Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of this dissertation is the examination of the relationship between space and
identity in recent narratives of migration, in contemporary African literature. Migrant
narratives suggest that there is a correlation between identity formation and the types of
boundaries and borders migrants engage with in their various attempts to find new
homes away from their old ones. Be it voluntary or involuntary, the process of migrating
from a familial place transforms the individual who has to negotiate new social
formations; and tensions often accrue from the confrontation between one’s culture and
the culture of the receiving society. Return migration to the supposed country of origin
is an equally important trajectory dealt with in African migrant literature. The reverse
narrative stipulates similar tensions between one’s diasporic culture – the culture of the
diasporic space – and the culture of the homeland. Thus, intra- and inter-continental
migrations and diaspora is a bifurcated inquiry that examines both outward and return
migrations. These movements reveal the ways in which Africans make sense of their
Africanity and their place in the world.
The concepts of “border”, “boundary” and “borderland” are useful to examine
notions of difference and separation both within the nation-state and in relation to
transnational, intra-African as well as inter-continental exchanges. I focus more fully on
these notions in the texts that examine migrations within Africa, both outward and return
movements. This study is not only interested in the physical features of borders,
boundaries or borderlands, but also on their consequences for the processes of identity
formation and translation, and how they can help to reveal the social and historical
characteristics of diasporic formations. What undergirds much of the analysis is the
assumption that the negotiation of belonging and space cannot be separated from the
crossing or breaching of borders and boundaries; and that these negotiations entail
attempts to enter the borderland, which is a zone of exchange, crisscrossing networks,
dissolution of notions of singularity and exclusive identities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die fokus van hierdie proefskrif is ‘n ondersoek na die verhouding tussen ruimte en
identiteit in onlangse migrasie-narratiewe in kontemporêre Afrika-literatuur. Migrasienarratiewe
dui op ’n korrelasie tussen identiteitsvorming en die soorte skeidings en
grense waarmee migrante gemoeid raak in hulle onderskeie pogings om nuwe tuistes
weg van die oues te vind. Hetsy willekeurig of gedwonge, die migrasieproses weg van
’n familiale plek verander die individu wat nuwe sosiale formasies moet oorkom, en
spanning neem dikwels toe weens die konfrontasie tussen die eie kultuur en dié van die
ontvangersamelewing. Migrasie terug na die sogenaamde land van herkoms is net so ’n
belangrike onderwerp in Afrika-migrasieliteratuur. Die terugkeernarratief stipuleer dat
daar ooreenkomstige spanning heers tussen ’n persoon se diasporiese kultuur – die
kultuur van die diaspora-ruimte – en die kultuur van die land van oorsprong. Die
ondersoek na intra- en interkontinentale migrasies en diasporas is dus ’n tweeledige
proses wat uitwaartse sowel as terugkerende migrasies beskou. Hierdie bewegings
openbaar die ware maniere waarop Afrikane sin maak uit hulle Afrikaniteit en hulle plek
in die wêreld.
Die konsepte van “grens”, “grenslyn” en “grensgebied” is nuttig wanneer die
begrippe van verskil en verwydering ondersoek word binne die nasiestaat asook in
verhouding tot transnasionale, intra-Afrika en interkontinentale wisseling. Ek fokus
meer volledig op hierdie begrippe in die tekste wat ondersoek instel na migrasie binne
Afrika, beide uitwaartse en terugkerende bewegings. Hierdie studie gaan nie net oor die
fisiese kenmerke van grense, grenslyne en grensgebiede nie, maar bestudeer ook die
gevolge daarvan op die prosesse van identiteitsvorming en vertaling, en die manier
waarop hulle kan help om die sosiale en historiese eienskappe van diasporiese formasies
te openbaar. ’n Groot deel van die analise word ondersteun deur die aanname dat die
onderhandeling tussen tuishoort en ruimte nie geskei kan word van die oorsteek of
deurbreek van grense en grenslyne nie, en dat hierdie onderhandelinge lei tot pogings
om die grensgebied te betree, waar die grensgebied gekenmerk word deur wisseling,
kruising van netwerke en die verwording van begrippe soos sonderlingheid en
eksklusiewe identiteite.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/80117 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Moudouma Moudouma, Sydoine |
| Contributors | Steiner, Tina, Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of English. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | Unknown |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | vi, 196 p. |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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