This article was downloaded by: [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu]

On: 13 April 2015, At: 01:02

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office:
Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Scrutiny2: Issues in English Studies in

Southern Africa
Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription
information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rscr20

The museum and the public:

M Nelika Jayawardane

Department of English , Sate University of New York-Oswego

Published online: 21 Apr 2008.

To cite this article: M Nelika Jayawardane (2007) The museum and the public:, Scrutiny2: Issues in English
Studies in Southern Africa, 12:2, 61-74, DOI: 10.1080/18125440701751976
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18125440701751976

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the Content)
contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our
licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or
suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication
are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor &
Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently
verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any
losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities
whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or
arising out of the use of the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial
or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use
can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

The museum and the public:

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
memorial building and representing unpronounceable history in
Zo Wicombs Davids story

M NEELIKA JAYAWARDANE
Department of English
Sate University of New York-Oswego
e-mail: jayaward@oswego.edu

ABSTRACT
In a 2005 issue of Art in America, David Galloway draws our attention to the Abteiberg Museum in
Mnchengladbach: architect Hans Holleins postmodern extravaganza seemed more intent on showcasing
the architecture than the art it contained, he states (140). Zo Wicombs novel, Davids story, similarly calls
deliberate attention to its elaborate structures, creating anxiety about the issues surrounding memorialisation.
Davids story, though I argue that it is a site of conscience, simultaneously presents iconic figures and
questions their validity, though she refuses to work solely on the premises used by traditional memorial
structures. Wicomb also comments on the ultimate unrepresentability of the memory of terror, and the
unpronounceability of certain portions of national history. Davids story could signal the genesis of a new
era of literature in South Africa, but rather than severing the link between textual difficulty and exclusiveness
thereby allowing readers to arrive at the mutually constitutive relationship between the struggle to read
and the pleasure in comprehending the story the theatricality of the novels structure may create such
an insiders story, requiring so much knowledge of the architectural idioms, that it may prove to be
inaccessible to many readers.

Q  RQH RI WKH  LVVXHV RI Art in

America, David Galloway writes about

the current boom in museum building, a period
RI SURGXFWLRQ WKDW ULYDOV WKH JRJR GD\V RI
WKH HLJKWLHV   LQ *HUPDQ\ ZKHQ
VWUXFWXUHVKRXVLQJDUWDFTXLUHGDFHOHEULW\ODUJH
scrutiny2 12(2) 2007: issues in english studies in southern Africa
ISSN: Print 18125441/Online 17535409
DOI: 10.1080/18125440701751976

HQRXJK WR GUDZ YLVLWRUV WR LQIXULDWLQJO\ RXWRI

WKHZD\FLWLHVZLWKEDUHO\SURQRXQFHDEOHQDPHV
Galloway draws our attention, for example, to
WKH$EWHLEHUJ0XVHXPLQ0|QFKHQJODGEDFKWKH
museum has had the effect of drawing sudden
international attention to a city whose name
RQO\LQVLGHUVIHOWFRQGHQWWRSURQRXQFHLELG
%XLOW LQ  WKLV FRQWURYHUVLDO QHZ PXVHXP

61


ARTICLES

Unisa Press pp. 6174

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

for contemporary art, designed by the Danish

architect Hans Hollein, began an unprecedented
HUDRIPXVHXPEXLOGLQJLQWKH)HGHUDO5HSXEOLF
But, says Galloway, Holleins postmodern
extravaganza seemed more intent on showcasing
WKHDUFKLWHFWXUHWKDQWKHDUWLWFRQWDLQHGLELG
=Rs :LFRPEV QRYHO Davids story 
hereafter DS), was published at a time when
museums, memorialisation and the representation
of public memory were being debated with new
YLJRXULQ6RXWK$IULFD/LNHWKHPXVHXPGHVLJQV
in countries with far more resources to spend
on structures that house cultural memory, her
novel calls deliberate attention to its elaborate
DQGPXOWLOD\HUHGVWUXFWXUHVDQDUFKLWHFWXUHWKDW
mirrors the multiplicities of the narrative histories
FRQWDLQHG ZLWKLQ 'HUHN$WWULGJH LQ KLV DUWLFOH
=Rs :LFRPEV KRPH WUXWKV SODFH JHQHDORJ\
DQG LGHQWLW\ LQ =Rs :LFRPEV Davids story,
claims that though genealogical history and
modernism are perhaps not obvious bedfellows,
the novel is more modernist than postmodern,
owing to the fact that this is indeed the story of a
VWRU\RIWKHWHOOLQJDQGWKHZULWLQJDQGDOVRRI
WKHZLWKKROGLQJRIDVWRU\$WWULGJH
However, Wicombs writing could be described
as a homage to postmodern aesthetics for the
same list of reasons; she links the fragmented
design of the narrative to the impossibility of
narrating a political or historical truth, thereby
highlighting her desire to resist telling a singular,
RYHUDUFKLQJ YHUVLRQ RI KLVWRU\ ,Q DQ LQWHUYLHZ
with Stephen Meyer and Thomas Olver, Wicomb
VD\V
Yes, its fractured, yes, and the fragments are not stories
they lack the classic lack-quest-resolution structure,
and taken together, resist coherence. There isnt a central authoritative voice. My conceit of David fathering
the story from a distance tries to capture the interrelatedness of the political and aesthetic concerns. (2002:
186)

She adds, within the same interview, that the

inchoate story, which for political reasons cant
be told, threatens to fall apart; only the reader
can hold together some sense of the events
 7KH SXEOLF ZKR HQWHU WKLV VWUXFWXUH DUH
drawn into the labour of piecing together the
two unfolding narratives, separated by three
TXDUWHUV RI D FHQWXU\ WKH VWRU\ RI $QGUHZ OH
Fleur and his dealings with the old South African
powers and that of David Dirkses dealings with
WKHSUHVHQWGD\SRZHUVRIWKHOLEHUDWHGQDWLRQ
$WWULGJH7KHIUDJPHQWHGQDUUDWLYHV
revolve around the centripetal force created by
Dulcie, the woman whom neither David nor the
narrator of this tale is able to represent, but whose
presence dominates Davids, the narrators and
WKHUHDGHUVWKRXJKWV
Wicomb further complicates the design of
the narrative by combining the troubling of
location[s] within her novel with a troubling of
chronology, wherein the sections of the novel
move back and forth (or to and fro) between the
SUHVHQWRIWKHQRYHODQGWKHHDUOLHUKLVWRU\
RIWKH*ULTXDSHRSOHLELG6KHPDLQWDLQV
in an interview with Hein Willemse, that she did
not choose this structure; rather, that it was all
I could do, because the problem came once I
GHFLGHG WR KDYH D GXDO WLPH IUDPH 7KDWV KRZ
,YHQHJRWLDWHGLW6KHDGGVWKDWWKH
fact that this novel has a complicated structure
undermines the notion of an uncomplicated,
straightforward chronological tale often employed
E\EODFN6RXWK$IULFDQQRYHOLVWV
That Davids story is a narrative that demands
substantial effort from its readers is obvious
IURP WKH UVW OLQHVRI WKH3UHIDFHDV ZLWK7RQL
Morrisons Paradise, a novel that similarly
IUXVWUDWHVLWVDXGLHQFHWKHH[SHULHQFHRIUHDGLQJ
 PD\ EH GLIFXOW  EXW ZRUN LV LQ IDFW WKH
point, a gift just as desirable as whatever ends the

62


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

work might have been thought to achieve (Aubry

7LPRWK\$XEU\LQKLVDQDO\VLVRIWKH
UROH WKDW WDONVKRZ KRVW 2SUDK :LQIUH\V %RRN
Club plays with US readers and the material
they consume, argues that Morrison rel[ies]
heavily on the inclinations of her massive
middlebrow readership in the US, to juggle two
SURSRVLWLRQV
The first is that her book, like the utopia its title promises, can be at once difficult and accessible, requiring
a kind of hard labor that will not thwart but attract her
readers. The second is that Paradises power will not
end on the last page, that the labor that Morrison initiates will persist, indefinitely, after readers have put the
book down. (ibid: 351)
$XEU\ ZULWHV WKDW ZKLOH WKH PLGGOHFODVV
and middlebrow readers of Oprah Winfreys
Book Club prefer reading choices that perform
a therapeutic function, or books that can
change their lives, they hold a reverence for the
sphere of high culture and an earnest desire
to get it based on a veneration for that which
GHHVLPPHGLDWHFRPSUHKHQVLRQLELG
However, Aubry complicates this desire to get it,
claiming it seems to entail a disturbing desire for
PDVWHU\IRUSRVVHVVLRQURRWHGLQFODVVFOLPELQJ
pretensions, as if the comprehension of literary
ZRUNVZHUHVLPSO\DQRWKHUIRUPRIDFTXLVLWLRQ
capable of procuring for the consumer higher
VWDWXVZLWKLQDFODVVKLHUDUFK\LELG
Whether South Africa, also, has cultivated a
similar readership desirous of getting it in
RUGHU WR DFTXLUH D KLJKHU VWDWXV ZLWKLQ D FODVV
KLHUDUFK\ UHPDLQV FHQWUDO WR P\ GLVFXVVLRQ
Wicomb is interested in engaging her readership
ZLWKWKHLGHDWKDWWKHUHFDQWEHDGHQLWLYHVWRU\
LQ6RXWK$IULFDSRVWOLEHUDWLRQRURWKHUZLVHWKDW
ZH VKRXOG EH UHVLVWDQW WR WKH OLEHUDOKXPDQLVW
take on the events in our troubled history (Meyer

DQG2OYHU+HUQRYHOLVDORFDWLRQLQ
ZKLFK RIFLDO KLVWRU\ LV WURXEOHG DV VXFK LW
becomes an alternative museum, one in which
the material form given to authorized versions
RIWKHSDVWDUHUHVKDSHG'DYLGVRQ
If museums institutionalize certain forms of
NQRZOHGJHDQGDQFKRURIFLDOPHPRU\vis-vis a process of remembering and forgetting
inclusion and exclusion (ibid), Wicombs attempt
LVWRSUHVHQWWKHUHDGHUZLWKWKHTXHVWLRQDEOHDQG
violent means that the state employs in order to
promote and privilege certain versions of history
RYHURWKHUV
The complex reading process necessary for
entering Davids story LV UHHFWLYH RI WKH KDUG
labour necessary for being a citizen, part of a
nation, a history and a narrative; but while one
might hope that the public will be attracted to,
rather than thwarted by engaging with the project
RI FDUU\LQJ D ZHLJKW\ EXUGHQ WKH XQEHDUDEOH
ity of such a decentring project might turn away
PRVW
Of the German architecture museum, Galloway
writes that
as Germany became what Stirling once described as
the flying circus of contemporary architects, the sheer
multiplicity of the architectural idioms presented to the
German public throughout the two waves of museum
constructions makes one wonder whether the museum
structure should compete with its contents.

7KHVDPHPLJKWEHVDLGRI:LFRPEVZRUN'RHV
the structure of Davids story compete with the
FRQWHQWWRVXFKDQH[WHQWWKDWWKHSXEOLFQGVWKH
story inaccessible? Does the novel become a
\LQJFLUFXVWKDWWKHUHDGLQJSXEOLFQGVODUJHO\
inaccessible, leaving a handful of academics to
force the complexity of the structure on resistant
students enrolled in university courses? Or,

63


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

alternatively, could Wicombs writing, like that

of Morrison, gather a massive middlebrow
readership, who, despite the considerable labour
UHTXLUHG WR HQWHU WKH QDUUDWLYH DUH GHVLURXV RI
SHUIRUPLQJ WKH GLIFXOW ZRUN $XEU\ 
QHFHVVDU\IRUHQJDJLQJZLWKWKHDQWLSDUDGLVH
presented within Davids story?
)XUWKHUPRUHDQDOTXHVWLRQWRSRVHLVZKHWKHU
WKHZULWHUDUFKLWHFWKDVDUHVSRQVLELOLW\WRGHVLJQ
not only for an elite reading public with access
to a sophisticated reading level, but also for the
JUHDWHUSRUWLRQRIWKHSXEOLFZKRGRQRWZKR
FDQQRW SRVVLEO\  KDYH WKDW OHYHO RI DFFHVV WR
language or design? Galloway, in his article,
VWDWHV   WKDW LQ *HUPDQ\ WKH SXEOLF
became more savvy readers of architectural
signals and architectural idioms, and that the
architecture museum sensitised the society to
WKHLVVXHVRIDUFKLWHFWXUDOTXDOLW\DQGRULJLQDOLW\
,Q D  HVVD\LQTransition, written at a time
that is contemporary with the events of Davids
story, Wicomb stated that in South Africa,
though the nations cultural institutions call
for the production of a new literary language,
apartheid conditions have militated against the
linguistic development of black people, both in
the imposition of European languages and the
QHJOHFWRIHGXFDWLRQZLWKLQWKHVHYHQVKRUW
years between the time when this article was
being written and the publication of her novel,
the conditions to which Wicomb refers would
QRW KDYH EHHQ GLPLQLVKHG E\ DQ\ VLJQLFDQW
GHJUHH 7KH DXWKRU KHUVHOI UHFRJQLVHV WKDW D
VXGGHQRXULVKLQJRIOLWHUDU\SURGXFWLRQDQGWKH
miraculous appearance of a sophisticated reading
SXEOLFZRXOGEHLPSRVVLELOLWLHV
2QH PLJKW GLVSXWH WKH QRWLRQV WKDW 0|Q
chengladbach is unpronounceable and out of the
ZD\*DOORZD\ZULWHVZLWKDQRIIKDQGDWWLWXGH
towards cities (and names) that Europeans might

consider important and completely accessible;

his is the nonchalance that arises from being
situated in an audacious new empire (the US)
ZLWKLWVHTXDOO\DXGDFLRXVFRQQRWDWLRQVIRUZKDW
LVSURQRXQFHDEOHDQGDFFHVVLEOHVRPHWKLQJWKDW
WKRVH LQ ROG FHQWUHV PLJKW QG GLVFRQFHUWLQJ
Similarly, one might argue that Davids story is,
LQIDFWQRWWURXEOLQJO\LQDFFHVVLEOH
One of the novels strengths lies in Wicombs
ability to present, for those situated in those
ORFDWLRQV DQG ZKR DUH XVHG WR UHJDUGLQJ WKHP
selves as central, an alternative, peripheral
ORFDWLRQ DV YLWDO WR PDNLQJ PHDQLQJ D ORFDWLRQ
with a much more complex and problematic
history than what the average person (whether
South African, or not) might want to digest
or word into reality; as she implies in her
interview with Meyer and Olver, most people
are desirous of the bland utopia presented within
WKH FODVVLF VWUXFWXUH RI D KHURV MRXUQH\ 
 WKDW RI WKH VWUXJJOH DJDLQVW WKH DSDUWKHLG
government, and the ultimate triumph of South
Africas liberation movement over an evil
HPSLUH)RUWKRVHZKRKDYHDFFHVVWRWKHOHYHORI
literacy necessary for reading Davids story, and
for appreciating Wicombs ability to highlight
anxieties surrounding memory, narration and
UHSUHVHQWDWLRQ DVN TXHVWLRQV DERXW WUXWK DQG
origins as do the new monuments to memory;
draw the publics attention to locations that were
heretofore barely pronounceable; ask readers
to travel towards distant geographies that their
psychic constructions of humanity once did
QRWFRQWDLQWKHHQHUJ\JHQHUDWHGE\WKHGHEDWH
VXUURXQGLQJWKHVHTXHVWLRQVUHPDLQVSRWHQW
But six years after the novels publication, the
most likely readers of Davids story end up being
academics and foreign visitors to her memorial,
drawn to this postmodern extravaganza more
intent on showcasing the architecture than the

64


ARTICLES

art it contain[s]; Davids story remains out of

reach of those whom Wicomb writes about, those
ZKRVKRXOGDQGGRPRVWTXHVWLRQWKHQDWLRQDO
SURMHFW DQG WKH PRQXPHQWDO RIFLDO YHUVLRQ RI
WKHOLEHUDWLRQVWUXJJOH

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

***

The project of the museum, historically, is

FORVHO\ OLQNHG ZLWK WKDW RI QDWLRQEXLOGLQJ
in that the spaces within a museum building
have traditionally displayed the accoutrements
RI WKH VWDWH WKH REMHFWV LOOXVWUDWLQJ QDWLRQDO
unity, the symbolic right to ownership of land
and power, the spectacular moments that help
coalesce the mythic identity of the nation, and
HYHQ WKH OHIWRYHUV RI FRQTXHUHG SHRSOHV DV DQ
acknowledged, symbolic gesture towards a
VKDUHGSDVW1DWLRQDOKLVWRU\LVRYHUZKHOPLQJO\
positivist and aggrandising, stressing the manner
LQ ZKLFK LQWHUQDO PXOWLSOLFLWLHV  GLIIHUHQFHV
 ZHUH RYHUFRPH LQ RUGHU WR UDOO\ DURXQG WKH
FDXVHRIHMHFWLQJVRPH2WKHUWKHIRUHLJQSRZHU
the unjust system of rule, the government that
GLG QRW UHSUHVHQW WKH SHRSOH 7KH GHVLUH IRU
commemoration of the past has generated a
spate of monuments, memorials, museums,
DQG DUFKLYHV LQWHQGHG WR DGGUHVV TXHVWLRQV RI
memory and history and to represent a nations
KHULWDJHEXWWKHTXHVWLRQVWKDWVXUURXQGPRGHUQ
memorial construction must deal with how a
structure can bear witness and ensure democratic
representation while it represent[s] the past
and historicize[s] its reality (Introduction
  LQ ZD\V WKDW VSHDN IRU PXOWLSOH
H[SHULHQFHV
In nations looking for icons and heritage sites to
fuel the construction of a new national identity,
sites of conscience are seen as spaces that
contribute to the development of reconciliation,
WUDQVLWLRQDOMXVWLFHDQGRWKHUGHPRFUDF\EXLOGLQJ

efforts in a variety of cultural contexts; historic

sites are touted as aids in social reconstruction
HIIRUWVLQFRQLFWDUHDVSXEOLFPHPRU\SURFHVVHV
are thought to advance social rebuilding, and
museums are believed to be useful to nations
with painful pasts for cultivating discussion
VXUURXQGLQJ SUHVHQWGD\ KXPDQ ULJKWV LVVXHV
These modern projects of memorialisation
have more to do with presenting the other face
RI WKH QDWLRQDO SURMHFW  WKH GHDWKV WKH ORVVHV
the subsumed narratives that run counter to the
nationalist agenda; as such, museums associated
with sites of conscience create anxiety around
nationalist agendas by presenting the trauma
that damage and loss have caused to portions
of the population, and the resulting debilitating
effects on the collective psyche of the people
LELG  5DWKHU WKDQ VWUHVV WKH XQLW\ RI WKH
nation, these monuments attempt to represent
the unincorporated remainders of the nation;
but in doing so, they, too, attempt to represent
a collective effect through the representation of
WUDXPDRQLQGLYLGXDOVZLWKLQWKHVWDWH
As a work of literature, Davids story
contains a world where truth is unbearable
DQG XQUHSUHVHQWDEOH WKHVH DUH WKH VXEVXPHG
narratives that a nation, in its desire for unity, is
XQDEOHWRUHYHDORUUHYHOLQZLWKRXWGLVLQWHJUDWLQJ
The novel deals with the disalignments
that appear in a nation that has undergone
a symbolic catharsis through an established
semisecular, semireligious exposition of truth,
in the aftermath of the South African Truth and
5HFRQFLOLDWLRQ&RPPLVVLRQ75&,WDGGUHVVHV
the failures of truth, the discrepancies between
the narratives that were revealed and those that
remained unbearable for the nation to hear; it
deals with the rifts and gaps that remain after
LQTXLULHV KDYH HQGHG ,I LW LV WUXWK ZH GHVLUH
:LFRPEVQDUUDWLYHVUHYHDOWKDWVXFKDTXHVWPD\
EH LPSRVVLEOH ,Q IDFW VKH DWWHPSWV WR FRXQWHU

65


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

GHVLUHV IRU D XQLHG YHUVLRQ RI QDWLRQDO KLVWRU\

throughout the novel by troubling the notion of
truth and by offering impossible juxtapositions
WKDW OHDG WKH UHDGHU WR TXHVWLRQ WKH HQWLUHW\ RI
what appears on the page; for example, as the
narrator herself comments, Davids narrative
OLQNLQJWKH+XJXHQRWVHWWOHUDQG*ULTXDIRUHEHDU
Madame le Fleur with the Zoologist Georges
Cuvier and his prize exhibit Saartje Baartman
is avowedly impossible, since there is a century
EHWZHHQ WKHP $WWULGJH   'DYLGV
attempts to construct a genealogy connecting
him to Le Fleur, and Le Fleurs ludicrous notion
of pureness are also destabilised; Wicomb states
that the desire to construct such genealogies
seems to me to resonate with some of the new
6RXWK $IULFDVSHDN DOVR WR GR ZLWK WKH QHZ
notions of colouredness and essentialism
'D\PRQG
***
As with new structures conscious of
SUREOHPDWLVLQJ WKH XVH RI WKH XQLHG ODQJXDJH
of memorials and the enduring tropes of
victorious monuments, Wicomb, too, presents
UXSWXUHDEVHQFHORVV7RUUHLQKHU
subjects lives through the fragmented structure
RI KHU QRYHO ,Q GHFRQVWUXFWLQJ D QDWLRQDO P\WK
she nonetheless creates a countermemorial,
introducing and creating unstable icons of her
RZQ GUDZLQJ WKH SXEOLFV DWWHQWLRQ WR OHVVHU
NQRZQSRUWLRQVRI6RXWK$IULFDQKLVWRU\
Susana Torre, in her chapter in Experiments with
truth, writes that Krzysztof Wodiczkos Projekcja
Publiczna (Town Hall Tower Projection) in
Krakow, Poland, lights up shameful intimacies
in Krakows proudest public space, calling
attention to the states failure to protect women
DQG FKLOGUHQ IURP GRPHVWLF YLROHQFH RQ WKH
walls of the tower, the artist projected images

of the hands of women, one holding a candle,

another peeling potatoes with the same knife that
threatened her life as each womans voice was
KHDUGWHOOLQJKHUVWRU\LELG
Similarly, Davids story, too, lights up a
VKDPHIXO SDVW DV ZHOO DV WKH HTXDOO\ WURXEOHG
present, projecting the ambiguities of the hands
and weapons that feed, sustain and have the
power to extinguish life against the backdrop
RI 6RXWK $IULFDV SURXGHVW SXEOLF VSDFH WKH
SURMHFWRIQDWLRQDOUHFRQFLOLDWLRQ7KHSURMHFWHG
images and narratives within the novel lead us
WR TXHVWLRQ KRZ D QDWLRQ SRVLWLRQV D ZDUULRUV
memories when it enters a moment when
ideals are monumentalised and presented as an
DFWXDOLVHG UHDOLW\ ZKDW KDSSHQHG WR WKRVH ZKR
occupied the marginal spaces of South Africas
liberation struggle, and what happens to them
now, in a time of peace? Do those who were
marginalised then, have no place at all now, in the
RIFLDOPRQXPHQWFRQVWUXFWHGWRFRPPHPRUDWH
the liberation struggle?
Of the interlinked strata that hold this novel
WRJHWKHU :LFRPE SUHVHQWV WKH SUHVHQWGD\
narrative of David Dirkse, which takes place
EHWZHHQDVDWLPHRIHXSKRULDDQG
IHDUOOHG DQ[LHW\ DERXW ERWK WKH SDVW DQG WKH
SUHVHQW'D\PRQG,WLVDWLPHZKHQ
'DYLG D IRUPHU IUHHGRP JKWHU LQ 8PNKRQWR
we Sizwe (the military wing of the ANC) who
had devoted his life to bringing about the end of
apartheid, has time to think about his ancestors,
WR UHH[DPLQH KLV DQG KLV DQFHVWRUV SDVW
$V D IUHHGRP JKWHU 'DYLGV SRVLWLRQ LQ WKH
liberation of the nation seems to be ensured;
Davids is a story that is a part of monumental
KLVWRU\DSDUWRIWKHFLYLFUHOLJLRQRIQDWLRQDOLVP
As Mahmood Mamdani maintains, violence and
the birth of democracy are indelibly connected
LQ WKH LPDJLQDU\ RI PRGHUQV (YHU VLQFH WKH

66


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

French Revolution, moderns have come to

see violence as the midwife of history the
French Revolution gave us terror and it gave
us a citizens army; this army was comprised
QRW RI PHUFHQDULHV EXW RI SDWULRWV  
But while the political function of collective
memory necessitates displaying only portions
RIKLVWRU\XVLQJDVRUWRIVFUHHQPHPRU\WKDW
VWLPXODWHV HQFRXUDJHV DQG MXVWLHV GLIIHUHQW
types of collective and political violence (Sivan
   Davids story reveals not only
WKH RQHGLPHQVLRQDO ZRUOG RI KHURHV EXW WKH
fragmentations of the multidimensional world in
ZKLFKDQ\OLEHUDWLRQVWUXJJOHUHVLGHV
David himself, sure and disciplined in his
DSDUWKHLGHUD UROH DV D ZDUULRU LV XQVXUH DERXW
why he wants to record his story, and unsure
DERXWKLVRZQFDSDELOLWLHVIRUSOD\LQJLQWKHHOG
RI ZRUGV ,Q SHDFHWLPH KLV SRVLWLRQ LV GHHSO\
problematised in (and by) the world of heroics;
his narrative reveals the discomfort he feels
ZLWK KLV RZQ PRQXPHQWDO SRVLWLRQ +H DVNV
the unnamed amanuensis to record the story as
KH WHOOV LW KH ZDV XQZLOOLQJ RU XQDEOH WR HVK
out the narrative she states, thereby already
undermining his centrality to the narrative (DS
7KLVDPDQXHQVLVTXLFNO\QRWHVWKDW'DYLGV
REVHVVLRQ ZLWK KLV H[WUDRUGLQDU\ FRPUDGHLQ
DUPV 'XOFLH2OLSKDQWWDNHVRYHUKLVQDUUDWLYH
Davids search for a genealogical link to the epic
QDUUDWLYH RI DQ HTXDOO\ HSLF DQFHVWRU $QGUHZ
le Fleur, and his attempt to transpose his own
LGHQWLW\ RQWR VRPH [HG SRLQW LQ WKH ERG\ RI
le Fleur, is overtaken by the story surrounding
'XOFLH 'XOFLHV LPSRUWDQFH WR WKH QDUUDWLYH RI
WKH QDWLRQ LV LPSRVVLEOH WR GHOHWH WKH VFUHHQ
IXOOEOHHG>V@ ZLWK 'XOFLH DS  VKH LV D
kind of a scream somehow echoing though (DS
 WKH HQWLUHW\ RI WKH UHDGLQJ H[SRVLQJ WKH
IUDFWXUHLQWKHPHPRULDO

Davids attempts to address the unspeakable

YLROHQFHWRZKLFK'XOFLHLVVXEMHFWHGYLROHQFH
that the amanuensis details in the exacting,
medical language that captures torture and
LWV LQVWUXPHQWV  HQG XS DV IDLOXUHV SHUKDSV
because no amount of rational language or
(QOLJKWHQPHQWLOOXPLQDWHG VFLHQWLF LQTXLU\
can capture the horrors of calculated bodily
LQMXU\7KHSUREDELOLW\WKDWKHUDVVDLODQWVDUHKHU
comrades in the struggle, that the torture is not at
the hands of the other, but the self, presents the
UHDGHUZLWKWKHPRVWGHYDVWDWLQJUHDGLQJWKRXJK
Dulcie was a necessary icon to win a necessary
freedom, in the transition to peace such icons
must not only recede, but be silenced in a such
a terrifying manner that her existence will never
be spoken of
***
Any museum contains, in storage, an enormous
amount of archived material that only a curator
ZLWK D VSHFLDO LQWHUHVW PD\ HYHU EULQJ WR OLJKW
And in every nation there is the thing of which
one cannot speak, the thing for which we have
QRZRUGV7KHDUFKLYHVRI6RXWK$IULFDQKLVWRU\
undoubtedly contain an array of stories that will
PRVW OLNHO\ QHYHU EH NQRZQ 7R FKRRVH LV WR
HOLPLQDWH 6LYDQ   SUHVHQWLQJ VRPH
SRUWLRQV RI KLVWRU\ UDWKHU WKDQ RWKHUV UHTXLUHV
a sort of elimination dance, wherein the viewer
absorbs not a totality, but a construction of
VRPHRQHHOVHVXQLHGYLVLRQ
7KH OPPDNHU (\DO 6LYDQ ZULWHV WKDW KH QGV
the project of representation deeply troubling,
because living in this era of recorded memory
allows people to believe that memory has become
DVRUWRIDXGLRYLVXDOFROOHFWLYHH[SHULHQFHHYHQ
though truth as it is constructed through images
can only be an accumulation of points of view of
WKHVDPHPDWHULDO+HDGGV

67


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

When it comes to images of horror, I prefer to rely on

the power of imagination. I do not share the idea of their
clarifying and denunciatory power. We hear that to show
a crime against humanity is already to start fighting it.
This kind of euphoric clich eludes the question of political responsibility by substituting the show of horror
for the thinking about horror. (Sivan 2001: 286)
While the TRC presented narratives of the
previously unheard, for many in South Africa
this showing of crimes against humanity did not
QHFHVVDULO\VLJQDOWKHEHJLQQLQJRIJKWLQJVXFK
atrocities; instead, this display became a method
RIHPSOR\LQJWKHFHUHPRQLDOWREXU\WKHSDVW
Wicombs writing alludes to that which is
unspeakable, using silence as a means of
UHSUHVHQWLQJ WKH XQUHSUHVHQWDEOH 7KH VLOHQFH
surrounding Dulcie is a representation of the
PHPRU\ RI WHUURU WKH VWRU\ RI 'XOFLH    WKH
PHPRU\ RI WKH VDFULFH WKH WRUWXUHG DQG
XQUHFRYHUDEOH ERG\  UHPDLQV DV WKDW ZKLFK
LV XQZRUGDEOH 'DYLGV GLVFRPIRUW DW
articulating Dulcies bodily form once she has
undergone torture, and his inability to translate
her into narrative and language, signal Wicombs
QRYHOV PRUH LPSOLFLW PHVVDJHV WKH IDLOXUHV RI
representation, the inaccessibility of truth, the
futility of any attempt to represent a singular
experience of truth, and most importantly, the
importance of charging the reader with the
UHVSRQVLELOLW\RIKDYLQJWRUHHFWXSRQWKHKRUURU
RI WKLQNLQJ DERXW KRUURU (YHQ ZKHQ 'DYLG
attempts to write the actual word truth, he ends
up with an unmanageable list of letters that makes
DKHURLFDWWHPSWWRJHWWKHUHEXWIDLOV7KHZDU\
YRLFHRIWKHDPDQXHQVLVFRPPHQWVKHUH7UXWK
, JDWKHU FDQQRW EH ZULWWHQ +H KDV FKDQJHG LW
into the palindrome of the Cape Flats speech
75857758577585775857DS
Davids location  WKH &DSH )ODWV WKH SODFH WR
which tens of thousands of coloured people of

&DSH7RZQZHUHIRUFLEO\UHPRYHGRQO\DOORZV
him to speak a language that allows no access
WRWKHWUXWKEXWWRDIDFVLPLOHRILWDQRWTXLWH
UHSUHVHQWDWLRQRIWUXWK
Wicombs presentation of the memory of Dulcie
works against the instrumentalisation of memory
that is often integral to the political culture of
nations built around identities of dislocation,
dispossession and extermination, where the
memory of suffering is used to justify not just
SROLFLHVEXWH[LVWHQFH6LYDQ
While museums constructed to commemorate
the nations heroic history can also be seen as
sites for perpetual grieving, memorials to victims
of atrocities can never satisfy demands for truth
DQG MXVWLFH 7RUUH   SDUWO\ EHFDXVH
certain victims are given a privileged moral
SRVLWLRQRYHURWKHUV:KHQSUHVVHGIRUWKHWUXWK
about Dulcie, Dirkse says that even if one could
have a map into the territory of Dulcies story, it
would be a story that cannot be told, that cannot
be translated into words, into language we use
for everyday matters (DS  7KRXJK WKH
DPDQXHQVLVTXHVWLRQVKLPUHSHDWHGO\IRUDPRUH
GHQLWH YHUVLRQ RI WKH VWRU\ WKDW OLQNV KLP WR
Dulcie, David himself cannot give Dulcie form,
RU VSHDN RI KHU SHUVRQ VKH LV UHGXFHG LQ WKH
QDUUDWLYHWRDJKWHUH[WUDRUGLQDLUHZLWKDOLVWRI
feats that solidify her legendary military prowess
 DQG EHVLGHV WKDW VKH LV DOVR WKH FRQVXPPDWH
politician who works tirelessly at uniting
GLVSDUDWHJURXSV'XOFLHZLWKKHUVXSHUQDWXUDO
powers is an icon, a myth, a story to be told in
HSLFIRUP'XOFLHZKRUHTXLUHVDVDFUHGUDWKHU
than a secular museum to contain all that she
UHSUHVHQWV UHVLVWV DQG HOXGHV UHSUHVHQWDWLRQ
we hear that [t]here is no progression in time,
QREHJLQQLQJDQGQRHQG2QO\DPLGGOHWKDWLV
LQQLWHO\ UHSHDWHG WKDW UHPDLQV LQ DQ HWHUQDO
inescapable present (DS  )LQDOO\ WKH
amanuensis states towards the end of the story,

68


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

Dulcie and the events surrounding her cannot be

FDVWDVDVWRU\,KDYHFRPHWRDFFHSWWKLVYLHZ
of Davids (DS  %XW UHDGHUV DOVR JDWKHU
LQWKHSUHVHQWDWLRQRI'XOFLHDVWKHKHURLFJXUH
WKH WKUHDGV RI D PHVVLDQLF VWRU\  VKH KDV QR
childhood, and no aged body (that is, no progress
LQ WLPH VKH LV D VDYLRXU ZKR DSSHDUV IRU D
moment to unite, but the truth of what the nation
GRHV WR KHU FDQQRW HYHU EH ZRUGHG :KHQ
David himself attempts to write her, he ends
up with a mess of scribbles and scoring out and
GRRGOLQJRISHFXOLDUJXUHVWKDWFDQQRWVD\VWKH
amanuensis, be represented here (DS
***
In the new minimalist designs of memorials it is
RPLVVLRQUDWKHUWKDQLQFOXVLRQWKDWLQYLWHVWKH
YLHZHUWRUHLQVFULEHDQGUHHFWRQWUDXPDDQG
ORVV7RUUH,Q0D\D/LQVGHVLJQIRU
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, according to
architect Susana Torre,
[t]he representation of loss is most obvious in the names
of the dead soldiers carved into the monuments stone
the design itself is a symbolic grave, cut into the
earth and barely defined by the stones polished black
surface, in which visitors see their own faces. (ibid:
3534)
That which is left largely unsaid in Lins stunning
design is precisely what invites the viewer to
UHHFWRQWKHLPSRVVLELOLW\RIUHSUHVHQWDWLRQDV
they see their own face and body superimposed
RYHUWKHQHO\FDUYHGQDPHVRIWKHGHDG6LPLODU
ly, Daniel Libeskinds design for the Jewish
0XVHXPLQ%HUOLQUHHFWVRQWKHUHSUHVHQWDWLRQ
RIORVVLWLVDPRQXPHQWDPDWHULDOERG\WKDW
VLJQLHV WKH DEVHQFH RI PDWHULDOLW\ 7KH DFWXDO
competition brief for the design of the building
challenged the designers to acknowledge the
terrible void [in the citys history and culture]

WKDW PDGH WKH PXVHXP QHFHVVDU\ LELG 

Libeskinds design is a deconstructed Star of
David, with the arms of the star unravelling into
IUDJPHQWHG GLVWRUWHG SRUWLRQV DFFRUGLQJ WR
Torre [t]he spatial continuity of the structure,
instead of allowing an uninterrupted display of
historical exhibits, is purposefully broken up by
several multistoried voids, marking the loss of
QDUUDWLYHVWDELOLW\LELG
The void spaces in Libeskinds design create
WKH IHHOLQJ RI LQDFFHVVLELOLW\ SHUPDQHQW ORVV
like that caused by the Holocaust, involves that
ZKLFKFDQQHYHUEHDWWDLQHGRUUHFRYHUHGLELG

Whenever David is asked to speak of Dulcie,
he writes, instead, pages of stories about Saartje
%DDUWPDQ DQG .URWRl(YD D VXEVWLWXWLRQ WKDW
has remained a troubling conundrum for many
UHDGHUV DQG FULWLFV 7KRXJK 'DYLG ZDQWV WR
LQFOXGHUHIHUHQFHVWR.URWRl(YDDQG%DDUWPDQ
the amanuensis refuses to represent (except in
WZR VSHFLF SODFHV WKHVH WZR NH\ JXUHV RI
6RXWK$IULFDQ KLVWRU\ 7KRXJK 'DYLG H[SOLFLWO\
tries to link his narrative genealogy to that of
these founding mothers, the amanuensis writes,
LQKHULQWURGXFWRU\UHPDUNV
Davids story started at the Cape with Kroto-Eva, the
first Khoi woman in the Dutch castle, the only section I
have left out. He eventually agreed to that but was adamant about including a piece on Saartje Baartman, the
Hottentot Venus placed on display in Europe. (DS: 1)
Scholars of the novel have remarked on this
RPLVVLRQ DV D FXULRXV  EXW VLJQLFDQW 
phenomenon; Kai Easton has written that despite
the enormous publicity surrounding the return of
%DDUWPDQVUHPDLQVWRWKH&DSHKHUVXEVHTXHQW
burial, revival as a national icon, and multiple
DWWHPSWV WR QDPH DQG FODLP KHU DQG .URWRl

69


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

(YDDVIRXQGLQJPRWKHUVE\SHRSOHRI*ULTXD
coloured, Khoi, and even Afrikaner descent,
Wicombs novel only makes gestures to the
OLYHVRI.URWRl(YDDQG%DDUWPDQ
with the unnamed narrator only making two
UHIHUHQFHVWR.URWRl(YDLELG

PXVHXP EHFRPHV HYHQ PRUH SUREOHPDWLF 7KH

unnamed mission of many of the museums from
this era is not simply the creation of memorials
LQWKHDEVWUDFWWKH\PHPRULDOLVHFRQTXHVWFUHDWH
a space for public spectacle and set the stage for
WKHQHJRWLDWLRQRIVXEMHFWLYLW\

Why should the amanuensis in Davids story

UHVLVWWKHLQFOXVLRQRIVSHFLFLFRQV",V:LFRPE
like memorial architects Maya Lin and Daniel
/LEHVNLQG LQYLWLQJ WKH YLHZHUUHDGHU WR
experience the materiality of loss, and the voids
left by omitting references to the material bodies
RI%DDUWPDQDQG.URWRl(YDDVZHOODVWKURXJK
purposefully breaking up the spatial continuity
of the narrative? And why would David be
DGDPDQWDERXWWKHLQFOXVLRQRIWKHVHREMHFWLHG
bodies? He tells the amanuensis that one cannot
ZULWH QRZDGD\V  ZLWKRXW D OLWWOH PRQRJUDSK
on Baartman; it would be like excluding history
itself (DS:

$QG FRQVHTXHQWO\ ZH UHDG WKH VWUXFWXUH WKH

DUFKLWHFWXUHRIWKHHGLFHSRVLWLRQLQJRXUVHOYHV
in the political and psychosocial world presented
WR XV ZLWKRXW DQG ZLWKLQ$ PXVHXP GRHV WZR
WKLQJV UVW LW FUHDWHV GLIIHUHQFH SDUWLFXODUO\
anthropological museums such as the Muse de
lHomme in which Baartmans body was housed);
WKHVSDFHFUHDWHVDQDXUDWKDWVD\VWRWKHYLVLWRU
7KLVLVDQRGGLW\WKLVLVWKHRWKHU7KLVRWKHU
FRPHVIURP(J\SWLWFRPHVIURPWKH&DSH,WLV
QRW\RX\RXDUHWKHVWDQGDUGDJDLQVWZKLFKWKLV
RWKHUQHVV LV PHDVXUHG %XW VHFRQG ZLWKLQ WKH
space of this structure, the other is brought home
VRPXVHXPVSUHVHQWDGXDOGHVLUHDGHVLUHWR
present the frightening nature of otherness, and
D VLPXOWDQHRXV GHVLUH WR SDFLI\  DQG WKHUHE\
UHPRYH  WKDW WKUHDW ,Q RUGHU WR IXOO WKH UVW
SRUWLRQ RI WKDW PLVVLRQ WKH PXVHXPJRHU LV
presented with an unsettling juxtaposition of self
DQGWKHRWKHUWKHRWKHUQHVVKDVHQWHUHGWKHKRXVH
LQZKLFKWKHVHOIRIWKH(XURSHDQLVKRPHGWKLV
in itself should be too frightening a mission for
DQ\ SXEOLF SURMHFW WR XQGHUWDNH %XW ZH DOVR
have to regard the second portion of a museums
PLVVLRQDQDWWHPSWWRGRPHVWLFDWHWKDWRWKHUQHVV
WR WDPH YLULOLW\ 'LVVHFWHG DQG UHPRYHG IURP
her actual body and displayed in a glass case,
Baartmans genitals no longer threaten like those
of the Hottentot Venus; her threat of difference
is removed in this decontextualised space; she
is a passive object behind glass, so her living,
threatening nature is removed

In order to know about ones origins, one must

QGVHWVRISDUHQWVLQDQHYHUreceding historical
RUGHU 'DYLGV GHVLUH WR LQFOXGH WKLV KLVWRU\
WKH LPSRVVLELOLW\ RI ORRNLQJ WR HLWKHU .URWRl
Eva or Baartman for a point of origin, and the
amanuensiss resistance to such attempts all
signal the impossibility of locating origin,
directing the reader towards the impossibility
RI UHFRYHULQJ DQ RULJLQDU\ (YH $V VXFK
Davids attempts at recovering ethnic origins,
and the desire to reclaim the objects won in a
UHYROXWLRQDU\ZDUDUHDODERXURIIXWLOLW\
Museums have their origins in the display of
SRZHU RYHU ZKDWHYHU KDV EHHQ FRQTXHUHG
Europes spate of museum construction coincides
ZLWKWKHDGYHQWRIFRORQLDOLVPZKLFKLWVHOIVDZ
WKHPDUULDJHRIFDSLWDOLVWDQGLPSHULDOYHQWXUHV
If one considers that the imperial ventures of
Europe are intimately connected to the rise
of anthropology, the historical mission of the

Further reasons behind the narrators resistance

WR WKH LQFOXVLRQ RI .URWRl(YD DQG 6DDUWMH
Baartman may have to do with the static nature

70


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

RIREMHFWVWKDWDUHPHPRULDOLVHGZKHQDQREMHFW
exists in a museum, that object remains forever
in the present; it has no history, and no way of
going forward from the moment at which it
ZDVSUHVHQWHGIRUGLVSOD\LWKDVQRSDVWDQGQR
IXWXUH 7KH SUHVHUYDWLRQ RI 6DDUWMH %DDUWPDQV
genitals is, in fact, a preservation of what African
sexuality has represented for Europe in the past
WZRWRWKUHHKXQGUHG\HDUV%DDUWPDQVJHQLWDOV
are not only the location of black female
sexuality and how blackness is positioned, but as
preserved objects, within a space meant to house
the history of lHomme, the manner in which
we regard black female sexuality also remained
SUHVHUYHG 'DYLG OLNH WKH PXOWLWXGH RI 6RXWK
Africans desirous of reclaiming these ancestral
icons, may wish to draw genealogical inferences
EHWZHHQ %DDUWPDQ .URWRl(YD DQG KLPVHOI
but the narrator, perhaps, hints that by drawing
such lineages we also intertwine ourselves with a
SUHVHUYHGYLHZRIEODFNVH[XDOLW\'DYLGVGHVLUH
to commune and align himself with Baartman and
.URWRl(YDSUHVHQWVSUREOHPVSUHFLVHO\EHFDXVH
he then juxtaposes these views encompassing
black sexuality and subjectivity resulting from
SDVW FRORQLDO HQGHDYRXUV ZLWK SUHVHQWGD\
peoples living, changing, cacophonous views
DERXWWKHLURZQVH[XDOLW\
As a repository of consciousness and memory,
Wicombs writing itself presents an interesting
FRPPHQWDU\ RQ PHPRULDOLVDWLRQ$V WKH DXWKRU
uses the present tense for each of the three
intertwining stories within her novel, she creates
DWH[WWKDWOLNHDQ\PHPRULDOJRHVQRZKHUH
EXW WKH SUHVHQW 7KH XVH RI WKH SUHVHQW WHQVH
especially in memoirs (and Wicomb plays
ZLWK GUDZLQJ WKH UHDGHU WRZDUGV D PHPRLUOLNH
reading, since the amanuensiss narrative is
WROG LQ WKH UVW SHUVRQ , GUDZV WKH UHDGHU WR
experience the event as it is being read; to feel
the same experiences, the same wonder and

KHOSOHVVQHVV DV WKH QDUUDWRU RU SURWDJRQLVW %XW

at the same time a book at rest is a memorial, a
tombstone, a marker commemorating a life that
H[LVWVLQWKHSDVW5HDGLQJDERXWDQHYHQWLQWKH
present tense means that the author has made a
GHFLVLRQWRPDLQWDLQDSDVWVWRU\LQWKHHWHUQDO
present, much as an object in a museum has no
past and no future, living on and on, unchanged,
LQWRHDFKHUDRIWKHIXWXUH
In the act of remembering we leave out the
details of a past event, and fashion changes in
the interpretation of the event in light of present
QHHGV7KH XVH RI WKH SUHVHQW WHQVH DWWHPSWV WR
counteract the possibility of forgetting, because
WKHHYHQWOLYHVRQWKURXJKDORRSUHSOD\DFWLRQ
The use of the present tense not only signals the
act of memorialisation, it also ensures that lives
are notKHDOHGWKURXJKWKHDFWRIPHPRULDOLVLQJ
The trauma experienced by the lives within the
text lives on, sidestepping the claim that what
happened in the past can be laid to rest through
SXEOLF FRPPHPRUDWLRQ DQG PHPRU\ :LWK WKH
use of the present tense, the narratives within are
simultaneously museumed, ensuring that their
OLYLQJQDWXUHLVVWXOWLHGHPEDOPHGLQDSUHVHQW
state, much like Saartje Baartmans preserved
SRUWLRQV LQ WKH 0XVpH GH O+RPPH :LFRPEV
choice allows neither the characters nor their lives
WRKDYHDOLYLQJFKDQJLQJDQGFKDQJHDEOHIXWXUH
memorialising takes an event that occurs in the
past and presents it as an event that remains in the
HWHUQDO SUHVHQW ,QVWHDG RI SUHVHQWLQJ D OLYLQJ
object, then, memorialising is in itself a death,
because the act of creating a museum around an
REMHFWUHPRYHVLWIURPLWVYLWDOFRQWH[W
Wicombs novel acts as an historic site that neither
aids in social reconstruction efforts nor cultivates
GLVFXVVLRQ RQ SUHVHQWGD\ KXPDQ ULJKWV DEXVHV
Instead of advancing social rebuilding, her
novel seems to be an antidote against the powerful

71


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

GHVLUHWRIRUJHWDGHVLUHWKDWLVSROLWLFDOO\DQG
VRFLDOO\ HQJLQHHUHG 'XOFLH E\ WKH FORVH RI WKH
novel, has been silenced through torture so severe
that she goes from being the uncompromising
IUHHGRPJKWHUWRDVKXILQJJDUGHQHUDIHFXQG
GULSSLQJ HDUWKPRWKHU JXUH XSRQ ZKRVH
wounds and scars the goggas (insects or bugs)
buzz; David, the sole keeper of Dulcies memory,
unable to be silent and silenced any longer,
UHPRYHV KLPVHOI IURP WKH VFHQH DOWRJHWKHU D
GHDWKWRWKHRQO\RWKHUVXUYLYLQJPHPRU\NHHSHU
Despite Walter Benjamins invective to resist
forgetting, we see, through Wicombs novel, that
in a time of new peace there is no space for the
warrior, nor the warriors memory of the price
SDLGIRUWKHH[LVWHQFHRIWKDWQHZQDWLRQVSHDFH
The reason why her novel, Davids story, remains
in the eternal present as a memorial to memory
itself is precisely because the warriors and their
PHPRULHVGRQRW
***
Does Davids story remain alive for South
African readers? And does it live outside the
classroom, the academic conference, the journal
article? As Susana Torre writes in Constructing
memorials, while artworks, monuments
and memorials inspired by international
mobilization of shame over state violence open
cultural memory to previously unacknowledged
violations of human rights, they may, like
PRQXPHQWV WR FRQTXHVW  ZKRVH DLP LV QHDUO\
the opposite be doomed to fall into oblivion,
their original purpose forgotten and their intended
PHVVDJHLJQRUHG7KHVXFFHVVRID
memorial in maintaining enduring visibility is
in its ability to provoke and invite reinscription
by designing commemorative ceremonies
VSHFLFDOO\ FRQQHFWHG WR LWV SURJUDPPH LELG
PHPRULDOVWKRXJKWKH\PD\EHV\PEROLF
gUDYHVLWHVQHHGWRUHPDLQDOLYHHQVXULQJWKDW

their chosen site, their intended purpose, and

methods of representation create and recreate
the conditions that invite the reinscription of
PHPRU\
Although I argue that Davids story is a modern
site of conscience, memorialising and rejecting
PHPRULDOLVDWLRQ SUHVHQWLQJ LFRQLF JXUHV DQG
TXHVWLRQLQJ WKHLU YDOLGLW\ WKH QRYHO UHPDLQV
DFFHVVLEOH RQO\ WR D VHOHFW IHZ +RZHYHU WKLV
LV QRW WR VD\ WKDW :LFRPE LV UHTXLUHG WR ZULWH
LQ D IXQFWLRQDO PDQQHU ,Q WKH LQWHUYLHZ ZLWK
Stephen Meyer and Thomas Olver, Wicomb was
asked if Davids story is not perhaps a collective
DXWRELRJUDSK\7RWKLVVKHUHSOLHG
Is it not fiction? And is it not the case that all fiction
ultimately finds its source in the real world? And since
novels have central characters and represent the passage of time, they are also always histories, biographies
and autobiographies. (184)
It is important here to note Wicombs irritation at
WKHSUHGLFWDEOHTXHVWLRQVDERXWZULWLQJDIRUPRI
autobiography through the use of a constructed
FWLRQDOYRLFHWKLVLVDQLUULWDWLRQPDUNHGHDUOLHU
LQ WKH VDPH LQWHUYLHZ ZKHQ VKH VWDWHG <HV
, LUWHG ZLWK DXWRELRJUDSK\ EHFDXVH WKDW LV
what black women write, in a sense reclaiming
WKH SHMRUDWLYH ODEHO IRU P\VHOI LELG ,W LV
interesting that though she has explicitly made
clear that her writing is not autobiographical, to
identify her writing as such may, in fact, be a way
of positioning her into a prescribed artform for
EODFNZRPHQ
:LFRPEVDGDPDQWFODULFDWLRQVHSDUDWLQJKHU
ZULWLQJIURPDXWRELRJUDSKLFDOZULWLQJLVDERXW
making a statement about the forms available
WR DQG LQ IDFW SRVVLEOH IRU WKH EODFN ZRPDQ
The interviewer repetitively realigns his line of
TXHVWLRQLQJLQDPDQQHUWKDWUHOHJDWHV:LFRPEV
ZRUN WR ELRJUDSKLFDO RU PHPRLU ZULWLQJ D

72


ARTICLES

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

building structure that often serves a functional,

if repetitive and somewhat constraining role
LQ ZULWLQJ WKH VHOI LQWR EHLQJ :LFRPEV QHZ
structures must be moulded into a functional
GHVLJQ EHFDXVH WKDW LV ZKDW EODFN SHRSOH GR
EXLOG IRU IXQFWLRQDO SXUSRVHV ,I LQ IDFW VKH LV
building for reasons of play, for dazzling the
DXGLHQFHV  DQG KHU RZQ  H\H LW PHDQV WKDW
readers and critics have to realise that black
literary production has long moved beyond the
FRQVWUDLQWV RI WKH QDWLRQDOLVWLF SURMHFW EH\RQG
UHDOLVPEH\RQGDIXQFWLRQDODUFKLWHFWXUH
Wicombs story was published at a time of nation
EXLOGLQJ KHU ZRUN LV DQ DWWHPSW WR EUHDN WKLV
KHJHPRQ\RIWRJHWKHUQHVVDQGFXOWXUDOSROLWLFN
LQJSUHVHQWLQJLQVWHDGDUHFRUGRIGLVVHQW7KH
strength of Davids story lies in its ability to
invite reinscription through the ambiguities and
multiplicities contained within, and its very lack
RI DQ RYHUDUFKLQJ VLQJXODU SXUSRVH ,QVWHDG RI
RIIHULQJDQRIFLDOYHUVLRQRIKLVWRU\DQ\KLVWRU\
ZKLFKRIWHQLQYROYHVDFRPSURPLVHEHWZHHQ
competing stories, Wicomb offers instead an
overlapping construction consisting of personal
narratives and collective memory designed to
enlarge the cultural meaning of a place through
SUHVHQWLQJ GLVFRPWLQJ IDFW>V@ DQG IDLOXUHV
RI WKH VWDWH 7RUUH   Davids story
could signal a new era of a similar genesis of
complex narratives in South Africa wherein the
burdensome hermeneutical labour demanded
by certain texts impresses upon readers, as does
Toni Morrisons Paradise, the eternal, mutually
constitutive relationship between struggle and
pleasure, or between struggle and paradise
$XEU\   :KHWKHU WKH QRYHO EULQJV
about a revolution or not, one still has to ask
FUXFLDOTXHVWLRQVDERXWWKHNLQGRIQDWLRQDODQG
international attention it draws to itself, whether
the novels structures detract from the art it
contains, whether it is such an insiders story

UHTXLULQJVRPXFKNQRZOHGJHRIWKHDUFKLWHFWXUDO
LGLRPV *DOORZD\   WKDW LW SURYHV
inaccessible (or unpronounceable) to the casual
WUDYHOOHU RU UHDGHU 0RUULVRQV SURMHFW FODLPV
Aubry,
is precisely to sever the link between textual difficulty
and exclusiveness, which has conditioned twentiethcentury literature at least since the advent of modernism, and to realign difficulty with the task of furthering
inclusiveness. (2005: 367)
But just as some sceptics regard the elegant,
FRPSOH[HGLFHVEXLOWWRKRXVHDUWDVGLVWUDFWLQJ
VRPHFULWLFVRI:LFRPEVZULWLQJPD\TXHVWLRQ
whether the theatricality of her novels structure
is truly of service to the works housed within
*DOORZD\

Works cited
Attridge, Derek. 2005. Zo Wicombs home truths: place,
genealogy, and identity in Davids story. Journal of
Postcolonial Writing 41(2): 156165.
Daymond, MJ. 2002. Bodies of writing: recovering
the past in Zo Wicombs Davids story and Elleke
Boehmers Bloodlines. Kunapipi 24(12): 2538.
Easton, Kai. 2002. Travelling through history, new
South African icons: the narratives of Saartje
Baartman and Krota Eva in Zo Wicombs Davids
story. Kunapipi 24(12): 23750.
Introduction. Documenta 11: Platform 2 (New Delhi,
India). Experiments with truth: transitional justice
and the process of truth and reconciliation. 2001.
May: 1317.
Galloway, David. 2005. Building for art. Art in America
6: 140145, 200.
Mamdani, Mahmood. Making sense of political violence
in South Africa. Documenta 11: Platform 2 (New
Delhi, India). Experiments with truth: transitional
justice and the process of truth and reconciliation.
2001. May: 2142.

73


ARTICLES

the coloured in South Africa. In: Derek Attridge

and Rosemary Jolly (eds). Writing South Africa:
literature, apartheid, and democracy, 19701995.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP: 91107.

Meyer, Stephen and Thomas Olver. 2002. Zo Wicomb

interviewed on writing and nation. Journal of Literary
Studies 18(2): 182219.

Downloaded by [Izmir Yuksek Teknologi Enstitusu] at 01:02 13 April 2015

Sivan, Eyal. Archive images: truth or memory? The

case of Adolf Eichmanns trial. Documenta 11:
Platform 2 (New Delhi, India). Experiments with
truth: transitional justice and the process of truth
and reconciliation. 2001. May: 277288.
Torre, Susana. Constructing memorials. Documenta
11: Platform 2 (New Delhi, India). Experiments with
truth: transitional justice and the process of truth
and reconciliation. 2001. May: 343360.
Wicomb, Zo. 1998. Shame and identity: the case of

____. 2001. Davids story. New York: The Feminist

Press.
____. 2002. Translation and Coetzees Disgrace.
Journal of Literary Studies 18(34): 209225.
____. Culture beyond color? A South African dilemma.
Transition 60 (1993): 2732.
Willemse, Hein. 2002. Zo Wicomb in conversation
with Hein Willemse. Interview. Research in African
Literatures 33(1): 144154.

74


ARTICLES