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Rewriting the South African Pastoral: Pitfalls of the Plaasroman in Craig Higginson’s The Dream House
English Studies in Africa ( IF 0.3 ) Pub Date : 2019-07-03 , DOI: 10.1080/00138398.2019.1685206
Kirby Manià

This paper will consider Craig Higginson’s The Dream House (2015) as a powerful, albeit problematic rewriting of the South African pastoral. Staging his narrative against the backdrop of a farm currently undergoing redevelopment into a residential complex, his Midlands KwaZulu-Natal setting allows the novel to contemplate the land as an ongoing symbol of belonging and dispossession, precarious labour and anxiety, late capitalism and power in the South African ecological vocabulary. Within the specific context of this narrative, the land itself, the unproductive farm, and the animals bred on it, work collectively as a motif for the perpetuation of environmental racism. The climactic confrontation between white landowner and her black protégé stages a reflection of their failed dialogue over the years and resounds with archetypal significance. Their fraught exchange centres around their, respectively, incommensurate memories of the contested farm – offering Looksmart the opportunity to challenge Patricia’s colonial paternalism towards him and the other black employees. Their conversation in tracking their memories and experiences works to reflect political, racial and environmental change in the postcolony. Taking its cue from the work of J.M. Coetzee (White Writing 1988), this paper will consider the degree to which Higginson’s novel presents a meaningful challenge to the plaasroman as a ‘literature of failure’ and what alternatives it opens up in dealing with relationships between possessors and dispossessed in the South African rural economy.

中文翻译:

改写南非田园牧歌:克雷格·希金森 (Craig Higginson) 的《梦之屋》中 Plaasroman 的陷阱

本文将克雷格·希金森 (Craig Higginson) 的《梦想之家》(2015) 视为对南非田园牧歌的有力改写,尽管存在问题。他的叙述以目前正在重建为住宅区的农场为背景,他的中部夸祖鲁 - 纳塔尔设置使小说能够将土地视为归属和剥夺、不稳定的劳动和焦虑、晚期资本主义和权力的持续象征。南非生态词汇。在这种叙述的特定背景下,土地本身、非生产性农场以及在其上饲养的动物共同作为环境种族主义永存的主题。白人地主和她的黑人门徒之间的高潮对抗反映了他们多年来失败的对话,并具有原型意义。他们令人担忧的交流分别围绕着他们对有争议的农场的不相称的记忆——为 Looksmart 提供了挑战帕特里夏对他和其他黑人雇员的殖民家长式作风的机会。他们在追踪记忆和经历方面的对话反映了后殖民时期的政治、种族和环境变化。从 JM Coetzee(White Writing 1988)的作品中汲取灵感,本文将考虑 Higginson 的小说在多大程度上向作为“失败文学”的普通人提出了有意义的挑战,以及它在处理之间的关系时开辟了哪些替代方案南非农村经济的拥有者和被剥夺者。对有争议的农场的不相称的回忆——让 Looksmart 有机会挑战帕特里夏对他和其他黑人雇员的殖民家长式作风。他们在追踪记忆和经历方面的对话反映了后殖民时期的政治、种族和环境变化。从 JM Coetzee(White Writing 1988)的作品中汲取灵感,本文将考虑 Higginson 的小说在多大程度上向作为“失败文学”的普通人提出了有意义的挑战,以及它在处理之间的关系时开辟了哪些替代方案南非农村经济的拥有者和被剥夺者。对有争议的农场的不相称的回忆——为 Looksmart 提供了挑战帕特里夏对他和其他黑人员工的殖民家长式作风的机会。他们在追踪记忆和经历方面的对话反映了后殖民时期的政治、种族和环境变化。从 JM Coetzee(White Writing 1988)的作品中汲取灵感,本文将考虑 Higginson 的小说在多大程度上向作为“失败文学”的普通人提出了有意义的挑战,以及它在处理之间的关系时开辟了哪些替代方案南非农村经济的拥有者和被剥夺者。后殖民时期的种族和环境变化。从 JM Coetzee(White Writing 1988)的作品中汲取灵感,本文将考虑 Higginson 的小说在多大程度上向作为“失败文学”的普通人提出了有意义的挑战,以及它在处理之间的关系时开辟了哪些替代方案南非农村经济的拥有者和被剥夺者。后殖民时期的种族和环境变化。从 JM Coetzee(White Writing 1988)的作品中汲取灵感,本文将考虑 Higginson 的小说在多大程度上向作为“失败文学”的普通人提出了有意义的挑战,以及它在处理之间的关系时开辟了哪些替代方案南非农村经济的拥有者和被剥夺者。
更新日期:2019-07-03
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