Tshepang: The Third Testament is a postmodern play written by Lara Foot Newton and Premiered in 2003. It was inspired by a brutal event that devastated a nation; the rape of a nine month old baby. The play is a commentary on suffering, loss but ultimately on hope. Tshepang is based in Louisvaalweg; a crippled and poverty stricken town in the Karoo. Events take place through the art of African storytelling by Simon, the ‘narrator’ who offers a commentary on the lives of all the characters. He shares pained experiences that the characters endure in their lives such as that of the beating of Alfred Sorrows and the self-mutilation of Ruth. The commentary takes a very irreverent approach and serious issues are introduces light-heartedly and playfully. This element lends itself to the postmodern style of the text but also highlights the theme of futility. The minds …show more content…
Therefore the portrayal of the rape is heavily stylised and symbolism is ever present. Lara Foot Newton did not want to make it a factual story but rather there is a deconstruction of the ultimate truth through the use of symbols. This deconstruction of the truth is the way that the rapist is not blamed but rather society needs to reflect on itself and accept the responsibility for what happens in our society. Props are used to portray the rape and therefore serve a multifunctional purpose, once again deconstructing ultimate truths. The broom which is shoved into a loaf of bread symbolises the breaking of a community and also Tshepang’s broken body. This scene, like many others in the text requires much movement and use of the body. Tshepang consists of much vulgarity in movement and the storyteller makes use of space and silence in doing so. Simon, who has a critical relationship with the audience, is bold and imaginative. It is clear Foot Newton was very much influenced by the workings of
The killings made by the slaves are saddening, too. Mutilating the whites and leaving their bodies lying is inhumane. It is such a shocking story. This book was meant to teach the reader on the inhumanity of slavery. It also gives us the image of what happened during the past years when slavery was practised.
The narrator’s father is being freed from slavery after the civil war, leads a quiet life. On his deathbed, the narrator’s grandfather is bitter and feels as a traitor to the blacks’ common goal. He advises the narrator’s father to undermine the white people and “agree’em to death and destruction (Ellison 21)” The old man deemed meekness to be treachery. The narrator’s father brings into the book element of emotional and moral ambiguity. Despite the old man’s warnings, the narrator believes that genuine obedience can win him respect and praise.
The narrator in “Battle Royal”, by Ralph Ellison, is too naive and meek to challenge his place in a society ruled by whites. He is a young, black man trapped in a world blighted with social inequality with limited opportunity to advance in life just because of his race. He is torn apart by his grandfather's advice and by his desire to please members of white society. Ellison uses satire and symbolism to depict the narrators struggle for equality and identity.
To read the Civil War diary of Alice Williamson, a 16 year old girl, is to meander through the personal, cultural and political experience of both the author and one's self. Her writing feels like a bullet ricocheted through war, time, death, literary form, femininity, youth, state, freedom and obligation. This investigation attempts to do the same; to touch on the many issues that arise in the mind of the reader when becoming part of the text through the act of reading. This paper will lay no definitive claims to the absolute meaning of the diary, for it has many possible interpretations, for the journey is the ultimate answer. I seek to acknowledge the fluidity of thought when reading, a fluidity which incorporates personal experience with the content of Williamson's journal. I read the journal personally- as a woman, a peer in age to Alice Williamson, a surrogate experiencialist, a writer, an academic and most of all, a modern reader unaccustomed to the personal experience of war. I read the text within a context- as a researcher versed on the period, genre, aesthetics, and to some degree the writer herself. The molding of the personal and contextual create a rich personalized textual meaning .
... majority of the Black people to the atrocities, injustices and inequalities of their white masters, against which they make no organized protest at all, so she agrees with the reality that the next generations follow almost the same ways observed and adopted by the majority of their ancestors. It is therefore she is of the opinion that the Black people have accepted the slavery and atrocities as their fate. However, Butler’s comments, made through the mouth of her protagonist, serve as half truth in contemporary era, as the modern times witness the movements of liberty and freedom from the exploitations of the Blacks at the hands of the Whites. Somehow, it is also a reality that an overwhelming majority of the Blacks still look under the control and submission of the White population.
Stoltzfus, Ben. “‘Sartre, Nada, and Hemingway's African Stories.’” Comparative Literature Studies. New York: Garrett, 2005. 205-28. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstović. Vol. 117. Detroit: Gale, 142 vols. 214-21. Print.
The initial interaction between Lucy and Cheng Huan at the store creates an interesting dynamic of uneven attraction. Objects and figures within the frame emphasizes this fact, such as an unconscious Lucy in the center. The organization of objects, and set-pieces in the shot is referred to as the setting. As an integral component in mise-en-scene, setting helps locate the actors and even control how the story is. The one-sided adoration prevalent in this scene exemplifies the possible alternative motivations behind Cheng’s kindness. In these shots, Lucy’s face always points towards the camera so that the audience can see both characters clearly, and while Lucy sleeps, Cheng stares at her with considerable intensity. By acknowledging his lust, many of his actions can be interpreted in a completely different way. At (46:22) Cheng ...
A young girl named Linda Brent that grew with the dream of everyone’s childhood Happy, playful and loving. It wasn’t until she grew into his six years when she found out that having a master and/ or a mistress was cruel, A Narrative of a slave girl who grew to hate life. A boy separated after birth from his mother named Frederick Douglass, living a terrible life being punished by his master. He lived unhappily not knowing his age, a narrative by Frederick Douglas who knew there was no way out of slavery. Fighting for life and going through life isn’t the same, but for these two slaves they don’t have a choice but to do both.
Storytelling has a special importance in culture throughout the African continent; Anansi the spider in Ghana, is one great example of an African fable that teaches children important lessons including respect for elders, the importance of wisdom, and the importance of culture. These stories have been retained and perpetuated by oral tradition, despite the western emphasis on written records; African tribes have preserved history and culture well thorough oral historians. The translator, D.T. Niane, explains the validity of oral history well by stating that written text can contain inaccuracies as well (xv). The importance of the oral aspect of djelis method relays the information in a personal manner, as Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate states, “writing lacks the warmth of the human voice,” therefore by creating a written text of an oral story it “does violence” to it (xvi). I was raised in an African community, here in DC and was lucky enough to attend Djeli performances by family friend, Djimo Kouyate, and later his son Amadou. Although I do not speak Manding, Djeli Djimo Koyate, performed the music in such a way that I was able to relate and...
...only known as a funeral flower. This again foreshadows the young bride’s death before her allowance of corruption. The mark on her forehead is a symbol of her mistake, a mistake she is never allowed to forget, this can be linked to the view that women are never allowed to forget a mistake made by them. Angela Carter again shows the position of women in society; once a mistake is made you are an outcast in society. This can also be linked to the biblical reference of Cane, ‘him who became an outcast’.
• AW’s work is deeply rooted in oral tradition; in the passing on of stories from generation to generation in the language of the people. To AW the language had a great importance. She uses the “Slave language”, which by others is seen as “not correct language”, but this is because of the effect she wants the reader to understand.
This speech provides a fair amount of information about the dangers a single story can bring. Therefore, it makes individuals more cautious when it comes to relying solely in the media and believing the stereotypes that are present ubiquitously. In addition, she also makes use of flashbacks in order to put her individual perspective and explain the importance of her view of a single story. She said, “Their poverty was my single story of them.” referring to the houseboy, Fide. Her use of personal anecdotes also places a sense of empathy to the audience, as it is an issue that affected her personally. She demonstrates how the danger of a single story affected her when she talks about her roommate “My roommate had a single story of Africa: A single story of catastrophe”. The idea her roommate had of her depicted Adichie as an incompetent individual who lived in constant fear without knowing how to function a stove, or speak english. Adichie also ends her speech by using rhetorical questions such as “What if we had an African television network..?” “What if my mother had told us that Fide’s family was… hardworking?”. Using rhetorical questions are extremely persuasive as they were are asked with a purpose and intention, making the reader think twice before answering. There was also a presence of the Aristotelian appeals being Ethos, Pathos and Logos. Adichie was able to successfully employ ethos
We live in a world full of crime. Murder, war, robbery, and terrorism all happening in our world today. However to this day, the act of Rape remains to be one of the most controversial. Not that the others are not controversial, but rape has been around for a very long time and still to this day shocks the public. Something that The Handmaid’s Tale shows constantly throughout its intense plot.
Furthermore, understanding the fact of how the villagers in that village practiced and participated in such a barbaric ritual and archaic event were not accepted by people. In addition, people who read the story commented that the modest people of the Midwest are superstitious and backward. Here, Jackson conveyed successfully with her subtle writing style that something is about to happen. She also used a third person point of view when writing this short story. The third person point of view permitted the author to keep the outcome of the story an exposure. This therefore led to the reader to consider everything is well but actually there is something wrong somewhere. Furthermore, what could be seen from the story is people were different compared to present, there is a huge difference in cultural practices. Therefore the actions of the story go in the opposite direction of people’s opinion in the present in terms of value of life, violence and the development of respect in a family.
American Historian and author Trevor Getz reconstructs the narrative, often by inserting fictional events into the story from his own imagination. These fictionalizations do not just reveal cultural contexts for a predominantly western audience, but artistically and emotionally reimagines the potential lived experience of Abina and other historical actors. The early exchange between James Hutton Brew and Quamina Eddoo, for example, did not actually occur. Yet Getz relies on his own imagination to craft a scene representative of the broader historical period. For example, Brew tells Eddoo that “we have ways of getting around these laws” when asked about the legal technicality of slavery”.