MEMORY, TRAUMA, AND THERAPY IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYS: AN EXAMINATION OF LARA FOOT NEWTON’S REACH! AND CRAIG HIGGINSON’S DREAM OF THE DOG
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ABSTRACT
Using Lara Foot Newton’s Reach! and Craig Higginson’s Dream of the Dog, this study examines how selected South African playwrights employ the themes of memory, trauma, and therapy as a means of recounting the horrific experiences of the apartheid regime, as well as the effects of these experiences on personal, social, and political life and relationships in post-apartheid South Africa. Since Sometimes, literary topics are loaded with ambiguous meanings and allusions. Therefore, they are constantly susceptible to interpretations informed by literary conceptions and theories. The research is based on the idea that, like other post-apartheid South African plays, the chosen plays deal with sensitive subjects relating to memory, trauma, and treatment. This is accomplished by using Freudian psychoanalytic perspectives, which promote a connection between the effect of memory and trauma on a person’s social behavior and literary creativity. It also analyzes how characters’ interiorities influence their behaviors in chosen post-apartheid South African plays. The research contends that playwrights have an important role not only in identifying the South African experience within literary discourse, but also in illustrating the therapeutic approach to the study of South African experiences via their works. Therefore, the research concludes that psychoanalysis gives a fresh viewpoint on the investigation of characters in South African plays. It also finds that memory, trauma, and treatment impact the inner workings of some post-apartheid South African personalities. The research finds, therefore, that psychoanalytic critique is useful for elucidating how interiorities inspire acts in post-apartheid South African plays.
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CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
This research investigates how a selection of South African playwrights
The authors use memory, trauma, and treatment as themes in their writings.
describing the horrific experiences of the apartheid government and its repercussions
Relationships and personal, social, and political life in post-apartheid South Africa
Africa. It is vital to understand that the term that characterizes apartheid fundamentally is
Segregation, the segregation of blacks by whites and their adversaries. Apartheid was a system of discrimination
racial prejudice. According to Mhlauli, End Salani and Rosinah Mokotedi, (2015:
205) “Apartheid is an almost commonly acknowledged term that means “segregation on the basis of race”
the basis of race Furthermore, apartheid was a system of racial discrimination.
Separation or segregation of blacks and whites was also implemented in the regions of
government, labor market, and residence requirements Thus, it was ubiquitous in that it was firmly rooted.
“integral to the economic, social, and political framework of the whole nation.” The
Apartheid tyranny, which, compared to colonialism, is the most abhorrent, and
Nature abhors man’s unnatural role, but man has utilized all of nature’s tools, instruments, and structures.
white minority to establish disproportionate segregation of black majority in society.
Consequently, the repercussions of this awful system are such an experience.
A history of intolerance, brutality, racial hatred, and warlike conditions.
racial connections between blacks and whites. Therefore, life was miserable for blacks.
brutish and little in height. For both black and white South Africans who endured apartheid
x
The hidden reason in this period is unpleasant recollections of this violent and horrible event.
Their connections are defined by their activities and their behavior.
Therefore, using Lara Foot Newton’s Reach! and Craig Higginson’s Dream of
the Dog, this essay examines the playwright’s obsession with the negative effect of
Memory and trauma in South Africa after apartheid. An examination of South African
Literature demonstrates that there is a substantial body of critical works focused at depicting
South Africa’s post-apartheid experience. For instance, researchers such as Mekusi,
Ibing Stephane (2009), Catherine Powell (2010), Clare Stopford (2013), and Busuyi Stephane (2009) (2007)
have mostly examined Post-Apartheid South Africa from a sociological perspective.
viewpoints on the political, cultural, and historical past Greg Homann (2009:26) shares this opinion.
that the chosen plays in this study demonstrate “a new confidence in creating plays in which”
The choice of form complements the authors’ storyline and thematic themes. Hence, he
argues that Foot Newton and Higginson adopt a realist method of depiction in their respective works.
stories”.
Despite the contributions of these efforts, they have not provided enough results.
The chosen articles focus on the psychological aspect of post-apartheid experiences.
plays exemplify. Consequently, this research extends prior techniques by deploying
Psychoanalytic review of Lara Foot Newton’s Reach and Craig Johnson’s
Examples of post-apartheid South African plays include Higginson’s Dream of the Dog. This
Research focuses on how playwrights represent interiorities, which include the
interaction between conscious and unconscious painful memories and conscious efforts to overcome them.
MEMORY, TRAUMA, AND THERAPY IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYS: AN EXAMINATION OF LARA FOOT NEWTON’S REACH! AND CRAIG HIGGINSON’S DREAM OF THE DOG
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