For the past two, and a bit, weeks we have taken a dive into, and dissected “Disgrace” by J.M. Coetzee and “Country of My Skull” by Antjie Krog. Both pieces of literature cover the time of Apartheid in South Africa, which took place between the end of the 40’s and continued until the mid 90’s. Each piece covers different perspectives of Apartheid, with “Country of My Skull” being an amalgamation of accounts from the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and “Disgrace” standing in as a representation of the effect on white South Africans of before, during and after Apartheid.
This past week for our blogs, the class has explored different topics such as what is truth, communal memory, counter narratives and ideas on reconciliation.
Venus and Amanda brought up good points of the appearance of “truth” when analyzing “Disgrace”. They go on to point out how David Lurie in “Disgrace” never acknowledges the truth of what he had done to Melanie, especially during his trial. Venus continues and ties in ideas of truth to our everyday life, and more accurately, the world we live in today, by expressing the idea of how in modern society, the truth is often distorted and hidden and controlled via images and stereotypes.
Aleksei on the other hand goes on to discuss about the idea of communal memory in both “Disgrace” and “Country of My Skull”.
On “Disgrace”, Alexsei elaborates on how David Lurie’s views might may represent the views and resentments of white South Africans and their communal memory after apartheid.
On “Country of My Skull”, he concludes that any of the stories and actors involved show a lack of cohesion in constructing a communal memory due to them trying to do it in a way which would exonerate them of their crimes.
Finally, Geoff looked at counter narratives and metaphors in “Disgrace”. From his blog, I can extrapolate that he came to the conclusion in which he finds that the prominent counter narrative is that of the racial conflict found throughout the apartheid era, as well as in the intruder scene in which Lucy is sexually assaulted.
To close this short summary of the work done by my classmates, I’ll say that both “Disgrace” and “Country of My Skull” are both work that provide and important inside into the apartheid and pose- apartheid era in South Africa. It forces the reader to get uncomfortable and try and imagine the extent to which another human can suffer. Also, by reading more and interacting with accounts of truth and reconciliation, perhaps it can help us here in both Canada and the United States to better do just that, seek the truth and reconcile with it.