The Role Of Apartheid In South African Literature

South African history is defined through numerous migrations, political and racial violence, territorial conflict and a long-standing inter-ethnic rivalry. The disparate, widespread and complex origins of the South Africans have been an essential topic in the postcolonial literature. The identity of the colonizer and the colonized, the Self and the other, the center and the margin have been crucial concepts in postcolonial theory. The representation and construction of identity in South African Literature is unprecedented due to the structured policy of apartheid- making it the an icon of post colonialism. In order to represent the ‘othering’ and stereotypes two highly acclaimed white South African writers have been chosen; Olive Schreiner

Schreiner’s perspective on The South African Boer is distinctive, her affirming that the white Afrikaans speaking peasant is the most typically South African. She starts by detecting the Boer’s history in terms of space and time. Space in her text evolves as a substantial index of the character of the Boer and according to Schreiner, the Boer is distinctive from his modern Yankee, Canadian or Australian counterpart as he shows no connection to Europe as a home (van Wyk 90). The Boer’s passion for movement, change and rebellion against the constraints with which the cultured environment blocks and crumbles the life of the individual is complementary to the uncontaminated plains of South Africa. Their individuality as orphans, exiles and adventurers is thus demonstrated through their love for the physical country- South

The fixation on the race problems and have eventually led to the creation of an authentic style of literature. The late 19th century Thoughts on South Africa draws on the formation of the Boer identity, Olive Schreiner addressing them as ‘’the most typical’’ South Africans. The statement in itself has strong colonialist connotations, as the Boers were culturally, ethnically and linguistically different from the native South Africans. Portraying a minority group as typical South African is condescending as it takes away from the native culture and reality. Considered an Enlightened author at the time, Schreiner’s writings still fall under the stereotypical maintained writings, aimed at distorting the reality and promoting a one-sided view. Written almost one hundred years after Thoughts on South Africa, Coetzee’s Foe, a fictional novel has been considered a staple of the post-colonialism writings. Set up in the 17th century and under blurred geographical locations, the thematic space is easily transferable to the apartheid period in South Africa. Concepts of mimicry, othering and the subaltern are present throughout the book. Coetzee however, does not draw on the experience of the Africans as he is aware that it would be subjective. This represents a new paradigm in the South African literature, a dialectic between ‘history as a fiction’ and ‘history as