“A battle between lust and loathing”: The interplay between masculinity and femininity in Zakes Mda’s The Madonna of Excelsior

Authors

  • Marius Crous Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v47i1.50491

Keywords:

masculinity, femininity, Zakes Mda, The Madonna of Excelsior

Abstract

In this essay the emphasis is on the interplay between masculinity and femininity and in particular that of white masculinity versus black femininity, as well as the role played by black female sexuality in the formation of masculine identity in a rural setting in apartheid South Africa. The essay also looks at the representation of the female body and the role of the female body as site of contestation of socio-political assumptions about masculinity and femininity. The text under discussion is Zakes Mda’s The Madonna of Excelsior (2002), which is based on real life events that occurred in the small Free State town of Excelsior in the 1970s.

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Author Biography

Marius Crous, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Marius Crous lectures in the Department of Language and Literature at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth.

References

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Published

2010-04-01

How to Cite

Crous, M. (2010). “A battle between lust and loathing”: The interplay between masculinity and femininity in Zakes Mda’s The Madonna of Excelsior. Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde, 47(1), 79–94. https://doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v47i1.50491

Issue

Section

Research articles