Dr Daniel Conway, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, wrote an article for The Conversation about Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut and how his novel ‘The Promise’ is a reminder of South Africa’s continued journey to a better future.
In the article, Dr Conway explained the plot of the Booker Prize novel ‘The Promise’ and wrote: “The novel follows the decline of four generations of the Swart family over 40 years and starts at the end of apartheid. It focuses on the pledge made by a dying family member to bequeath the family’s property to their Black domestic worker. This promise goes ignored by future generations of the family, and it becomes an allegory for the broken promises made to Black South Africans at the dawn of the country’s non-racial democracy in 1994.”
Discussing the history of South Africa, he wrote: “The majority of white South Africans are descended from Dutch settlers and speak Afrikaans. During apartheid, racial separation was legally enforced and many white people saw themselves as a superior race. Whites were given the best jobs and education – creating a wealthy white elite. After a lengthy Liberation Struggle with widespread protests and leading to a violent State of Emergency in the 1980s, Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and negotiations began.”
In his concluding remarks, Dr Conway added: “…While racism is still deeply embedded, with South Africa’s simmering social and class divisions continuing to play out, there are some signs of racial reconciliation. Just as during the traumatic years of apartheid, intelligent and human cultural critics, artists, academics and activists, continue to be deeply committed to achieving meaningful change.”
Read the full article on The Conversation’s website.
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