Theme of mourning in post-apatheid South African Literature

Abstract

This dissertation discusses the significance of the concept of mourning in post-apartheid South Africa as presented in the following selected post-apartheid South African literary texts: Ways of dying, a novel by Zakes Mda; Nothing but the truth, a play by John Kani and Freedom lament and song, a poem by Mongane Wally Serote. The dissertation interrogates the legitimacy of the prefix ‘post’ in ‘post-apartheid’ as a point of departure. It discusses the theories of key thinkers on the concept mourning and then applies their theories to the analysis of the selected literary texts thereby interpreting the selected literary texts as symbolic codes communicating messages about the state of politics in post-apartheid South Africa. 5