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'My Name is Sorrow': Traumas and Transformations in Recent Fictions and Performances from South Africa
Miki Flockemann.
One of the legacies of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been an ongoing debate on attempts to translate traumatic experiences, both personal and public, into a variety of cultural forms. Through a comparative study of texts by different writers I will explore the use value of such acts of translation. What is the relation between representations of violence and renewal, and to what extent does this point to possibilities of new ways of 'being' in a world which seems to be testing received notions of what it means to be human.
Presenters
Miki Flockemann
(South Africa)
Senior Lecturer
Department of English
University of Western Cape
Department of English
University of Western Cape
Miki Flockemann teaches in the English and Cultural Studies Program at the University of the Western Cape. Her primary interest is a comparative study of the aesthetics of transformation. Publications include diasporic writings by women, South African theatre and performance, youth literature and teaching methodologies.
Keywords
- Trauma
- Transformation
- Identity
- Cultural translation
- Fiction
(30 min Conference Paper,
English)