Abstract This paper discusses the impact of apartheid in two stories by South African writer NadineGordimer: "Town Lovers" and "Country Lovers." It looks at the similar theme of both stories relating to the nature of love and the nature of crime and how in each story, a crime is committed by two people who have a relationship with each other that, solely because it crosses racial lines, is a crime.
From the Paper "In her twinned short stories Town Lovers and Country Lovers South African writer Nadine Gordimer asks her readers to consider the nature of love and the nature of crime the two of which can in fact be the same under the apartheid regime of South Africa."
Abstract The paper discusses how NadineGordimer, in her work "A Writer's Freedom", recognizes that any form of communication including writing is never completely free from some form of censorship, restriction or even suppression. The paper examines how, despite this, Gordimer asserts in her work that writers have an obligation and duty to present not only what is truthful and honest, but also their representation of that which occurs in society. The paper further analyzes how, in doing so, according to Gordimer, the writer is set free, free from control, suppression and censorship. The paper concludes that the writer is the one person perhaps in a categorized and segregated society with the power to set himself free and express himself liberally, even facing the political constraints of race segregation and suppression.
From the Paper "Writers have no need according to Gordimer to impose self-limiting censors or suppress their thoughts and concerns. By nature their very work is liberating. The freedom that comes with writing however is not without consequence. Gordimer's assertions regarding the freedom's afforded writers and others in the communication arts comes after a stay in South Africa during the years of Apartheid, where censorship and suppression of freedoms and beliefs were commonplace."
Abstract This paper discusses NadineGordimer's "Once Upon a Time", which looks at issues of prejudice and discrimination. The author focuses on reasons for Gordimer's success and her understanding of racial conflict. Her work includes both fiction and non-fiction and she won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for Literature.
From the Paper "Once upon a time by Nadine Gordimer provides valuable insights about prejudice and discrimination that can be applied to any society, how individuals can take responsibility in reducing societal misunderstandings. The story illustrates the irony in thinking that building fences provides security and solves societal problems. The story asks readers to consider the fences that every society builds. Nadine Gordimer, a white South African, won the 1991 Nobel Prize for literature. Born in 1923, she grew up amidst the turmoil of the beginnings of apartheid policies."
Abstract This paper introduces and discusses the books, "So Long a Letter" by Mariama Ba, "Devil on the Cross" by Ng?g? wa Thiongo and "July's People" by NadineGordimer. Specifically, the author discusses and explains gender and family in "So Long a Letter," the aspects of Colonialism and Imperialism in "Devil on the Cross," and cultural freedom and integrity in "July's People."
From the Paper "In "So Long a Letter," Mariama Ba writes of Ramatoulaye, a Senegalese schoolteacher in her 50s, whose husband decides to take a second wife without Ramatoulaye's knowledge. Of course, the new wife is younger and prettier than Ramatoulaye, and her husband's selfish move devastates her. The book is written in the form of a touching and emotional letter to her best friend from childhood, someone she feels she can trust. "We walked the same paths from adolescence to maturity, where the past begets the present" (Ba 1). "
Abstract The paper examines the themes of exploration and denial, as we see the reality of two young girls entering a world where two cultures compete with one another. The paper analyses how the two girls become caught in the struggle between these two cultures and how their friendship suffers because of it.
Abstract In this article, the writer reviews the book "Burger's Daughter" by NadineGordimer. The writer explores many of the issues in the book, including the arrest of political prisoners. The writer also discusses the anti-apartheid movement supported in South Africa by many people, including white liberals and leftists.
From the Paper "In the novel 'Burger's Daughter', Nadine Gordimer tells the story of a young woman's slowly evolving identity in the turbulent political environment of South Africa before the end of white rule and the apartheid system in that country. Her father's death in prison after being convicted of treason for opposing many of the laws that helped make the apartheid system function, and her mother's death left Rosa Burger alone to explore the intricacies of what it actually means to be Burger's daughter in a nation divided by apartheid ..."
Tags: Book review, apartheid, anti apartheid movement, racism, Sotuh Africa, ANC, Mandella, race laws
A look at how a shift in power in South Africa takes the master status away from the white family, and how this is paralleled on a national and personal scale.
2,465 words (approx. 9.9 pages), 1 source, 2000, $ 75.95
From the Paper "The novel, July's People, by Nadine Gordimer tells the story of a family in South Africa who is forced to seek refuge in the jungle village of their trusted African servant, July. At the time, in both the city of Johannesburg and throughout the entire nation, blacks were starting a revolt in response to the harsh treatment brought down on them by the whites who controlled all aspects of their lives. As the fighting began to increase and spread the Smales, a white liberal family, decide that they need to abandon their home, fearing the possibility of being caught in the violent, chaotic fighting that was beginning to emerge. Trying to leave the country by plane or boat brought the risk of being caught and/or killed by black guerillas. Seeing no other option, the parents, Bam and Maureen, have July transport their family, in their bakkie, to his village. During the duration of their stay there, in Johannesburg and throughout South Africa, a shift in power takes place. Control is gradually shifted from the whites to the blacks. Meanwhile, in the village, a shift in power eventually takes the master status away from the Smales, and gives it to July. These two shifts in power happen extemely similarly, one on a national level, the other on a much smaller scale. The shift in power in Johannesburg parallels the shift between the Smales and July, very closely. "
Tags: black, South, Africa, white, Johannesburg, power
An analysis of the novel "The House Gun" by NadineGordimer which describes the life of a rich white South African couple whose life is turned upside by a family tragedy.
Abstract The writer of this paper examines the novel from a different perspective than the usual analysis of racism and apartheid in South Africa. Rather, it analyzes "The House Gun" with respect to the way traditional roles in a marriage are reversed in this book. It shows how the role reversal in the couple's marriage is especially exhibited in the ways in which they cope with their son's trial and imprisonment.
From the Paper "As Gordimer quickly points out on page 16 of this book, ?This is not a detective novel.? And indeed, this book is not a detective novel, or even a mystery, in the traditional sense of the word. There is no question as to who has committed the crime: there is no doubt whatsoever that Duncan did it. What is a mystery are the deep-seated reasons why Duncan committed the murder (obvious motivation aside). The book explores these reasons as well as the effect having to cope with the tragedy, the trial, and its aftermath has on Harald and Claudia."
Tags: trial, relationship, racism, apartheid, reversal, role
Abstract Ironically, widely known post-colonial literature is written in English - the language of colonizers and the dominant class. The post-colonial writers like Rushdie and Gordimer question the authority of the dominant class in the language of the dominant class. A sense of the lack of direction and ceaseless crises of the post-colonial societies drive them toward creating new identities. This essay discusses how Rushdie and Gordimer view the tasks of post-colonial writers in creating new meanings and identities.
Abstract The main characters in James Fogle's "Drugstore Cowboy" subscribe, to various degrees, to what might be called "The Junkie Philosophy." For the bulk of the book, the characters, especially ringleaders Bob and Diane, live their lives with one object in mind--acquiring and taking drugs, especially the high quality drugs located in pharmacies, which they rob. The paper shows that all other activity is insignificant in comparison. They live for drugs. The paper shows that within that fixation on drugs, however, there is indeed a philosophy of sorts which includes a world view, a set of attitudes and behaviors that the characters adopt as expressions of that world view and a sense of higher purpose which is achieved through the exercise of that philosophy.
From the Paper "This philosophy is not a crude one with respect to drugs, but includes a connoisseur's refined appreciation for individual drugs and for the interrelationships of different drugs as they react in the junkie's body and brain. Each addict finds what gives him or her the most pleasure, but for each of them the heart and soul of the junkie philosophy is the experience of becoming and being high. Without that high, there would be no junkie philosophy."
