Browsing by Author "Petersen, Charlise Wall"

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    A fragmented history: Visual sites of trauma in Zoë Wicomb's works of fiction
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Petersen, Charlise Wall; Wittenberg, Hermann
    Words cannot express my gratitude towards my supervisor, Dr Hermann Wittenberg, whose patience, words of encouragement, and outstanding feedback challenged my growth, and gave me the confidence to complete this thesis. I am also grateful for The University of the Western Cape which has always been a welcoming space to conduct my research, and for the Arts Faculty and English Department staff members whose professionalism and passion for learning helped to shape the academic I am today. I am indebted to the generosity of the A.W. Mellon Foundation which allowed me academic freedom, and without which I would not have accomplished this goal. I also wish to offer sincere thanks to my supportive friends and family, both nationally and internationally. Their prayers, texts and words of encouragement truly kept me going. In addition, I would be remiss not to offer a special word of thanks to my amazing mother who is unwavering in kindness and love, and whose support and enthusiasm carried me through the tough times. I hope this achievement makes her proud. I am also grateful for the support of my wonderful husband. He kept me smiling and motivated, carrying the load with me. I am thankful for his loving patience which made this task less daunting. Most chiefly, I owe this achievement to my God whose faithfulness I lean on, and who gave me this passion for academia and writing. All glory belongs to Him.
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    A fragmented history: visual sites of traumav in Zoë Wicomb's works of fiction
    (University of the Western cape, 2024) Petersen, Charlise Wall; Hermann, Wittenberg
    This thesis examines key works of fiction by the South African author Zoë Wicomb, re-reading them as engagements with the country’s traumatic apartheid past. A crucial argument advanced is that Wicomb’s prose makes trauma readable and visible through several explicitly visual moments. The thesis argues that Wicomb creates pictures in words, shedding light on the traumatic struggles of people in apartheid and post-apartheid settings and that such ekphrastic descriptions of visual media can make visible states of inner being. Such pivotal visual moments in her fictions include references to images such as photographs, art, and sculpture, but also hallucinations, dreams, or visions. These visual descriptions in the fictions do not only point to historical traumas and acts of violence against black bodies, but are themselves narrated in a broken, dismembered, and discontinuous way, thereby staging a collapse of language. The thesis argues that Zoë Wicomb’s works of fiction consistently explore correspondences between literature and various visual media and that this is one of the hallmarks of her authorship.