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If Gordimer's story "the moment before the gun went off" is Apartheids epitaph is Trevos noahs memoir "born a crime" its postscript or its rewrite?
These two texts both have the same "meaning" that literature is power, but they both go about it so differently. Trevor Noahs memoir uses humor and multilingualism to dismantle the racial boundaries of Apartheid while Gordimers reveals the deadly consequences of apartheid's unspoken truths.
Noah's memoir uses humor to subvert apartheids dehumanizing labes, (e.g: describing his birth as a crime) forces the reader to come to terms with apartheid through absurdity. a literary act of defiance.
noah's code switching between different languages like xhosa, zulu and Afrikaans mimics the memoirs larger theme of a fluid identity. Compare this to Gordimers static third person voice that traps her characters in racial tropes.
**Silence as Complicity**
\- Gordimer’s detached third-person perspective mirrors apartheid’s bureaucratic violence. Phrases like ‘it was an accident, of course’ (opening line) drip with dramatic irony—we (the readers) knows Marais is lying, but the system demands the lie.
\- Even the title can be seen as a literary landmine. "the moment before" is echoing apartheid deterministic racial logic.
When Gordimer writes "the black man was his friend" the word friend is hollow. the withheld truth, revealed later, that the victim was maria's son exposed how apartheid erases family and kinship.
Compare all this to Noah's memoir and you'll see that it aligns with Bakhtins concept 'Heteroglossia' Noah's polyphonic voices disrupt apartheid's monologue while Gordimer's monolithic narration reflects its oppression.
For me it seems that these texts offer a masterclass in narrative resistance while Noah's memoir, with its exuberant voice, proves that language can be like a crowbar used to pry open apartheid's cracks. Gordimer's chilling story shows what happens when that crowbar isn't used.
Sorry if it seems a bit incoherent or rambling at moments. i wrote this on the buss omw to class :) let me know how you see the parallels and connection between these two texts and how they utilize narration and literature theory to show how we can use language.
#entertainment
These two texts both have the same "meaning" that literature is power, but they both go about it so differently. Trevor Noahs memoir uses humor and multilingualism to dismantle the racial boundaries of Apartheid while Gordimers reveals the deadly consequences of apartheid's unspoken truths.
Noah's memoir uses humor to subvert apartheids dehumanizing labes, (e.g: describing his birth as a crime) forces the reader to come to terms with apartheid through absurdity. a literary act of defiance.
noah's code switching between different languages like xhosa, zulu and Afrikaans mimics the memoirs larger theme of a fluid identity. Compare this to Gordimers static third person voice that traps her characters in racial tropes.
**Silence as Complicity**
\- Gordimer’s detached third-person perspective mirrors apartheid’s bureaucratic violence. Phrases like ‘it was an accident, of course’ (opening line) drip with dramatic irony—we (the readers) knows Marais is lying, but the system demands the lie.
\- Even the title can be seen as a literary landmine. "the moment before" is echoing apartheid deterministic racial logic.
When Gordimer writes "the black man was his friend" the word friend is hollow. the withheld truth, revealed later, that the victim was maria's son exposed how apartheid erases family and kinship.
Compare all this to Noah's memoir and you'll see that it aligns with Bakhtins concept 'Heteroglossia' Noah's polyphonic voices disrupt apartheid's monologue while Gordimer's monolithic narration reflects its oppression.
For me it seems that these texts offer a masterclass in narrative resistance while Noah's memoir, with its exuberant voice, proves that language can be like a crowbar used to pry open apartheid's cracks. Gordimer's chilling story shows what happens when that crowbar isn't used.
Sorry if it seems a bit incoherent or rambling at moments. i wrote this on the buss omw to class :) let me know how you see the parallels and connection between these two texts and how they utilize narration and literature theory to show how we can use language.
#entertainment
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