The pregnant man: race, difference and subjectivity in Alan Paton�s Kalahari writing
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Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis, co-published with Unisa Press
Abstract
In South African imaginative writing and scholarly research, there is currently an extensive
and wide-ranging interest in the �Bushman�, either as a tragic figure of colonial history, as
a contested site of misrepresentation, or even as an exemplary model of environmental
consciousness. Writing and research about �Bushmen� has not only become pervasive in
the academy, but also a site of controversy and theoretical contestation. It is in this context
that this paper investigates the meaning and significance of �Bushmen� for Alan Paton, one
of South Africa�s most well-known writers. Paton�s writing is not usually associated with
�Bushman� studies, yet this article shows that the �Bushman� became a highly charged and
ambivalent figure in his imagination. Paton�s problematic ideas are contextualised more
carefully by looking at the broader context of South African letters. The article initially
analyses Paton�s representation of �Bushmen� in his Lost City of the Kalahari travel narrative
(1956, published in 2005. Pietermaritzburg: KZN Press), and also discusses unpublished
archival photographs. A study of the figure of the �Bushman� throughout the entire
corpus of his writing, ranging from early journalism to late autobiography, allows us to
trace the shift of his views, enabling us to reflect not only on Paton�s thinking about racial
otherness, but also gauge the extent to which his encounter with the Kalahari Bushmen
destabilised his sense of self, finally also preventing the publication of the travelogue
Description
Keywords
Bushmen, Ethnography, Kalahari, Paton, Alan, Photography, Travel writing
Citation
Wittenberg, H. (2010). The pregnant man: race, difference and subjectivity in Alan Paton�s Kalahari writing. English Acadamy Review: Southern African Journal of English Studies, 27(2): 30-41