''Senses of Silence'': Historical Trauma in To Every Birth Its Blood

Abstract

The critical reception of Mongane Serote's To Every Birth Its Blood (1981) has over the years been muted and unbalanced in appreciating the novel as a work of great depth. In this article, I argue that a significant aspect that has been overlooked in the study of To Every Birth Its Blood is the presence of historical trauma in the novel and how it in turn shapes the novel's textuality. Through a rereading of the text, I argue that only in understanding the significance of memory and historical trauma might one arrive at a truer reflection on the novel. This intertwinement revolves around the manner in which oppressive laws have rendered South Africa (un)homely for the black population, expressing a sense of dislocation and alienation and a lack of self­worth in the novel's key characters, which change as a new mood and dynamic overwhelm the forlorn atmosphere of the early section to a point at which resistance is posited as the only alternative. Crucially, I will demonstrate that rather than being a novel of disjuncture, the novel is part of a continual process of Serote's project of rendering visible the horrors of apartheid.

Opsomming
Die kritiese ontvangs van Mongane Serote se To Every Birth Its Blood (1981) is oor die jare heen gedemp en ongebalanseerd in die waardering van die roman as 'n diepgaande werk. In hierdie artikel voer ek aan dat die teenwoordigheid van his­toriese trauma en hoe dit die tekstualiteit van To Every Birlh Its Blood be'invloed, 'n belangrike element is wat oor die hoof gesien is by die bestudering van die roman. Deur middel van 'n herlees van die teks, voer ek aan dat slegs wanneer mens die belangrikheid van herinnering en historiese trauma begryp, jy 'n duideliker prentjie van die roman kan kry. Hierdie ineengeweefdheid berus op die manier waarop onderdrukkende wette Suid-Afrika (on)huislik gemaak het vir die swart bevolking en 'n sin van ontwrigting en vervreemdring sowel as 'n gebrek aan eiewaarde in die sleutelkarakters van die roman uitdruk, wat verander soos 'n nuwe stemming en dinamiek die wanhopige atmosfeer van die vroee afdeling oorheers totdat 'n punt bereik word waar weerstand as die enigste alternatief voorgestel word. Dis van kardinale belang dat ek demonstreer dat in plaas daarvan dat dit 'n disjunkte roman is, dit deel uitmaak van die voortgesette proses van Serote se projek om die gruwels van apartheid bloot te le.