Novels of Transition: Counter-Narratives in André Brink’s Imaginings of Sound

• Authors: Grzęda Paulina
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

Examining the preoccupation with history in contemporary South African fiction, this article focuses on the way André Brink undertook the task of imaginatively rewriting South African past in his first post-apartheid novel, Imaginings of Sand. It explores a variety of counter-narratives to the dominant historical discourse of the country’s violent past that the text offers and seeks to inscribe the novel into the wider context of South African literature of transition. Contrary to what a number of literary critics have asserted, the article sets out to prove that far from claiming any form of ideological primacy, Imaginings of Sand and its counter-narratives, through a variety of subversive and contestational techniques, not only encourage the reader to deconstruct the dominant historical discourse of South African past but also undermine reliability of any type of historical or literary discourse whatsoever.

Keywords

André Brink; literature; South Africa; post-apartheid novel; counter narrative

• Publisher: Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw
• Journal: Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies
• Year: 2012
• Issue: 21/1
• Pages: 75-94

Contributors

author

Grzęda Paulina

• University of Warsaw

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