Oorgangsliteratuurgeskiedenis: die illusie van 'n nasionale Suid-Afrikaanse letterkunde

摘要

Literary history in transition: the illusion of a national South African literatureThe transformation of South Africa from a divided country to a unified democracy has created a discourse of ‘one-nationness'. Although this concept may primarily be a politicial ideal, it also encompasses the diverse fields of culture, language and literature. Literary theoreticians and historians may have to fin d a methodology for describing the various literatures in terms of a 'South African literature if such a unified concept can exist where literatures are produced in eleven languages. These literatures, however, also differ in ways of expression, because the cultures and political contexts from which they originated vary. In considering the deficiencies of a recent literary history, this article attempts to determine whether a methodology based on the Foucauldian concept of the discursive formation may be able to combine the various literatures as statements within the narrative of a nation.