Race Relations in J.M. Coetzee's In the Heart of the Country

Discuss race with reference to - In the Heart of the Country. -

In accordance with the Oxford Dictionary ‘race’ is defined as being

‘each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical

characteristics.[1]’ Hence race became an important factor in

postcolonial fiction because race was after all the most obvious

indicator in all colonial situations. ‘While in the Eurocentric world,

skin-colour carries an automatic cultural content, it nevertheless

masks ‘true’ identity. The frustrated desire to make skin colour

identify (which is racism) was a linchpin of colonial authority,

sustaining the cohesiveness of the ruling group.’[2] Plus the

acceptance of racial identities had obviously been unavoidable in the

apartheid state.

Postcolonial literature includes all literature written in English by

writers from the former colonies and I have chosen to focus upon In

the Heart of the Country (1976) by Afrrikaan writer J.M. Coetzee. The

history of Coetzee’s native country has provided him with much raw

material for his work. He is renowned for his eloquent protest against

political and social conditions in South Africa, particularly the

suffering caused by imperialism, apartheid and post apartheid

violence. ‘In the most obvious sense Coetzee, as a white man, is

necessarily associated with the most dominant group in a colonial

society, and as a white man who is also a ‘liberal,’ he is uniquely

vulnerable.’[3]

In the Heart of the Country tells the story of a sheep farmer who

seeks private salvation in a black concubine, it is told through the

eyes and words of his daughter, Magda; who plots and executes a

sinister and bloody revenge. Magda can be interpreted as a medium for

Coetzee to oppose the ord...

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...tical Perspectives on J.M. Coetzee pg 134

[9] For ease of reference I shall use numbers in brackets like this

when referring to different numbered sections from In the Heart of the

Country.

[10] Kossew, Sue Pen And Power.A Post-Colonial Reading of J.M. Coetzee

and Andre Brink y pg 66

[11] Huggan and Watson (eds) Critical Perspectives on J.M. Coetzee pg 132

[12] Each of them brings home a new bride during the course of the

novel, and Hendrik wears the father’s cast off clothes.

[13] Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies

[14] Franz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks (1986)

[15] Stuart Hall, Postcolonial Studies Reader pg 225

[16] G Whitlock Outlaws of the Text in Postcolonial Studies Reader pg 349

[17] Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies

[18] Huggan and Watson (eds) Critical Perspectives on J.M. Coetzee pg 122