Globale paradys of plaaslike hel? 'n Lesing van Duiwelskloof (André P. Brink), Lituma en los Andes (Mario Vargas Llosa) en Paradise (Toni Morrison)

Abstract

Globalisation has received a large amount of attention, especially with reference to political economic issues. The manner in which this development affects literature, has received less attention. In this article the global-local opposition or tension is utilised as framework for an interpretation and comparison of three novels, namely Duiwelskloof (André P. Brink), Lituma en los Andes (Death in the Andes - Mario Vargas Llosa) and Paradise (Toni Morrison). The comparison focuses on the manner in which the confrontation of a cosmopolitan consciousness and a parochial local reality is represented in the three novels. The article suggests that the local-global tension is approached in a similar manner in the three novels, namely by way of a (re)confirmation of the bonds between the cosmopolitan consciousness and the local reality.