Back to the Roots? Forming New Concepts of Women´s Identity in Contemporary Postcolonial Literature Written by Women in Dutch and Afrikaans

Mgr. Martina VITÁČKOVÁ

Doctoral thesis

Abstract:

The project Back to the roots? analyzes women´s characters in contemporary women´s postcolonial writing in Dutch (from the Netherlands) and Afrikaans, focusing on how and where these characters search (and eventually find) their identity in the new/altered situation of the postcolonial society. The concept of the identity of the characters is however not the only aspect that has changed. If we look closely at the analyzed characters, we can observe a development on the three major areas: the bodily element, motherhood and the way of perception of ?the other?. These are, of course, connected with the altered concept of women´s characters which, as I want to argue, are not stuck in the classical Oedipal plot anymore and therefore offer an alternative to the father ? son narrative. By finding a vocabulary that would be able to describe this new plot, the authors of the corpus offer an alternative to the traditional literature where the white heterosexual middle-class male character, presented to the reader as ?the self?, has been the standard. The characters I have taken a closer look at are different from we are used to in literature. They present themselves as ?the other? and at the same as ?self?. These I-narrators acquire in the course of their narration an own voice and subjectivity, even though they keep the position of ?the other? at the same time. They refuse to take in a position in the centre and on the contrary find self-assurance in this marginal position. Hereby the literary characters in contemporary postcolonial women´s literature spread the positive representation of ?the other? and consequently deconstruct the hierarchy within the binary of ?self? ? ?the other?. The authors included into this project´s corpus offer an alternative to how a story can be told about ?the other?, but also about ?the self?, since in their narratives these two are inseparable, intertwined, and more importantly: not in hierarchical order. The I-narrators abandon the hierarchical structure of ?the self? ? ?the other? binary and come with a new, non-hierarchical, concept that recognizes ?the other? in ?the self?. Hereby they put the interrogation process between ?the self? and ?the other? in a radically new perspective. They do not have to assimilate to white male subjectivity in order to become subjects themselves. As this research has shown, and I would like to claim that this is the case of the postcolonial situation globally, the act of becoming a subject is closely connected with language emancipation.

Abstract:

Cílem disertační práce Back to the roots? je nalézt jednu z možných odpovědí na dilema západní společnosti, jak stanovit společensko-kulturní identitu jednotlivce jinak, než na základě hierarchické binární opozice jako je ?já? - ?ten druhý? a zjistit, jak se literární postavy v současné postkoloniální tvorbě s pozměněným systémem binárních opozic vyrovnávají. Tento cíl je realizován analýzou vybraných děl ze současné postkoloniální tvorby autorek v nizozemštině a afrikánštině a analýzou korpusu sestaveného z děl ze stejné oblasti. Analýza se zaměřuje na ženské literární postavy v současných postkoloniálních dílech psaných ženami v nizozemštině (z Nizozemska) a afrikánštině, konkrétně na to, jakým způsobem literární postavy v postkoloniální situaci hledají, resp. nacházejí identitu, jak vymezí sebe sama, když není možné se odvolat na jedinou kulturu. Práce identifikuje způsoby, jakými se současné postkoloniální autorky vyrovnávají se změněnou postkoloniální situací, jak jinak a nově koncipují identitu svých ženských postav. Pozornost je věnována především tomu, jak se mění koncept ?ženy? a ?ženskosti? v souvislosti s ženským tělem a mateřstvím. Tedy aspekty ženské zkušenosti, které byly v majoritním diskursu koloniálního systému, tj. oidipálním narativu, zamlčeny nebo potlačeny.

Keywords

feministická literární teorie, postkolonialismus, ženské autorky, identita, nizozemská literatura, afrikánská literatura

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 1. 3. 2011

Identifier: 165589

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 28. 6. 2011
• Supervisor: Doc. Dr. Wilken Engelbrecht, cand. litt.

PALACKÝ UNIVERSITY IN OLOMOUC

Philosophical Faculty

Doctoral programme / field:
Theory and History of Literature / Theory of Literature