The familiar and the familial : an exploration of personal, post-apartheid poetry written by women

Abstract

This dissertation explores the multivocality and multiplicity of post-apartheid, personal poetry written by South African women. By analysing selected personal poetry by Malika Ndlovu, Finuala Dowling, Koleka Putuma, Michèle Betty and Saaleha Idrees Bamjee, this discussion highlights the post-apartheid turn to the personal sphere as well as the proliferation of introspection and identity formation.

In order to trace the rise of the personal and its preoccupations, the discussion is divided into ‘familiar’ and ‘familial’ subject matter, where two poems from each poet are explored, one under each category. The familiar denotes poems that engage with interiority, self-reflection and contemplation, while poems of the familial emphasise the speaker’s relationships with close acquaintances and family members.

In both the poems of the familiar and the familial, the role of emotion in articulating these experiences is pivotal. This discussion thus contemplates ways that emotion shapes the content and form of the poetry. Considering emotion from a feminist perspective of affect theory allows women’s emotion to be reframed as a powerful and necessary poetic impulse.

The dissertation is thematically connected to the poetry collection Midnight in the Mind, which is the creative component of my M.A. Much like the selected work of the poets, the poems in the collection largely fall into the category of post-apartheid personal poetry that is voiced by a myriad of emotions, and is intimately engaged with both the familiar and familial.