For fair use in a classroom only. Images and quotations

in this presentation are not cleared for republication.

Copyright 2001, 2009, Department of English,

Abilene Christian University.

“In the course of a night watching a

play in a theater," says Athol

Fugard, “you can have a new

thought, a new sensitivity to

something. And if you change

people, you'll end up changing a

society.”

BiographyBiography

• b. 1932 in South Africa

• Grew up in Port Elizabeth, the setting for most of his plays, attended Cape Town University

• 1958 -- Johannesburg, worked as court clerk

– Experience made him aware of injustices of apartheid

– Organized multiracial theater for which he wrote, directed, and acted

BiographyBiography• Attacks on apartheid brought conflict with South

African government

• 1961 -- Blood Knot produced in England, government withdrew passport for 4 years

• 1962 -- Supported international boycott against the South African practice of segregating theater audiences

Postcolonial LiteraturePostcolonial Literature

                                        

              

• Definition: literature from former colonies, dealing

with their gain of independence and identity in the

20th century.

• Nigerian literature, for instance, is postcolonial when

it deals with escape from British control and with the

cultural complications involved.

• Before WWI, European empires (English, French,

Russian, etc.) controlled 85% of the rest of the world.

                                        

              

Above: Colonies color-coded to imperial countriesBelow: British colonies only

South African History

South African History

• Apartheid is rooted in Whites’ historic drive for

control. Republic of the Orange Free State and

South African Republic combine forces against the

British, beginning Anglo-Boer War in 1899.

• June, 1900 -- English invade capital of the so-called

South African Republic, Pretoria

Anglo-Boer War

Anglo-Boer War

• Boers begin guerilla underground war in 1900.

• British responded with concentration camps (shown here) and scorched-earth policy.

• Peace treaty of 1902 favors British. Removes all Boer independence, forces the two Boer provinces to become English.

Anglo-Boer WarAnglo-Boer War

ApartheidApartheid• 1910 -- policy of racial separation introduced through

series of laws (forced menial labor, etc.)

• Other laws remove the right to vote or strike – blacks retain no political rights

• ANC, African National Congress, forms (disorganized resistance and liberation movement)

• After WWII conflict escalates, many blacks form strikes

ApartheidApartheid

• Whites nervous, elect right-wing National Party

and D. F. Malan (1948). Legislation begins:

– Take measures against “black menace”

– Control and regulate all non-white areas

– Inter-racial marriage forbidden

– Segregate everything (public facilities, education, etc.)

ApartheidApartheid

• Fugard’s “’Master Harold’ and the Boys” is set

in 1950, as apartheid laws are being created.

• Soweto Uprising (1976) -- thousands of

demonstrating pupils brutally shot. Police State

emerges

Collapse of ApartheidCollapse of Apartheid

• Old regime collapsed (after many years of

economic and trade embargo)

• Negotiations opened door to first general elections

in South Africa

                                        

              

• 1989 -- President F. W. de Klerk admitted

failure of apartheid policies

Issues in “’Master Harold’”Issues in “’Master Harold’”

                                        

              

• Racism: Apartheid

• Social roles: powerful vs. submissive

• Initiation story (coming-of-age): Will Hally accept

the same White role as his parents?

• Family dysfunction: Hally as peacemaker/enabler

AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

Research and assembly of presentation by

Emily Hardegree, through a grant from the

Adams Center for Teaching Excellence,

Abilene Christian University.

Edited by Dr. Chris Willerton.