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Journal ArticleDOI

Subversion versus Inversion: The Loss of the Carnivalesque in Janet Suzman's The Free State

05 Sep 2013-Journal of Literary Studies (Taylor & Francis)-Vol. 29, Iss: 3, pp 82-98
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of the carnival as developed by Mikhail Bakhtin is used to investigate the effect of post-colonisation drama on post-colonial drama.
Abstract: SummaryAccording to Gilbert and Thompkins (1996: 5), postcolonial drama is aimed at dismantling the hierarchies and determinants that create binary oppositions in postcolonial contexts and – according to Young (2001: 4) – also actively transforming the present “out of the clutches of the past”. This dismantling can, however, only occur when the inevitable ambivalence of postcolonial binaries are taken into account (Gilbert & Thompkins 1996: 6). In her text The Free State (2000a), Janet Suzman attempts to appropriate Chekhov's dismantling of power structures in The Cherry Orchard (1904) within the South African context. However, although The Free State is written against the former apartheid regime, it fails to dismantle the hierarchies within its context because it negates the vital carnivalesque subversion of Chekhov's text. Instead of subverting the hierarchies in her context, Suzman merely inverts them. In this article, the concept of the carnival as developed by Mikhail Bakhtin is used to investigate ...
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TL;DR: In 2013, the South African literary awards reflected the range of books published, with each of the main awards going to a different book as mentioned in this paper, and a wide range of novels were published; there was an increase in the short stories in print; strong new voices emerged and many books gained both popular and critical attention.
Abstract: 2013 was a good year for South African literature, particularly for fiction. A wide range of novels were published; there was an increase in the short stories in print; strong new voices emerged and many books gained both popular and critical attention within South Africa and internationally. A number of authors who impressed with their debuts have now followed up with strong second or third novels. Names such as Lauren Beukes, Amanda Coetzee, Gareth Crocker, Jassy Mackenzie, Angela Makholwa, Brent Meersman, Niq Mhlongo, Kgebetli Moele, Nthikeng Mohlele, Gail Schimmel, Steven Boykey Sidley, Fiona Snyckers, Meg Vandermerwe, James Whyle and Rachel Zadok move from “names to watch” to a new generation of established South African writers. This year sees a number of impressive debuts, ensuring that there will be no shortage of new voices. Maren Bodenstein, Dominique Botha, Carol Campbell, C.A. Davids, Perfect Hlongwane, Charlie Human, Ron Irwin, Alex Latimer, Songeziwe Mahlangu, Maria Phalime and Claire Robertson are particularly noteworthy. The South African literary awards reflected the range of books published, with each of the main awards going to a different book. The Sunday Times Award for Fiction was won by Claire Robertson for The Spiral House, with The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, False River by Dominique Botha, Penumbra by Simphiwe Mahlangu and Wolf, Wolf by Eben Venter shortlisted. It is worth noting that three of the shortlisted books were debuts (Robertson’s, Botha’s and Mahlangu’s). Nadine Gordimer was honoured with a lifetime award from the Sunday Times. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Prize went to Lauren Beukes for The Shining Girls, with The Sculptors of Mapungubwe by Zakes Mda, Stepping Out by Steven Boykey Sidley and Sister-Sister by Rachel Zadok shortlisted. The Debut Prize went to Dominique Botha for False River, with The Blacks of Cape Town by C.A. Davids, Jozi by Perfect Hlongwane and The Spiral House by Claire Robertson shortlisted. False River and Wolf, Wolf by Eben Venter were among several books issued simultaneously in

28 citations

References
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01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: The postcolonial and the post-modern: The question of agency as discussed by the authors, the question of how newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12.
Abstract: Acknowledgements, Introduction: Locations of culture, 1. The commitment to theory, 2. Interrogating identity: Frantz Fanon and the postcolonial prerogative, 3. The other question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism, 4. Of mimicry and man: The ambivalence of colonial discourse, 5. Sly civility, 6. Signs taken for wonders: Questions of ambivalence and authority under a tree outside Delhi, May 1817, 7. Articulating the archaic: Cultural difference and colonial nonsense, 8. DissemiNation: Time, narrative and the margins of the modern nation, 9. The postcolonial and the postmodern: The question of agency, 10. By bread alone: Signs of violence in the mid-nineteenth century, 11. How newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12. Conclusion: 'Race', time and the revision of modernity, Notes, Index.

18,201 citations

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TL;DR: The postcolonial and the post-modern: The question of agency as mentioned in this paper, the question of how newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12.
Abstract: Acknowledgements, Introduction: Locations of culture, 1. The commitment to theory, 2. Interrogating identity: Frantz Fanon and the postcolonial prerogative, 3. The other question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism, 4. Of mimicry and man: The ambivalence of colonial discourse, 5. Sly civility, 6. Signs taken for wonders: Questions of ambivalence and authority under a tree outside Delhi, May 1817, 7. Articulating the archaic: Cultural difference and colonial nonsense, 8. DissemiNation: Time, narrative and the margins of the modern nation, 9. The postcolonial and the postmodern: The question of agency, 10. By bread alone: Signs of violence in the mid-nineteenth century, 11. How newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times and the trials of cultural translation, 12. Conclusion: 'Race', time and the revision of modernity, Notes, Index.

14,727 citations

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01 Jan 1973

2,783 citations


"Subversion versus Inversion: The Lo..." refers background in this paper

  • ...(Bakhtin 1973: 101) Bakhtin (1973: 139) also explains that carnival relativises “everything that was externally stable and already formed”, through which ideas can break “out of their self-enclosed hierarchical nests”....

    [...]

Book
16 Jul 2001

1,433 citations

Book
01 Jan 1985
TL;DR: Advertising the American Dream as mentioned in this paper explores the two decades when advertising discovered striking new ways to play on our anxieties and to promise solace for the masses, as American society became more urban, more complex, and more dominated by massive bureaucracies, the old American Dream seemed threatened.
Abstract: It has become impossible to imagine our culture without advertising. But how and why did advertising become a determiner of our self-image? "Advertising the American Dream" looks carefully at the two decades when advertising discovered striking new ways to play on our anxieties and to promise solace for the masses. As American society became more urban, more complex, and more dominated by massive bureaucracies, the old American Dream seemed threatened. Advertisers may only have dimly perceived the profound transformations America was experiencing. However, the advertising they created is a wonderfully graphic record of the underlying assumptions and changing values in American culture. With extensive reference to the popular media - radio broadcasts, confession magazines, and tabloid newspapers - Professor Marchand describes how advertisers manipulated modern art and photography to promote an enduring "consumption ethic."

241 citations