Kinderidentiteit, ras en seksualiteit in Ons is nie almal so nie en Die reuk van appels

Authors

  • Lianne Barnard University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v45i2.29830

Keywords:

Afrikaans literature, child identity, Jeanne Goosen, Mark Behr, race, sexuality

Abstract

This article discusses the self-narration of two children, Marnus in Mark Behr’s Die reuk van appels (translated as The smell of apples, 1993) and Gertie in Jeanne Goosen’s Ons is nie almal so nie (1990), translated as We’re not all like that (2007). These children integrate stereotypes about race and sexuality to form complex, richer narratives about their role in society. Both Gertie and Marnus take contradictory discourses (Coloureds both inferior to us and human like us) and form richer narratives. Both characters are exposed to an alternative non-racist discourse, but “choose” to stay within the dominant racist discourse because their identity as male and female respectively is bound within it. Marnus’ choice involves masculinity, violence and sport, and Gertie as Little Red Riding Hood is metaphorically swallowed by the fox of Christian values about women and sex.

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Published

2008-09-01

Issue

Section

Research articles

How to Cite

Barnard, L. (2008). Kinderidentiteit, ras en seksualiteit in Ons is nie almal so nie en Die reuk van appels. Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde, 45(2), 87-100. https://doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v45i2.29830