Searching for Words: Towards a Gynocritical Model for the Study of South African Women's Poetry

Abstract

In this article, I will attempt to provide a theoretical model for the feminist study of South African women's poetry. I argue for the use of a socio-historical and contextual approach, one that accepts the "presence" of women as poets and acknowledges their voices and their attempts to define themselves as women and as writers. Using the preliminary work of Anglo-American theorists as a point of reference, I attempt to justify the validity of my model of reading as a means of analysing the poetry written by women in this country.

Opsomming
Hierdie artikel probeer om 'n teoretiese raamwerk op te stel waarbinne 'n feministiese studie van die poësie deur Suid-Afrikaanse vroue geakkommodeer kan word. Die gebruik van 'n sosio-historiese en kontekstuele benadering word bepleit, aangesien die "teenwoor­digheid" van vroue as digters binne so 'n raamwerk aanvaar en hulle stemme en pogings om hulleself as vroue en skrywers te definieer erken word. Met die voorbereidende werk van Anglo-Amerikaanse teoretici as uitgangspunt word regverdiging gesoek vir die geldigheid van die voorgestelde leesmodel as 'n metode vir die bestudering van die poësie van Suid-Afrikaanse vroue.