Nostalgia, Home and Be-longing in Contemporary Postapartheid Fiction by Zakes Mda and Ivan Vladislavić

Nostalgia, Home and Be-Longing in Contemporary South African Fiction: Zakes Mda and Ivan Vladislavić Abstract The dissertation examines the representation of nostalgic longing and the question of home and belonging in selected South African novels by the contemporary writers Zakes Mda and Ivan Vladislavić. I argue that nostalgia is a crucial aspect to be explored in the South African context because it poses uncomfortable questions about one’s sense of belonging in a transforming society and one’s position in the present with regard to a history of colonialism and apartheid. The sentiment of nostalgia and the feeling of displacement bind the selected novels and characters and reveal a deep dissatisfaction with the present. In a comparative study, I show that nostalgia and the question of home have different impacts on the two authors. While the longing for a past home and time supports a reaffirmation of cultural identity in Zakes Mda’s novels, Ivan Vladislavić portrays nostalgia with a critical distance showing that the past is difficult to identify with. Both writers are critical of restorative forms of nostalgia (Boym 2001) and show that home and be-longing are a matter of inclusion and exclusion resulting from a legacy of segregation and Othering. I demonstrate how nostalgia can either contribute to constructively engage with the past and present and envision a future for the South African nation, or how it, on the contrary, can enforce the erection of borders and the (colonial) method of Othering within society.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Universität Bayreuth

Year

2011

Author dc:creator

• Feldbrügge, Astrid

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dannenberg, Hilary

Repository record source_url

https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/361/

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:epub.uni-bayreuth.de:361