The  Modes of Power and Being in Bessie Head’s A Question of Power

Lebohang Bidla

doi:10.25159/1753-5387/19740

Authors

Lebohang Bidla University of South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7965-217X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/1753-5387/19740

Keywords:

apartheid, apparatus, alienation, being, power, Bessie Head, dispositifs

Abstract

This article aims to explore how power and being are interpreted and conceptualised in Bessie Head’s A Question of Power (1974). In the novel, the life of a young woman, Elizabeth, is interrogated as she journeys through personal traumas of alienation, the struggle for self-autonomy, and power dynamics in her life. The novel is set in the context of apartheid rule in South Africa, which presents itself as a critical cause of Elizabeth’s existential crisis. This article examines the life of Elizabeth in conjunction with how power is exercised through what Agamben terms the “apparatus.” The concept of the apparatus is read alongside a Foucauldian lens in order to get a nuanced understanding of the elements that make up an apparatus. In addition, the manner in which Agamben conceptualises the apparatus is cross-referenced with how Foucault conceptualises the dispositif. This article explores Elizabeth’s struggle with alienation and self-autonomy and indicates how her agency is applied as a protagonist that is able to exercise power over others. In the narrative, Elizabeth is depicted as an “apparatus,” and this occurs not by intention and obvious representation but rather as a result of circumstances that surround her life. Essentially, the discussion unpacks how power becomes a commodity that is given or taken away at will and how power dynamics and relations can influence who and how we become.

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