Reconstruction of atrocities through fiction in Namibia: An evaluation of Mari Serebrov's Mama Namibia and Lauri Kabuitsile's the scattering
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Date
2019
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The study explored how fiction represents atrocities and the resilient tactics devised by people who experienced trauma during the 20th century Herero Genocide as presented in the two selected Namibian novels in English. The purpose of the study was to explore how traumatic avenues are chronicled in fiction through the two selected novels and to investigate how fiction portrays trauma and resilience in a Namibian context. The study further examined the coping and resilient strategies that the victims in the novels adopted. This study can help in archiving the literary representations of the painful and traumatic impact of the 20th century Herero genocide in Namibia. The study adds to the existing knowledge on the traumatic experiences which prevailed during the Herero genocide as well as the body of knowledge on the trauma novel. The study further contributes to the field of knowledge on contemporary postcolonial studies, which will become a useful reference tool to students, politicians, the general public and academics studying Namibian and African literature in general. The study was a desktop study, which adapted the qualitative research approach. Content analysis was used as an approach to analyse the two novels. The two novels were purposively selected and analysed. The textual analysis was informed by two theoretical frameworks – the trauma theory and resilience theory. These are lenses through which the African critic can investigate and explore traumatic atrocities and resilience techniques. The findings concluded that fiction creates a new, unique, individual world through acts of imagination, through a language that feels inevitable and through commanding forms. Writers were able to fictionalise Namibian traumatic events, past and present, to conscientise the readers.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of arts in English studies
Keywords
Fiction, Atrocities, Resilient strategies, Reconstruction of atrocities