“An Ontological Crisis”: Sartre’s Gaze and Being-for-Others in Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light
Abstract
This article on Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light uses as its point of departure her remark that “there must be an ontological crisis [for play-whites] that nobody can talk about, because officially they don’t exist”. Jean-Paul Sartre’s notion of Being-for-Others, as well as W.E.B. du Bois’s and Franz Fanon’s work on black double consciousness, frame my contention that, for the two central characters Helen and Marion, the gaze of other people is at the root of their “ontological crisis” or destabilisation of being. In the article I develop my own interpretation of Sartre’s theory of the gaze and distinguish between two potential forms of the look, which I call the prejudiced-look and the critical-look. I argue that the experience of for-Others, depending on the nature of the Sartrean look, has the potential to trigger either an inescapable alienation from self (in the case of Helen) or a development of self (in the case of Marion). So, for instance, Helen’s exposure to the prejudiced white gaze results in her physical and mental deterioration, whereas Marion’s experience of the critical gaze enables constructive internal changes. Ultimately, my article aims to shed new light on the complex dynamics of the gaze, intersubjectivity, and ontological anxiety in the racially charged space of South Africa.
Opsomming
Hierdie artikel oor Zoë Wicomb se Playing in the Light het as vertrekpunt haar opmerking dat “daar ’n ontologiese krisis moet wees [vir mense wat wit speel] waaroor niemand kan praat nie omdat hulle amptelik nie bestaan nie”. Jean-Paul Sartre se idee van Wees-deur-Ander, sowel as W.E.B. du Bois en Franz Fanon se werk oor swart dubbele bewustheid is die agtergrond vir my betoog dat, vir die twee sentrale karakters, Helen en Marion, die kyk van ander mense aan die hartjie van hul “ontologiese krisis” of die destabilisering van hul bestaan lȇ. In die artikel ontwikkel ek my eie interpretasie van Sartre se teorie van die kyk en onderskei tussen twee potensiȅle vorme van die kyk. Ek verwys daarna as bevooroordeelde-kyk en kritiese-kyk. Ek redeneer dat die ervaring van deur-Ander, afhangende van die aard van die Sartre-kyk, die potensiaal het om óf ’n onafwendbare vervreemding van self (in Helen se geval) óf ’n ontwikkeling van self (in Marion se geval) aan die gang te sit. So byvoorbeeld, veroorsaak Helen se blootstelling aan die bevooroordeelde wit kyk haar fisiese en geestelike agter-uitgang, onderwyl Marion se ervaring van die kritiese kyk weer die geleentheid tot konstruktiewe interne verandering bied. My artikel het uiteindelik ten doel om nuwe lig te werp op die komplekse dinamika van die kyk, intersubjektiwiteit en ontologiese verontrusting in die rassisties gelaaide Suid-Afrikaanse ruimte.
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