humans’ suffering are hidden in a shared landscape. This understanding is discussed as an ecological message about the interlinkages between the human and nonhuman worlds and between animals’ and humans’ wellbeing, also referring to the animal/human interconnectedness within the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emecheta, Buchi

Buchi Emecheta (1944–2017) was a Nigerian writer, born in Lagos to a seamstress mother and a railway worker father. Emecheta’s early ambition was to get an education, like her brother Adolphus. Orphaned early in life, a scholarship to a coveted high school gave her the opportunity she wanted. Married at sixteen to Sylvester Onwordi, she joined him in London in 1962. Their marriage soon ended because of Onwordi’s physical and mental abuse. By the age of twenty two, she was a single mother with five children. Her first novel, In the Ditch, published in 1972, chronicled the struggles of Adah, who represented Emecheta’s own alter ego, in raising children in the slums of London. Overall, Emecheta published over twenty books, which frequently centered on a black woman’s experience. Many of her novels revisit the same themes and draw inspiration from her life. There is perhaps no other African writer in whose works their own biography is centered as much as it is in hers. Her work illuminates her life while her life informs her work. Her life and fiction feed one another to the extent that her novels are often referred to as “fictionalized” accounts of her life. Although Emecheta was a symbol of the modern African woman, she rejected being called a feminist. If she were to be called a feminist, it had to be “feminist with a small letter ‘f’.” A term she would have accepted for herself as well as for her strong female characters would have been Obioma Nnaemeka’s “nego-feminism,” a feminism of Africa, of negotiation, and a no ego feminism.