An Analysis Of Coetzee's Waiting For The Barbarians

Improved Essays
Introduction
Although the word ‘Africa’ is often used to indicate one people and one place, the continent is made up out of ethnic groups numbering in the several hundred. Naturally, all these different groups have their own form of communication, and their own cultural heritage, which has been greatly damaged by European colonialization. Indeed, the competition between rival European countries for parts of Africa was relentless, especially during the 1880’s. And, as a result, at the Berlin Conference of 1885 parts of the continent that were conquered, were divided between the European powers. The imposed European demographic borders on the modern African states, created by European colonialists, is just one example of the influence and pressure
…show more content…
Secondly, Gordimer’s novel Burger’s Daughter materialized from the darkest days of apartheid, and the main character Rosa finds herself at a loss in a South Africa that she no longer recognizes: “The central character, Rosemarie Burger, is the daughter of a white communist, who spends much of the novel attempting to escape the political expectations put upon her” (O’Reilly 43). As a consequence, she is, as is the Magistrate in Coetzee’s novel, desperately in search of her own identity and sense of place. The powerful language usage by Gordimer in Burger’s Daughter resulted in a ban from the Directorate of Publications’ censorship committee in South Africa; “Burger’s Daughter is a political novel […] destined to engage political questions […] the central consciousness is very largely preoccupied with public issues” (Boyers 67). Even though, Coetzee’s novel Waiting for the Barbarians addresses similar themes his novel was not banned, because of the fact that Coetzee used more fictive and allegorical language. Gordimer’s novel Burger’s Daughter is explicitly more realistic and politically charged. In an interview with David Attwell, Coetzee stated that he; “regard[s] it as a badge of honor to have had a book banned in South Africa […] This honor I have never achieved nor, to be frank, merited” (Coetzee ed. Attwell 298). Be that as it may, both fictional novels address how distorted and unequal relations between human subjects were created under colonial rule, resulting in a loss of identity for some and a sense of place among the colonized for

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Throughout the time period starting in the 16th century until the late 19th century European contact with Africa stimulated by various motives resulted in a variety of response to the formed relations between the two. An increased amount of trade between Europe and Africa provided an economic motive for Europeans to further their contact with Africa, as shown in Documents 3 and 6. Documents 1 and 4 demonstrate how African Kings and their Kingdoms would undergo cultural changes as a response to this European influence. The desire to expand European power and colonialize Africa emerged as a result of this contact as depicted in Documents 7, 8 and 9. However European presence in Africa was also largely detrimental to native Africans leading to…

    • 1825 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Between 1881 and 1914, the European powers invaded, divided, and occupied the continent of Africa during what is now known as, The Scramble for Africa. In doing so, they disrupted the lives of African people and permanently altered the physical and cultural landscape of Africa. In Basil Davidson’s, “The Magnificent African Cake,” he chronicles the beginning of colonialism in Africa, the impact of European rule on the continent, and the ideologies that justified the exploitation of the African continent and African people. Accordingly, the Europeans justified their exploitation of Africa, her inhabitants and her resources because the Europeans classified African people and their way of life as inferior to the western world.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As the Scramble of Africa prolonged, some African people’s actions and reactions in response to the scramble involved, the use of diplomacy, giving in peacefully, and violent resistance, all in response to European colonization…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Three decades after the Berlin Conference in Africa the European power is now occupied and colonized in Africa this process later evoking the Scramble of Africa. In the nine documents given each has a specific quality that differs AND relates them to one another. Africa has many actions and reactions responding to the European Scramble that has now taken place. Most of these documents are relatable because each try to convey something that went on during this time. All nine documents will show how in fact they can be categorized into two divergent choices, conflict, and serenity due to the scramble.…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During Europe’s Scramble for Africa during 1884-1885, various European countries assembled at the Berlin Conference in Berlin to discuss the borders and territories of Africa each country would take. The Europeans usually gave the leaders of these territories contracts to sign and sum of money in order to gain consent, but the sums of money were usually not as reasonable as thought by the Europeans and the contracts This resulted in varied reactions from African leaders and people themselves. Some reactions were violent or called for violence, and others were those of giving in, submitting, or.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. . The three cultural zones are the Arabic zone in the north, the Sabel zone, and sub-Saharan Africa. The Arabic zone includes the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, the Sahel zone includes the areas dominated by the vast Sahara Desert, and sub-Saharan Africa is the rest of the continent south of the Sahara Desert.…

    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jim Henson is the greatest puppeteer of all time, creating movies and television shows such as Sesame Street, The Muppets Show, and Fraggle Rock. Henson is known for the manipulating inanimate objects to speak and move for his own personal cause, this case entertainment. There is, however, an even greater puppeteer then the late Jim Henson. Great Britain (and other European powers) conquered the continent of Africa during the early 1900’s to strip the land of its natural resources and peoples.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chapter seven of the text book begins with the simple premise, that “the Atlantic world was one of commodities.” (p. 218) This simple statement belies the complexity of the effect that trade had upon the whole of the Atlantic region. It is this complexity that chapter seven attempts to convey within thirty five short pages. Given such limitations the resultant text does an admirable job of conveying many of the basic historiographic ideas relating to the vast repercussions relating to the movement of goods and people throughout the myriad locations of the Atlantic World.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    African American Culture

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The class lectures and discussions in Cultural Anthropology have enhanced my observation of the past, present and future of the many nations of our tiny planet. The semester has left my little grey cells intoxicated with a deeper understanding of how the dynamics of culture continues to change the world. Here is my brief Etic view of the globalization of the African continent. The Afri people have endured many changes throughout its seven million year history.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Brilliant Essays

    Negative Effects Of Imperialism In Africa

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited

    Politically, European imperialism created tremendous conflict among African people, expanded Europe’s colonial boundaries by carving up Africa, and attempted to restructure society, only to leave Africa’s political structure weak and corrupt. Economically, European imperialism destructed Africa’s self sufficiency and increased dependance on colonial powers; strengthened Europe’s own economy, therefore further weakening Africa’s economy; and exploited many raw materials within Africa. Culturally, European imperialism uprooted Africa’s spiritual and traditional values, exploited the people of Africa, and prompted colonial racism. Works Cited Barnes, Andrew. “Economic Parasitism: European Rule In West Africa, 1880-1960.”…

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited
    Brilliant Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Melanie Isaacs, a transition to a new life style The novel Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee takes place in post-apartheid South Africa. The author offers a view of what is happening at the time, suggesting tensions between the races which are embodied mostly by symbols. David Lurie, a representation of “old” white South Africa, will interact with Melanie, his student and this will change his life from there. While the novel’s portrayal of Melanie have many meaningful layers despite her race, she has a role as a symbol of the transition to the new south Africa.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In post-apartheid South Africa although, segregation between blacks and, whites ended there was still tension amongst the citizens. J.M. Coetzee’s novel Disgrace takes place during post-apartheid South Africa. Many characters in this novel represent times during the events after the separation has ended. One of these characters, Melanie Isaacs a student who has an odd relationship with the protagonist of the novel, David Lurie is a minor character that leads the novel into the plot. It is arguable that Melanie Isaacs represents post-apartheid South Africa because she was courageous enough to report the professor to authorities, her denunciations caused the professor to be dismissed from the university, and her broken silence led other blacks…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tanzania went through two phases of colonization; therefore its people went through “double the trouble”. Its first phase was from 1880-1919, which was formerly known as German East Africa, and was seized by Germany in the frenzied “Scramble for Africa” (1 and 7). The second phase began shortly after Germany’s defeat in WWI and it lost its colony to Britain that lasted from 1925-1945 (2). In terms of the cause for colonization, various factors in Europe led its countries to acquire colonies in Africa. In general, Germany, Britain, and other European countries demonstrated their power through acquiring territories around the world and became one of the major reasons why African countries were divided amongst them (1).…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Booker Prize winner and J.M. Coetzee masterpiece, Disgrace, published in 1999 “seems to be a book about endings: the end of rape, the end of morality, and the end of humanity meaning" (Bandici). The novel takes place in the post-apartheid South Africa, where the internal pressures, the anger, the inequalities and the discrimination still haunt the country as the legacy of the previous political system. The controversy behind this novel and how it shows the complex transformation suffered by a society through the eyes of the central character is frightening. Coetzee’s reality is harsh and dark, but only displays one side of the story, “the book was surely intended as a commentary, from a white point of view, for ‘life in the liberated zone,’…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Title: From dominance to alliance concerning cultural relations The Netherlands - Mozambique: The acceptance of Mozambican arts in The Netherlands. 1. Introduction From the fifteenth to the twentieth century, almost all African countries were under colonial dominance, characterised, among other things, by cultural representation of Africans, that is, "we" to mean European and "others" to mean African. Mozambique was no exception in his cultural domination.…

    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays