Afstand en belewenis: liminale ruimtes en oorlewing in Niggie deur Ingrid Winterbach

Abstract

Distance and experience/endurance: liminal spaces and survival in Ingrid Winterbach’s Niggie (Cousin)

In this article aspects of Ingrid Winterbach’s novel, “Niggie” (“Cousin”), which is set against the backdrop of the last months of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) are analysed. The geographical (spatial) and psychological isolation of the characters and the influence of the historical situation on the psyche of the characters are discussed. Special attention is paid to the relation of the characters to nature. The main characters seem to find themselves in a series of liminal situations. The war experiences force them to accept the inevitable, but also to find ways and means to transcend personal and collective trauma. Though they do change irrevocably and have to exploit their own creativity and psychological resources to the utmost, they do survive and eventually continue their lives under more normal circumstances. The novel explores the experience of trauma and the possibility and quality of survival, but the sensitive analysis of the human aspects of the specific historical circumstances has a wider resonance – so that the novel can be regarded as a historical novel about the future.