In this thesis I will examine Marguerite Poland's two novels, Shades (1993) and
Iron Love (1999) in terms of how they provide constructions of identity in a
particular milieu and at a particular time. In order to do this; the thesis will focus
on Poland's historical context and that of her fiction as represented in these two
works. My primary aim is not to present a particular interpretation of colonial
history, but rather to put into perspective personal, social and cultural identities
that emerge from particular periods in South African history, especially as
pertains to the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal, and particularly as illustrated
in Poland's fiction.
My approach would be to look at constructions of identity from a feminist as well
as a Marxist perspective: "To Marx, man was a being whose identity and nature
arose out of his purely practical attempts to make his livelihood in what amounts
almost to a struggle with a hostile, physical environment" (Robertson 1985:204).
This implies that socio-historical conditions are largely responsible for forming
ideology and consciousness, which I will argue, is true for Poland's fiction under
discussion. Poland's own position as a broadly liberal feminist will also be
discussed.
I have chosen the above-mentioned novels of Marguerite Poland not only
because she is one of South Africa's leading contemporary writers of children's
literature and adult fiction and has received numerous awards for her books and
stories; but also because she is a most inspirational and perceptive writer
meriting serious academic study. Her novel Shades (1993) - a matric setwork in
1998, 2001 and 2002 - proved highly successful as a setwork and was
nominated for the MNet Fiction Award. Shades deals primarily with love,
dispossession and identity, and the title itself refers to the spiritual manifestation
of those gone before. Poland chose the title because she was writing about her
own 'shades', her ancestors and the role they played in the small valley of the
Mtwaku River in the Eastern Cape at the end of the nineteenth century (Poland
2000). Her core source was her great-grandmother's diaries, which related
anecdotes about life at the St. Matthew's Mission. In 1999, Poland wrote Iron
Love, again using her great-grandmother's diaries, but she insists that this book
is not a sequel to Shades (Jacob 2002). Furthermore, the main character, Charlie
Fraser, is a descendant of Poland's ancestors. In Iron Love (1999) Poland depicts
the role of colonial private schools in indoctrinating young colonial leaders. The
book \\ subtly questions the humanity inherent in a system teaching the
suppression of emotions, sexuality, individuality, freedom"(Webster 2000:8).
The thesis will open with an introduction outlining reasons for my choice of
writer, her novels to be discussed, and the theoretical approaches I intend using.
I will discuss the life and works of Marguerite Poland in an historical context and
discuss the factors that influenced her in the writing of her novels. In this
chapter I will also discuss identity construction in terms of feminist and Marxist
ideology on patriarchy, religion, and capitalism. Chapter Two and Chapter Three
will focus on a literary analysis of Shades (1993) and Iron Love (1999)
respectively. Both novels demonstrate how identity is shaped by socio-historicaI
forces, which I will analyse in depth in this thesis. Chapter Four will conclude my
thesis further confirming the importance of socio-economic forces in determining
ideology as manifested in Poland's fictional characters and in her own life. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/10539 |
| Date | 31 March 2014 |
| Creators | Jacob, Mark Christopher. |
| Contributors | Stiebel, Lindy. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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