Die andersheid van Die verdwaalde land – die waarheid as storie vertel

Abstract

Die verdwaalde land was written by Abraham Phillips, a so-called Coloured man from a South African working class background; someone who has no knowledge of literary conventions. The question arises: how can such a text be read without its uniqueness being affected by biased preconceptions? This article shows that post-structurally inspired theories on colonial discourse reveal perspectives on the complexity within the simplicity of this story. In this analysis of Die verdwaalde land particular emphasis is placed on identifying the framing strategies through which images and presentations of the Self and Other are created. Literary conventions are exposed as mechanisms which demarcate meaning, which in principle do not differ much from the manipulative strategies which define identity in the real world.
Irrespective of nationality and time the line at which light race meets dark is the line at which human sociality is found at the lowest ebb; and wherever that line conies into existence there arc found the darkest shadows which we humans have cast by our injustice and egoism across the earth. (Olive Schreiner - Thoughts on South Africa)