'n Alledaagse andersheid : 'n ondersoek na Lauren Beukes se Zoo City as voorbeeld van heterotopiese literatuur
Date
2015-04
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LitNet
Abstract
In hierdie artikel 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. Wertlen (2011:16) sê in ’n resensie oor Lauren Beukes se Zoo City (2010): “Beukes clearly illustrates ‘the liberated imagination’ that the acclaimed academic, Gerald Gaylard, argues can lay the foundations for the resolution of many a complex and sensitive post-colonial tribulation Africa must wrest with.” In haar resensie oor Beukes se roman The shining girls (2013) vra Corrigall (2013:18) of die roman nie bloot ’n rondskuif van die (oppervlakkige) oppervlak van die narratief is nie. Sy voer aan dat die argitektuur van die vertelling in die geval van The shining girls deur geen “grand ideas” onderlê word nie. Verder sê sy dat dit ’n fout sou wees om narratiewe kompleksiteit aan kompleksiteit self gelyk te stel. Na aanleiding van Corrigall se bedenkinge oor The shining girls wil ek vra of Zoo City wel ’n manifestasie van Gaylard se “bevryde verbeelding” is en as sodanig daarin slaag om die kompleksiteite van ons samelewing “oop te skryf” en of dit eerder – soos Corrigall (2013:18) sê – ’n “cop-out” is; “[alleviating] the need to negotiate the sometimes irreconcilable socio-political issues of our times”. In die lig van ’n ontleding van Zoo City as heterotopiese roman maak ek ’n gevolgtrekking oor die ideologiese argitektuur van die roman en gee ’n antwoord op die vraag of Beukes se spekulatiewe fiksie in die geval van Zoo City net nog ’n ontvlugtingsopsie is.
In this article the question is asked whether Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City (2010) manifests the “liberated imagination” that Gerald Gaylard refers to – an imagination that “can lay the foundations for the resolution of many a complex and sensitive post-colonial tribulation” (Wertlen 2011:16) – or whether it takes an easier route in the way that it deals with the complex socio-political issues of the South African context. In order to answer this question I use Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, as well as some useful interpretations and applications of the concept within literary studies, as a framework to analyse the novel.
In this article the question is asked whether Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City (2010) manifests the “liberated imagination” that Gerald Gaylard refers to – an imagination that “can lay the foundations for the resolution of many a complex and sensitive post-colonial tribulation” (Wertlen 2011:16) – or whether it takes an easier route in the way that it deals with the complex socio-political issues of the South African context. In order to answer this question I use Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, as well as some useful interpretations and applications of the concept within literary studies, as a framework to analyse the novel.
Description
CITATION: Van den Heever, A. 2015. 'n Alledaagse andersheid : 'n ondersoek na Lauren Beukes se Zoo City as voorbeeld van heterotopiese literatuur. LitNet Akademies, 12(1):131-151.
The original publication is available at http://www.litnet.co.za
The original publication is available at http://www.litnet.co.za
Keywords
Beukes, Lauren, Beukes, Lauren -- Zoo city -- Criticism and interpretation, Heterotopic literature, Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984
Citation
Van den Heever, A. 2015. 'n Alledaagse andersheid : 'n ondersoek na Lauren Beukes se Zoo City as voorbeeld van heterotopiese literatuur. LitNet Akademies, 12(1):131-151.