The Restless Supermarket Analysis

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Often in post-colonial South African literature the traumas of the past come to surface in the present. This dynamic between the past and the present not only demonstrates the magnitude of the past, but also shapes the possibilities of the future. These moments are often captured through an explosive, apocalyptic lens which is reflective of death and the violent trauma of the past. The Restless Supermarket by Ivan Vladislavic and Thirteen Cents by K. Sello Duiker showcase these destructive moments in which the past emerges into the present in order for foundational change to occur. Ultimately, these moments of transition from the destruction and violence of the past toward the newness and possibility of the future are not limited to the …show more content…

The protagonist Azure, who turns thirteen years old in the novel, is representative of youth, newness, and potential in regard to the future in a world where, “The old is dying and the new cannot be born”. Gramsci’s words illustrate the cusp of change which South Africa sits on; a space where the ‘old’ and past are no longer existing yet no new change has occurred. This waiting period of tension and advancement toward change is reflected by Duiker throughout the novel as Azure grows up as an orphan in what seems to be a stagnant society dependent on and reflective of the past. Azure’s violent life ridden with child sex trafficking and the death of his parents shatters the illusion that the past of South African oppression has been reconciled and that societal change has occurred. A moment which demonstrates the magnitude of the past occurs after Azure escapes the city and finds refuge in the mountains and his world combusts in an apocalyptic manner. While the world is crumbling around Azure, he remains a figure of newness, repeating to himself, “My mother is dead. My father is dead”(Duiker, 189), as he hears a, “booming explosion below that shakes the mountain” (Duiker, 189). The repetition of the death of Azure’s parents is demonstrative of the end of the ‘old’, as well as a time for the new, as suggested by Gordimer. The repetition also illustrates Azure’s way of dealing with the past; his need to constantly acknowledge his parent’s death suggests that the past cannot be repressed nor forgotten. While objects pile up to physically manifest the past in “The Proofreader’s Derby”, Azure’s traumatic memories accumulate emotionally, demonstrating not only that the past can be manifested and interpreted through different mediums, but also illustrating the privilege of each

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