Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels

Xenophobia is increasingly recognized as a serious and worldwide social phenomenon. It is considered as one of the challenging concerns that threaten the social fabric in South Africa. This study focuses on xenophobic representations which are highlighted in selected contemporary South African...

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Main Author:	Abdullah, Alshajlawi Mustafa Mohammed
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2021
Subjects:	Xenophobia in literature South African fiction Literature - History and criticism
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/99200/1/FBMK%202021%2012%20IR.pdf
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id	my-upm-ir.99200
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-upm-ir.992002023-04-11T01:17:40Z Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels 2021-07 Abdullah, Alshajlawi Mustafa Mohammed Xenophobia is increasingly recognized as a serious and worldwide social phenomenon. It is considered as one of the challenging concerns that threaten the social fabric in South Africa. This study focuses on xenophobic representations which are highlighted in selected contemporary South African novels. Previous studies on xenophobia in South African fiction have focussed mostly on the economic and social factors of the phenomenon, however they neglected citizenship attitudes, postcolonial and apartheid legacies. The selected literary texts reflect xenophobia as one of the social concerns that refute the notion of Rainbow Nation that Mandela promised his people to achieve in post-apartheid South Africa. The study argues that the pervasiveness of xenophobic violence in post-apartheid is a result of citizenship attitudes, xenophobic state politics, and the incomplete decolonization from apartheid legacy. I seek to examine the xenophobic violence against black foreigners as reflected in works of fiction through the portrayals of African protagonists living in South Africa. The novels in consideration are: Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001) by Phaswane Mpe, No Time Like the Present (2012) by Nadine Gordimer, Zebra Crossing (2013) by Meg Vandermerwe, and Evening Primrose (2017) by Kopano Matlwa. The three Postcolonial concepts of Michael Neocosmos’ citizenship and Frantz Fanon’s decolonization and subjectivity are applied as a conceptual framework to investigate the motives behind xenophobic violence against black foreign characters in the aforementioned texts as the selected data for this study. The study also explores how the concepts of citizenship, decolonization, and subjectivity are reflected in the novels through the black African characters’ experiences in South Africa. The study is based on a textual analysis of the protagonists’ experiences, behaviors, thoughts, and speeches by focusing on how African foreigners undergo oppression, racial prejudice, and xenophobic violence as reflected in the novels. The findings reveal that the appearance of xenophobia in post-apartheid is a result of state politics of citizenship and the incomplete decolonization from apartheid legacy. More significantly, the study falsifies the notion of the Rainbow Nation as the findings conclude that South African characters utilize xenophobic violence as a resistance strategy to form their identities and subjectivities. Xenophobia in literature South African fiction Literature - History and criticism 2021-07 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/99200/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/99200/1/FBMK%202021%2012%20IR.pdf text en public doctoral Universiti Putra Malaysia Xenophobia in literature South African fiction Literature - History and criticism Kaur, Hardev
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection	PSAS Institutional Repository
language	English
advisor	Kaur, Hardev
topic	Xenophobia in literature South African fiction Literature - History and criticism
spellingShingle	Xenophobia in literature South African fiction Literature - History and criticism Abdullah, Alshajlawi Mustafa Mohammed Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels
description	Xenophobia is increasingly recognized as a serious and worldwide social phenomenon. It is considered as one of the challenging concerns that threaten the social fabric in South Africa. This study focuses on xenophobic representations which are highlighted in selected contemporary South African novels. Previous studies on xenophobia in South African fiction have focussed mostly on the economic and social factors of the phenomenon, however they neglected citizenship attitudes, postcolonial and apartheid legacies. The selected literary texts reflect xenophobia as one of the social concerns that refute the notion of Rainbow Nation that Mandela promised his people to achieve in post-apartheid South Africa. The study argues that the pervasiveness of xenophobic violence in post-apartheid is a result of citizenship attitudes, xenophobic state politics, and the incomplete decolonization from apartheid legacy. I seek to examine the xenophobic violence against black foreigners as reflected in works of fiction through the portrayals of African protagonists living in South Africa. The novels in consideration are: Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001) by Phaswane Mpe, No Time Like the Present (2012) by Nadine Gordimer, Zebra Crossing (2013) by Meg Vandermerwe, and Evening Primrose (2017) by Kopano Matlwa. The three Postcolonial concepts of Michael Neocosmos’ citizenship and Frantz Fanon’s decolonization and subjectivity are applied as a conceptual framework to investigate the motives behind xenophobic violence against black foreign characters in the aforementioned texts as the selected data for this study. The study also explores how the concepts of citizenship, decolonization, and subjectivity are reflected in the novels through the black African characters’ experiences in South Africa. The study is based on a textual analysis of the protagonists’ experiences, behaviors, thoughts, and speeches by focusing on how African foreigners undergo oppression, racial prejudice, and xenophobic violence as reflected in the novels. The findings reveal that the appearance of xenophobia in post-apartheid is a result of state politics of citizenship and the incomplete decolonization from apartheid legacy. More significantly, the study falsifies the notion of the Rainbow Nation as the findings conclude that South African characters utilize xenophobic violence as a resistance strategy to form their identities and subjectivities.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Doctorate
author	Abdullah, Alshajlawi Mustafa Mohammed
author_facet	Abdullah, Alshajlawi Mustafa Mohammed
author_sort	Abdullah, Alshajlawi Mustafa Mohammed
title	Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels
title_short	Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels
title_full	Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels
title_fullStr	Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels
title_full_unstemmed	Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels
title_sort	xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid south african novels
granting_institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate	2021
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/99200/1/FBMK%202021%2012%20IR.pdf
_version_	1776100304081649664

Xenophobia and the fallacy of the rainbow nation in selected post- apartheid South African novels

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