Whiteness and the narration of self: an exploration of whiteness in post-apartheid literary narratives by South African journalists

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dc.contributor.advisorBrown, Duncan
dc.contributor.authorScott, Claire
dc.contributor.otherDept. of English
dc.contributor.otherFaculty of Arts
dc.date.accessioned2013-07-19T09:25:28Z
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-27T09:17:49Z
dc.date.available2012/12/06 10:10
dc.date.available2012/12/06
dc.date.available2013-07-19T09:25:28Z
dc.date.available2024-03-27T09:17:49Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.descriptionPhilosophiae Doctor - PhDen_US
dc.description.abstractDrawing on broader discussions that attempt to envision new ways of negotiating identity, nationalism and race in a post-colonial, post-apartheid South Africa, this thesis examines how whiteness is constructed and negotiated within the framework of literary-journalistic narratives. It is significant that so many established journalists have chosen a literary format, in which they use the structure, conventions, form and style of the novel, while clearly foregrounding their journalistic priorities, to re-imagine possibilities for narratives of identity and belonging for white South Africans. I argue that by working at the interstice of literature and journalism, writers are able to open new rhetorical spaces in which white South African identity can be interrogated. This thesis examines the literary narratives of Rian Malan (My Traitor�s Heart, 1991), Antjie Krog (Country of My Skull, 1998, and Begging to be Black, 2009), Kevin Bloom (Ways of Staying, 2009) and Jonny Steinberg (Midlands, 2002). These writers all seem to grapple with the recurring themes of 'history', 'narrative', 'dentity' and in exploring the narratives of their personal and national history, they attempt to make sense of their current situation. The texts that this thesis examines exhibit an acute awareness of the necessity of bringing whiteness into conversation with 'other' identities, and thus I explore both the ways in which that is attempted and the degree to which the texts succeed, in their respective projects. I also examine what literary genres offer these journalists in their engagement with issues of whiteness and white identity that conventional forms of journalism do not. These writers are challenging the conventions of genre - both literary and journalistic - during a period of social and political flux, and I argue that in attempting to limn new narrative forms, they are in fact outlining new possibilities for white identities and ways of belonging and speaking. However, a close reading of these literary-journalistic narratives reveals whiteness in post-apartheid South African to be a multifaceted and often contradictory construct and position. Despite the lingering privilege and structural advantage associated with whiteness, South African whiteness appears strongly characterised by a deep-seated anxiety that stems from a perpetual sense of �un-belonging�. However, while white skin remains a significant marker of identity, there does appear to be the possibility of moving beyond whiteness into positions of hybridity which offer interesting potential for �becoming-other�en_US
dc.description.countrySouth Africa
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10566/9975
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of the Western Capeen_US
dc.rights.holderUniversity of the Western Capeen_US
dc.subjectSouth African identityen_US
dc.subjectCritical whiteness studiesen_US
dc.subjectLiterary journalismen_US
dc.subjectGenreen_US
dc.subjectBelonging/un-belongingen_US
dc.subjectThe �c olonial presenten_US
dc.subjectCultural illiteracyen_US
dc.subjectComplicity, Genderen_US
dc.subjectGenderen_US
dc.subjectTransformationen_US
dc.subjectThe global sanctity of the white bodyen_US
dc.subjectHybridityen_US
dc.titleWhiteness and the narration of self: an exploration of whiteness in post-apartheid literary narratives by South African journalistsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Linguistics, Language and Communication)