n Alledaagse andersheid : n ondersoek na Lauren Beukes se Zoo city as voorbeeld van heterotopiese literatuur, met verwysing na Animals people deur Indra Sinha en Ikabod

Date
2016-03
Journal Title
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Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the first part of this thesis Foucault’s concept of heterotopia is used to investigate the difference between narrative complexity and complexity itself. Lauren Beukes’s novel Zoo City is analyzed within the framework of heterotopic literature. The question is asked whether the novel illustrates the “liberated imagination” Gerald Gaylard refers to – “[an imagination that] can lay the foundations for the resolution of many a complex and sensitive post-colonial tribulation Africa must wrest with” (Wertlen, 2011:16) – or whether Beukes’s Zoo City is rather – as Corrigall (2013:18) suggests about The Shining Girls (2013) – a “cop-out; [alleviating] the need to negotiate the sometimes irreconcilable socio-political issues of our times”. In comparison I discuss Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People as an example of heterotopic literature. With this analysis I want to show what the difference is between a novel in which heterotopic spaces and aspects can be found and a novel which constitutes a critical-ethical heterotopia in itself. The second part of the thesis is a novel titled Ikabod. In the novel issues around conservation, decline, and the economy and politics of survival are investigated.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die eerste gedeelte van die tesis gebruik ek Foucault se begrip ‘heterotopie’ as ’n instrument om die verskil tussen literatuur wat op ’n narratiewe vlak kompleks is en literatuur wat ’n dieperliggende kompleksiteit openbaar, te ondersoek. Lauren Beukes se Zoo City (2010) word binne die raamwerk van heterotopiese literatuur ontleed. Die vraag word gevra of die roman die ‘bevryde verbeelding’ waarna Gerald Gaylard verwys – “[an imagination that] can lay the foundations for the resolution of many a complex and sensitive post-colonial tribulation Africa must wrest with” (Wertlen, 2011:16) – openbaar, en of Beukes se spekulatiewe fiksie in die geval van Zoo City ’n ontvlugtingsopsie is, “[alleviating] the need to negotiate the sometimes irreconcilable socio-political issues of our times” (Corrigall, 2013:18)? Ter vergelyking bespreek ek Indra Sinha se Animal’s People as voorbeeld van heterotopiese literatuur. Sodoende wil ek aandui wat die verskil is tussen ’n roman waarin heterotopiese ruimtes en aspekte voorkom en ’n roman wat op sigself ’n krities-etiese heterotopie konstitueer. Die tweede gedeelte van die tesis is ’n roman getiteld Ikabod. Hierin word kwessies rondom bewaring, verval, en die ekonomie en politiek van oorlewing ondersoek.
Description
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2016.
Keywords
Beukes, Lauren -- Zoo city -- Criticism and interpretation, Sinha, Indra -- Animal's people -- Criticism and interpretation, Van den Heever, A. J. -- Ikabod -- Criticism and interpretation, Heterotopic literature, UCTD
Citation