South African Literature in the Fog of the Seasons End

MT. KENYA UNIVERSITY

UNIT: BLIT 222

SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE

TASKS;

ASSIGNMENT: TAKE AWAY CAT

1. EXPLAIN THE APARTHEID IN THE NOVEL ‘IN THE FOG OF THE SEASONS

END’ BY ALEX LA GUMA (15 MARKS)

2. EXPLAIN ANY FIVE STYLISTIC DEVICES USED IN THE PLAY ‘BLOOD KNOT’

BY ATHOL FUGARD.

NAME: DAVIS CHIMALEL WA MAINA

REG. NO.: E35S 113/43567

PERIOD OF STUDY: AUGUST 2012

FACULTY: SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT/ LANGUAGES

LECTURER: JOHAN KRUGGER.

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What is Apartheid?

In trying to understand the apartheid issues brought out in Alex La Guma’s ‘In the Fog of the

Seasons End’, it is important to define the term and the implications associated with it.

Apartheid can be described as the official government policy of racial segregation in South

Africa that was renounced in1992. The term is derived from Afrikaans ; Apart APART + heid

HOOD. This policy was enforced through legislation by the National Party governments

between 1948 to 1994. In this policy, the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed

and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained. Officially, legislation

classified inhabitants into four racial groups (native, white, coloured and Asian) and residential

areas were segregated, sometimes by forced removals. Non white political representation was

abolished and black people denied most of their basic citizenship rights including the right to buy

land outside reserves.

The government segregated education, medical care, beaches and other public services and

provided black people with services inferior to those of white people. Apartheid sparked internal

resistance and violence in South Africa. Popular uprisings and protests were met with the

banning of the opposition and imprisonment of anti apartheid leaders. To deal with the unrest,

the government resorted to repression and violence. African people were for instance forced to

carry Passes, were limited to fixed areas (Bantustans) and were denied the right to...