Public and private space in contemporary South Africa: Perspectives from post-apartheid literature

Penfold, Tom 2012. Public and private space in contemporary South Africa: Perspectives from post-apartheid literature. Journal of Southern African Studies 38 (4) , pp. 993-1006. 10.1080/03057070.2012.751182

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Abstract

Starting from a reading of Damon Galgut's The Good Doctor, this article examines the changing nature of social space in South Africa since 1994 as reflected in recent writing by Galgut, Ivan Vladislavić, Jonny Steinberg, K.S. Duiker and J.M. Coetzee. Adapting Mikael Karlström's distinction between ‘dystopian’ and ‘eutopian’ responses to social phenomena, I argue that post-apartheid literature bears witness to the perpetuation of a fundamentally dystopian society. South Africa, by these lights, has seen no significant opening up and making public of space either physically or otherwise. Discussing the urban environment, crime, xenophobia, gender relations and sexuality, the article shows that power remains in the private sphere, with space still constructed in terms of exclusion rather than inclusion.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	0305-7070
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2024 15:34
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/171961

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