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I Introduction
This paper is extracted from my PhD project, which is informed by postcolonial feminist theories, transnational feminist practices and diaspora theory. The aim of this exploration is to describe a transnational literary aesthetic which seeks to inscribe new, empowered identities and cultural locations for mainly women of South Asian descent. The literature under examination is mainly from the UK, the USA and South Africa. I have, when comparing the literature from these different diasporic communities, found many interesting similarities, but also some significant differences. I will outline these findings in a moment.
Let me make it clear that I am not assuming that this literature offers a mimetic representation of South Asian diasporic communities. Rather, I am recognising this literature as a site of cultural evolution as female authors from these communities imagine lives which grapple with the processes of cultural adaptation and hybridisation. Whilst tackling head-on the subject of transcultural, transnational identities (a subject of ever-increasing relevance considering current globalisation trends), this literature invents a new literary aesthetic of common elements and principles, despite significant differences and inflections.
In addition, this literature serves to foreground (and in some ways enact) many of the theoretical debates and issues first raised by postcolonial feminist scholars in the 1980s. For example, at this time postcolonial feminist scholars strongly objected to mainstream postcolonial theory's neglect of women's experiences of the colonial processes. In a sense, these female authors have, both individually and collectively, found the "voice" to articulate their experiences, a concept which early postcolonial feminist scholars were so preoccupied with. These issues have developed and have been modified in recent years as postcolonial concerns have shifted to incorporate concerns about globalisation and transculturalism.
Also, these authors - who are, after all, women with a common ex-colony for "home", who have, to a lesser or greater extent, experienced the gender discriminations of their "traditional" cultures - have migrated to various new locations where they have become agents in the processes of cultural production. Their literature provides alternative histories and narratives of identity, as well as an alternative "language" with which to do it.
- A striking and pervasive theme in the literature is the tension between the local and the global, or between the two "homes" of the diasporic subject (eg Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, or Meera Syal's Anita and Me). The diasporic community is often characterised by "a tension of political orientations" (Vertovec 2000:xviii) or divided loyalties between homelands and host countries. In some instances the dual identifications are not positive. Migrants often experience racism, discrimination or exclusion in their host countries and respond by constructing a positive identification with a historical heritage. This tension, according to Steven Vertovec, results in "a multiplicity of histories, "communities" and "selves". This "multiplicity" used to be viewed as schizophrenic or pathological, but it is being "redefined by diasporic individuals as a source of adaptive strength" (2000:xviii).
- One way in which it is being redefined is through the literature of the South Asian diaspora, which often tries to resolve imaginatively the paradox of having two homes. According to Edward Said, "imaginative geography and history" helps "the mind to intensify its own sense of itself by dramatising the difference between what is close to it and what is far away" (1985:55). Here Said makes a crucial connection between imagined narratives and the processes of identification, a connection which is fully explored in this literature.
Through imaginative representations of their cultural dislocation, the women of the South Asian diaspora are able to offer possible compromises and solutions for the on-going processes of identification within their diasporic communities. Such forms of cultural activity are considered not only as products of diaspora, but as defining elements of it.
II South African "Indian" Women's Writing
The crucial question for this essay is: Are the female writers of South Asian descent in South Africa producing the type of literature I have been describing? To answer this question I would like to present my description of an overarching South Asian diasporic feminist literary aesthetic, and then I would like to consider how an author like Jayapraga Reddy relates to the schema.
Aesthetic Elements
- Use of memory, nostalgia
Often the tales are told with the grand narratives of colonialism and partition in the background. In the South African context the grand narrative is apartheid. The stories contain a strong sensory dimension. Most of the memoirs and autobiographies are based on memory, recollections and anecdotes. These are very personal narratives, which sometimes give the impression that they have purgative value as well as operating as a record, tribute etc.
Reddy uses such a tone in the title story of her 1987 collection On the Fringe of Dreamtime and other stories. In this story the unnamed central character experiences the pain and loss of forced removals in a dreamlike state. He returns to his childhood home to reminisce, but is met with suspicion and fear by the new white owners. The past, the joy of ownership, the sense of home and security, the connectedness to place, all become a dream and he is cast into the periphery of his world.
- Everyday sensuous imagery, domestic scenes and spaces
In this literature small objects or trivial events are described in minute detail. The richness of home living and the domestic spaces of women are evoked. In these spaces women are shown to have knowledge, expertise and "traditional" skills; here they are free from "oppression", albeit temporarily. In Reddy's work the theme of spatial confinement due to physical disability and the restrictions of the apartheid regime, is dealt with both in the short stories (eg "A Gift for Rajendra", "The Spirit of Two Worlds", "Friends"), and in her unpublished autobiography, An Unbending Reed.
- Praise of female relatives - the older female figure who is revered, even mythologised
Sometimes this is in the form of characterisation, sometimes it takes the form of overt tribute. Reddy uses both means to praise female relatives. Her short story collection is dedicated to her mother, and in the short story "A Time to Yield" the impasse between "traditional" and new or local cultural practices is broken by Zainab's grandmother, who sagely advocates compromise rather than rebellion. Also, in interviews and in her autobiography, Reddy discusses at length the inspiration and support she received from her mother and grandmother.
- Autobiographical or memoir style of writing
This is related to the use of personal memory, and sometimes to the synthesising of facts, events, people, settings from the author's own life, with imagined/fictional characters and events. This blending of fiction with autobiography results in a hybrid literary form which is popular amongst South Asian diasporic women writers. Some of Reddy's short stories definitely do this, eg the stories which employ Durban as their vivid and real setting, and the stories which deal with spatial confinement.
- Description of ritual and ceremony
This is an effective way to capture the richness of a culture, to enact the preservation of culture, to allude to esoteric concerns, to set up contrasts, or to zoom in on sensory details. The themes of cultural continuation and perpetuation are highlighted. Reddy differs from other writers here by not attempting to evoke a specific religious or ethnic culture. In interviews, and indeed in her literature, she emphasises that it is the diversity of South Africa she wishes to represent, not one specific group. In an interview with Annemarie van Niekerk, Reddy claims that she does not "see the necessity of bringing in eastern influences in an African setting" (1994:73). But, of course when the "African setting" contains "eastern influences", such as arranged marriages, Reddy's representation of this cultural matrix is faithful and critical.
- Use of mythology, ancient literature, "traditional" practices (music)
Often references are made to deities, local legend, ancient myths, Hindu or Islamic scriptures, etc. These "narratives" are not mere backdrops to the main narrative. They are interwoven with the narratives of the characters, they reveal strengths and weaknesses, they have an aetiological or ethnographic value. Again Reddy differs from her counterparts, focussing on hard social themes, and citing European literature as her cultural heritage.
- Theme of marriage, the role of the daughter-in-law
The prevalence of this theme is indicative of the feminist commitment of the literature. In Reddy the problems which arise from "traditional" practices such as arranged marriages are explored in the short stories "A Time to Yield" and "The Spirit of Two Worlds", and also in her television screenplay, Web of Persuasion.
- Cultural continuity or the preservation of a cultural heritage
Some of this literature reveals a profound anxiety about dislocation and adaptation. Reddy differs in that she is not at all concerned to preserve something "Indian", but rather, she is eager to capture something South African. In the same interview with Van Niekerk she says, "I am a South African with Indo-African links. I derive my creative spirit from the land of my birth, not from the land of my origin" (1994:73). This commitment to her diasporic location is seen in the historical specificities of some of her stories. For example, in "The Slumbering Spirit", she highlights the injustices and loss of forced removals in Durban and recreates and restores a sense of community, the richness of an organic, multicultural, pre-1950 Durban, which has been disrupted by apartheid.
- Change, dislocation, adaptation in the diasporic location
As mentioned already, much of this literature is concerned with adapting to the local context. Reddy, being a second-generation South African South Asian immigrant, is firmly rooted in her diasporic location, and she identifies with South Africa, not India. For her the struggle is not to adapt, but to revolutionise, to achieve justice. As a result her work engages with issues of race a lot more than other works studied. For example, the story "Friends" deals with the intricate and often hostile racial and class relations between "Indians" and "blacks". Reddy shows her ability to transcend the bounds of her own cultural identity in order to render empathetically the experiences of a black domestic worker in the story "The Stolen Hours".
III Conclusion
By using Jayapraga Reddy as an example, I hoped to show that a
transnational feminist literary aesthetic is being inscribed through
this literature. In South Africa there is a very small body of work
to examine. The most obvious names are Jayapraga Reddy, Farida Karodia
and Agnes Sam. These writers are first and foremost South Africans,
as their works testify. But they also have links to South Asia,
and they are members of a global forum. Their works resonate in
a broader, transnational sphere. What I am arguing is that as South
Africa moves beyond the postcolonial (and post-apartheid) era, its
literature must be considered in broader, global terms. The narrow,
nationalist concerns of the postcolonial era, though in many instances
still imperative, need to be placed alongside transnational solidarities
and concepts of identity and culture. For Reddy, writing in the
1970s and the 1980s, grappling with the colonially-derived categories
of race and ethnicity were of primary concern. But now, as the "link
between the imagination and social life … is increasingly a global
and deterritorialized one" (Appadurai 2001:200), Reddy's endeavours
can be fruitfully examined in a broader (and new and evolving) context.
As South African literary practitioners in a post-postcolonial world,
we need to look at both the specific, the local, and then widen
the lens to see how we fit in the global picture. By examining Reddy's
achievement in relation to her counterparts in varying geopolitical
locations, I have attempted to do just that.
References
Arjun, Appadurai. 2001. "Global Ethnoscapes:
Notes and Queries for a Transnational Anthropology". In Vertovec,
S & Cohen, R (eds). Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism.
Cheltenham & Northampton USA. Elgar Reference Collection, pp 191-211.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. 2003. The Namesake.
London: Flamingo.
Reddy, Jayapraga. 1984. Web of
Persuasion. Script of play, adapted by Franz Marx.
Reddy, Jayapraga. 1987. On the
Fringe of Dreamtime and Other Stories. Johannesburg: Skotaville.
Reddy, Jayapraga. Undated. The
Unbending Reed. Unpublished autobiography.
Said, Edward. 1985. Orientalism.
London: Vintage Books.
Syal, Meera. 1996. Anita and Me.
London: Flamingo.
Van Niekerk, Annemarie. 1994. "An
Interview with Jayapraga Reddy". In Horn, Annette, Mabie, Susan
et al (eds). Like a House on Fire - Contemporary Women's Writing,
Art and Photography. Johannesburg: COSAW Publishing, pp 69-74.
Vertovec, Steven & Cohen, Robin (eds).
2001. Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism. Cheltenham
& Northampton USA, Elgar Reference Collection. |
I am a lecturer in the Department of English at Rhodes University.
My teaching and research interests range from Classical Greek literature
to postcolonial and diasporic literature. In October 2004 I leave
for the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,
where I will complete a PhD entitled Towards a South Asian Feminist
Aesthetic: an examination of selected prose writing by women of the
South Asian diaspora.
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