This thesis examines works written about imprisonment by
four South African political prison writers who were incarcerated
for political reasons. My Introduction focuses on current
research and literature available on the subject of political
prison-writing and it justifies the study to be undertaken.
Chapter One examines the National Party's policy pertaining to
the holding of political prisoners and discusses the work of
Michel Foucault on the subject of imprisonment as well as the
connection he makes between knowledge and power. This chapter
also considers the factors that motivate a prisoner to write.
Bearing in mind Foucault's findings, Chapters Two to Five
undertake detailed studies of La Guma's The Stone Country, Dennis
Brutus's Letters to Martha, Hugh Lewin's Bandiet and Breyten
Breytenbach's The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist,
respectively. Particular emphasis is placed on the reaction of
these writers against a repressive government. In addition,
Chapters Two to Five reflect on the way in which imprisonment
affected them from a psychological point of view, and on the
manner in which they were, paradoxically, empowered by their
prison experience. Chapters Four and Five also consider capital
punishment and Lewin and Breytenbach's response to living in a
hanging jail. I contemplate briefly the works of Frantz Fanon in
the conclusion in order to elaborate on the reasons for the
failure of the system of apartheid and the policy of political
imprisonment and to reinforce my argument. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/15480 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Booth-Yudelman, Gillian Carol, Yudelman, Gillian Carol Booth- |
| Contributors | Andersen, M. C. (Mitzi C.) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xi, 337 leaves) |
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