MA (English) / Department of English

Thesis (MA (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The noticeable popularity of contemporary German novels set in Africa, as well as the many similarities between these novels, provided the cause for this investigation. Especially the large number of autobiographies, biographies, novels, television productions and films featuring a white female protagonist raised some questions regarding the cause of the popularity of this character. The aim of this thesis is to try and answer some of these questions based on a close analysis of two particular female characters in two contemporary German novels set in Africa. A short overview of the research done on popular fiction, colonial German literature and the history of the white woman in Africa in literature will be given. Theoretical points of departure involve a discussion of the aims and effects of popular fiction in general, as well as a look at how German colonial Fantasies, as found in colonial Literature, are being propagated by contemporary Literature set in Africa, specifically with regard to the representation of the white female Protagonist. Further theoretical background will be provided by a brief appraisal of Gender Studies and Postcolonial Studies. Furthermore, a considerable part of the research for this thesis involved the reading of several contemporary popular German novels. Ein Land, das Himmel heißt (2002) by Stefanie Gercke and Die weiße Jägerin (2005) by Rolf Ackermann were selected as prime examples for closer analysis. In this thesis the two female protagonists of the selected novels, Jill Court and Margarete Trappe, will be analysed in order to identify and interpret a pattern followed in the representation of the white female protagonist in Africa in general. A central aspect of the depiction of this protagonist is her ability to cross boundaries between stereotypical representations of both masculinity and femininity. Therefore, she is a versatile character, allowing a large number of readers to identify with her. However, her capacity to cross such boundaries is limited to a certain extent and she never oversteps the boundaries far enough in order to surpass her lover when it comes to strength, knowledge, and maturity. The conclusion of this study is that both the versatility and the limitations of this protagonist explain her immense popularity as a new literary stereotype.

This study explores the notion of female cultural difference in the context of dominant patriarchal and other oppressive patriarchal structures. Essentially, its focus is on deconstructing stereotypical images of women, who are often perceived as homogenous. Throughout the study I argue that as much as their sensibilities are varied, African and African American women respond differently to the oppressive conditions they find themselves in. The following selected texts provided the opportunities for exploring and evaluating the genealogy of female cultural difference that is central to my research: Anthills of the Savannah (Chinua Achebe); Scarlet Song (Mariama Ba); The Joys of Motherhood and Kehinde (BuchiEmecheta); Their Eyes Were Watching God (Nora Zeale Hurston); Bitches Brew and Seven Steps to Heaven (Fred Khumalo). In the process of analyzing these texts, I demonstrated that the notion of cultural difference is often narrowly and erroneously construed. I discovered that the protagonists in these texts are not only conscious of their oppressed condition but often adopt strategic agency to contest male privileges that silence them. In pursuit of this critical perspective, I have proceeded to apply relevant theoretical frameworks constructed by Cornel West, Hudson-Weems, Bakhtin and a conflation of others whose philosophical tenets support the major theoretical frameworks. The aforementioned literary critics have enabled me to come up with a more comprehensive and richer analysis of the set texts. In my analysis I have advanced the argument that female visibility manifests itself variously and temporally through individual and sometimes sisterly attempts at empowerment, self- definition and esoteric discursive features. I noted that all this is evidence of the nascent creative potential in African women who refuse to be silenced. In my analysis of the Seven texts I have incorporated, modified and developed some of the insights from critical thinkers who engage in the ongoing debate about female cultural difference. This approach has enabled me to come up with new insights that ferret out veneers of African women’s rich cultural diversity, in light of the ever changing nature of women’s operational spaces. It is this transcendental vision that basically informs and resonates with my study. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)