Moolla, FionaFick, Cornelia Elizabeth2023-02-202024-03-252023-02-202024-03-252022https://hdl.handle.net/10566/9626Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThe critical-reflective component of the novel The Buried Chameleon explores the background to the writing of the novel, how I conducted my research, the challenges of writing a historical and contemporary dual narrative, why I chose the romance genre and the application of the theory of romance as national allegory in a South African context to my work. The objective is to consider how slavery shaped love relations in early South Africa while indirectly continuing to influence the construction of contemporary identities. My novel positions itself in relation to a number of local and international intertexts about slavery. Local intertexts comprise five historical novels, namely, Islands (2000) by Dan Sleigh, Turning Wheels (1937) by Stuart Cloete, An Instant in the Wind (2008) by Andr� Brink, Unconfessed (2007) by Yvette Christians� and The Slave Book (1998) by Rayda Jacobs, all of which highlight romantic relationships in ways that read history through concerns contemporary with the writing of the novel.enCovid-19Public healthFictionSlaverySouth AfricaUniversity of the Western Cape