This article analyses the debut novels of the Afrikaans writer Kirby van der Merwe and the Surinamese writer Clark Accord. It focuses on the representation of identity and sexuality to posit an image of the individual (specifically the black woman) and finds that ambivalence is displayed; on the one hand established conceptions on identity, specifically race, and sexuality are presented, whilst on the other hand, such notions are contested and / or broadened in the texts. The analysis is grounded in a quest for corresponding features in the (post)colonial experiences reflected in the literatures of two former Dutch colonies, South Africa and Surinam.