| dc.description.abstract | The volume of poetry Kleur kom nooit alleen nie (Colour never comes on its own) by
Antjie Krog, is analysed extensively in this thesis. The main focus of the study is the
way in which metaphors associated with boundaries, bordering, transgression and
the crossing of boundaries are used to represent the struggle to come to terms with a
traumatic past and to rethink new possibilities of co-existence in the future.
In the poems the boundaries of the word, the text and the genre of poetry, as well as
geographical and political boundaries and the boundaries of gender, especially the
boundaries instituted by the patriarchal order, are challenged. The narration of
alternative histories to supplement and correct documented history may also be
considered as a boundary-crossing activity. Although colour is the most obvious
metaphor of the divisions between people and is indeed used as the central
metaphor throughout the volume, many other, sometimes more subtle examples of
boundaries and bordering are explored and developed. There is for instance a strong
focus on the psychological complexity of creativity and of writing poetry. The poet's
withdrawal to a liminal zone which incorporates the almost spiritual dimension of her
creative activities clearly forms a kind of leitmotiv in the collection.
The text clearly suggests that the artist as a liminal figure achieves an enhanced
ability to understand the forces at work in a community. Sharing the results of this
insight from the liminal zone with the community implies that the artist can stimulate
innovative processes which will obliterate boundaries and enable people to co-exist
peacefully. Although the crossing of borders in most cases result in being wounded,
there are also the possibilities of recovery and healing. The resultant scars are often
regarded as strong identity-shaping features in people. Krog argues that language
plays a decisive role in processes of reconciliation and that the text itself becomes a
threshold area where different discourses interact and cross-fertilise one another.
The structure of the thesis reflects the theoretical approach and is an attempt to
present a balanced discussion of the aesthetic and the ideological aspects of Kleur
kom nooit alleen nie as a poetic text. Appropriate theories are implemented to do
justice to both the aesthetic qualities and the ideological undercurrents of single
poems as well as the volume as such. Two discourses are therefore superimposed in
order to present an adequate reading of this polyphonic and ambivalent text. 'The
exploration of the varied manifestations of the boundary forms a continuous thematic
line throughout the thesis but related themes such as identity, liminality and hybridity
are also incorporated. On account of the postmodernistic nature of the text, the basic
theoretical framework is that of literary postmodernism, with narrativity of the text,
intertextuality, post-colonialism and feminism as its most significant manifestations. | |
