The inescapable bond with a predetermined heritage: a phenomenon illustrated by representative characters from three Athol Fugard plays

Abstract

This article has been gleaned from an MA dissertation on Fugard’s portrayal of the Afrikaner. In determining which characters in the English-dominated Fugard plays can safely be categorized as Afrikaners, one is confronted with the dilemma of the Coloured Afrikaner, who shares the language and culture of the Afrikaner, yet is excluded from any real sense of Afrikaner identity. In this article the White and Coloured Afrikaner characters in three Fugard plays are analysed and discussed in accordance with their perception of their bondage to their cultura. I try to illustrate how each character’s decisions and interpersonal relationships are, to a large extent, the result of the witting or unwitting adherence to a cultural identity. The characters discussed are:
Morris, the Coloured brother in The Blood Knof;
Frieda and Errol in Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act; and
Piet, Gladys and Steve in A Lesson from Aloes.
“Man is bound to space and time ... a fact that one should never overemphasize or underestimate.” - (J.H. Coetzee)