South Africa: Cultural and Gender Identities under the Influence of Apartheid

1. South Africa: Cultural and GenderIdentities under the Influence of Apartheid Njabulo Ndebele 

2. Outline • A quiz first ; Schedule Adjustment • General Introd: • Factors of Identity • Njabulo Nedebele • Questions for Discussion • “The Prophetess” • The Boy vs. the Prophetess • The Prophetess’ Lessons • The Passengers on the Bus • The Boy’s Street Experience & his Growth • “The Music of the Violin” • Gender vs. Nation • Education: Racial and Cultural Issues • Conclusion • Note & References

3. Schedule Change South African stories in thematic order 1. Cultural/Social Causes a. "The Prophetess" b. "The Music of the Violin“ c. Cry, the Beloved Country 2. Anti-Apartheid • "Amnesty“ • "The Prisoner who Wore Glasses” • Cry Freedom 3. Violence– “The Day of the Riots” 4. post-Apartheid period – Soweto Green, Tsotsi • Selected Text Wk 1 – “Amnesty” Wk 2 (11/26)– “Violin” & “Prophetess” Wk 3 (12/3)-- “The Day of the Riots,” Yesterday, Introd to the Caribbean Area Wk 4 – Soweto Green

4. Schedule Change Caribbean stories in thematic order 1. Early 19th century Jamaica/Martinique: (pre-)emancipation -- Wide Sargasso Sea 2. Early 20th century Martinique: Sugar Cane Alley 3. 1950’s Jamaica (independence 1962): Abeng 4. 1950’s Antigua (independence 1981)-- Annie John post-Independence: 5. Contemporary society –”Bright Thursday”; “Children of the Sea” (Haiti) Wk 3 (12/3)-- “The Day of the Riots,” Yesterday, Introd to the Caribbean Area Wk 4 (12/10)-- Soweto Green; Abeng Wk 5 (12/17)-- Wide Sargasso Sea Wk 6 (12/24)-- "Bright Thursdays“ & Sugar Cane Alley – both to do with education

5. South Africa: Map

6. Various Racial Identities between Assimilationism & Separatism Gangsters on the Streets The Jewish whites  Boers Vukani’s father Vukani’s mother, Dr. Zwane and his wife Prophetess Vukani & His sister

7. Identity: The Other Factors • Culture – • Traditional culture (e.g. the prophetess, her song and her holy water; inbreeding or close-kin marriage) • Western culture (e.g. violin, ballet, Western foods) • Education (Bantu education – of Afrikaan?) • Gender – sexism –in both stories • Class – “Violin” & “Prophetess” (middle-class; home vs. street)

8. Njabulo Ndebele • Post-1976 writers • Ndebele's writings -- constitutes “a return to more traditional concerns with narrative complexity and literary quality." • Fools: The township life seen through the eyes of a young and sensitive protagonist. (e.g. “The Prophetess”; “The Violin” )

9. Post-1976 Generation –according to Coetzee • Njabulo S. Ndebele: Pay more attention to individual psychology and the influences of tradition. • Mbulo Mzamane – “street writer”… • “Their literary descent is not from the Afro-Caribbean Negritude movement and the West African novel but from a homebred South African journalistic tradition of gritty realism. Their English is lavish, careless, without nuance; in Mzamane's case it bears the marks of a second language. Their stories are probably more in tune with the mood of the townships today--angry, impatient, violent--than are the stories in Fools… ”

10. Ndebele on Children • "South African literature has generally handled the images of childhood as social criticism: • an infant abandoned by its mother. • Friends going against each other. • the entrance of the young in national politics education affected; (i.e. Soweto uprising) • Reconstruction should begin with the recovery of childhood and innocence. (source: http://www.uni-ulm.de/~rturrell/antho4html/Ndebele.html )

11. “Prophetess” • On what is the boy’s attention focused when he visits the prophetess? Are they signs of her spirituality? dog; darkness, vine, his own sensations, memory, doek (African headscarf, 11); camphor (12); her coughing; 2. The people on the bus – How do they relate to each other? And to the prophetess? How are they different from each other?

12. “Prophetess” 3. Compared with the people’s discussion, how does the boy relate to the prophetess? What breaks the spell the prophetess has on him? What does she teach him? What does the ending mean? Re: A story of initiation. The boy gains self-confidence. The other issues: Sangoma + Christianity; home vs. danger on the street. 4. Do you see any traces of apartheid in this story, or seeds of the anti-apartheid movements?

13. "The Music of the Violin" Gender -- • How are the two women (Vukani’s mother and Beatrice) different from the two men (Vukani’s father and Dr. Zwane in the opening scene? What are they each concerned with? • How are Vukani and Toboho treated differently? How does Vukani respond to having visitors at home? Why is he so afraid? • In the two central scenes of conflicts (among the kids, and between the kids and the parents) how are the issues of gender and race mixed together? Do you have similar conflicts with the other kids or with your parents? Education -- • How is “education”—school education and the private lessons-- presented in this story?

14. Time for Group Discussion!

15. “The Prophetess” vs. the boy The boy • fearful of -- dog; darkness, vine, • attentive to -- his own sensations (shiver, warmth from the dog fur), the prophetess’ doek (African headscarf, 11), her coughing (12) • feel relaxed by – the smell of camphor (12); the mats ( his mother); her smile and her knowing his mother (14), memory of his mother (16) • touched by –the religious ambience, her content and her touch (which smells of soap and wax)

16. the prophetess’ lessons • Learn and serve 14 • Always listen to new things; then try to create • the song – “We too will survive the fire that is coming…” • What grows out of the barren wastes has a strength (15) • blessing the water with “the flower of newness” and faith (16) • we are all made of all that is in the world 17

17. The Other Views of the Prophetess • the bus passenger • The mother – try all the possibilities

18. Street Experience • Timi discusses with Biza about a girl the latter claims that he’d “conquered” • a contrast between the two kinds of “liquid” • The boy’s sense of superiority (20) • Accident—bump into a bicycle • feels pain first, then sees/hears the bike-rider • then he realizes the loss of the water

19. The Boy’s Growth • sees thru’ the macho type of heroism • Controls his sense of pain; conquers his fear of being punished because of telling a white lie. • takes the prophetess’ lesson to heal the mother with “the water in the world” (24)

20. "The Music of the Violin" Gender vs. Nation • The men are condescending to the women and their “Housewives’ League.” (97; 98) • “Peace, women of Africa”; their laughter; • Vukani’s father– African nationalism. (96-97)

21. Education vs. Race/Class • Oppressive/Conformist: • Vukani’s homework (104) • Ms. Yende 100 red dress = violin; • the mother (100 how lucky he was) turns her son into Mozart; Mrs. Zwane  her daughter into ballerina • the principal – stone the dog (101) • Resistant – • Mabaso –the teacher at a bush school; dog: chained dog, hungry dog; wandering dog; p. 101

22. Vukani in between the gangs and the “educated” • Conflict I: the other kids’ responses to the violin and his status: • his violin stolen p. 101 –“inspector’s son” • “music man” pp. 104 – Bhuka and the copper bangles

23. Vukani in between the gangs and the “educated” • Conflict 2: reasons – • V. wanted to escape 97; • His anxiety and latent need for rebellion • (book turned into flame 99 & Doksi p. 100); • dream p. 108 (and need for be free) • wish to talk to Toboho • Toboho’s rebellion • the mother’s scolding Toboho, and her view of “relatives” -- 110

24. Conclusion – a central theme • Home vs. Street • street – represented by conformism, sexism and ignorance • home – need of care (mother or sister); another kind of conformism (white assimilationism) • The Children of Soweto – • may be violent, jealous, sexist and ignorant • may in turn learn to find strength from a traditional belief in nature, or a balance between tradition and Western culture.

25. Notes (1) Holy water used by Black Christianity • Many such worshippers take 'holy' water to induce vomiting, allegedly to redress perceived misfortune or demonic possession, or anxieties caused by new challenges or psychosomatic disturbances, or to attend to the known and unknown causes of social deviancy. As Comaroff argues, "sickness and afflictions [are] also religious experiences" (Anderson 35).(Maithufi)

26. References • Coetzee, J.M. “Fools and other stories.” The New Republic, Dec 22, 1986 v195 p36(3). •  Maithufi, Sope.  ”Black Christianity as intellectual resource in Njabulo Ndebele's Fools and Other Stories” English in Africa, May 2004 v31 i1 p139(9)