How Do I Write in This Strange Place?: The Treatment of Shame and Whiteliness in Contemporary White South African Post-Apartheid Literature

Abstract

Post-apartheid literature is a genre that, in its aesthetic and political complexity, still largely eludes neat definition, but the discussions around its development are various. Many have suggested that the change in literary tradition from the apartheid era has not been very substantial at all. At the 2015 Franschoek Literary Festival, Thando Mqgolozana correctly identified that South Africa’s literary sphere, from published writing to literary festivals, was not demographically representative, and still revolved around serving the interests of white South Africans. Literature is not the only part of post-apartheid South African society that ethically demands the decentring of historical whiteness, and white South Africans are grappling with this moral necessity in various ways. Because many white South Africans feel ashamed of the nation’s racial inequalities, Samantha Vice argues, they are critically assessing their own ways of living and how they are part of the problem. This attitude is evident in much contemporary white South African literature. Here I aim to critically compare two post-apartheid novels by white South African authors: Ken Barris’s What Kind of Child (2006) and Justin Cartwright’s White Lightning (2002). I will interrogate their differing approaches to decentring whites, whiteness and whiteliness, noting not only where they are useful, but also – and more specifically – how both these approaches inevitably fall back into an ingrained white centrality. This article, being a contribution to whiteness studies, also somewhat ironically re-centres whiteness despite its own criticisms. It accordingly aims to both practice and advocate a careful self-reflexivity that may be useful for white South African writing going forward. These analyses will be grounded within existential discussions regarding whiteness and whiteliness, and national post-apartheid rebuilding and development.

Opsomming

Post-apartheid literatuur is 'n genre wat nog steeds sy voete kry, maar die besprekings rondom die ontwikkeling daarvan is uiteenlopend. Baie het voorgestel dat die verandering in die literêre tradisie van die apartheidsera nie baie groot was nie. Tydens die Franschoek-literêrefees in 2015, het Thando Mqgolozana korrek geïdentifiseer dat Suid-Afrika se literêre sfeer nie demografies verteenwoordigend was nie, en steeds daarom gedraai het om die belange van blanke Suid-Afrikaners te dien. Literatuur is nie die enigste segment van die na-apartheid Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing wat die desentrering van historiese witheid eties vereis nie, en wit Suid-Afrikaners worstel op verskeie maniere met hierdie morele noodsaaklikheid. Samantha Vice beweer dat, aangsien baie Suid-Afrikaners skaam voel oor die land se rasse-ongelykhede, hulle hul eie lewenswyses, en hoe hul deel van die probleem is, krities beoordeel. Hierdie houding blyk uit baie kontemporêre wit Suid-Afrikaanse letterkunde. Hier beoog ek om twee post-apartheid romans deur wit Suid-Afrikaanse skrywers krities te vergelyk: Ken Barris se What Kind of Child en Justin Cartwright se White Lightning. Ek sal hul verskillende benaderings tot witmense, witheid en witlikheid ondersoek, en spesifiek daarop let dat albei hierdie benaderings onvermydelik terugval op hierdie ingewortelde wit sentraliteit. Hierdie ontledings sal gegrond wees op eksistensiële besprekings oor witheid en witlikheid, en nasionale herstel en ontwikkeling na Apartheid.