July’s People As a novel of Apartheid

Abstract

July’s People  As a novel of Apartheid

Dr. Sangeeta Sharma

Nadine Gordimer's July's People reveals not only the the extension of the interrogation of apartheid by the entrenched power of race, but also processes of personhood that are imbricated with race and power[1]. The novel is one of Gordimer's trickiest and it gives us a make-believe scenario: a white family consisting of the Smales runs to their Black servant, July, in a rural village as apartheid crumbles. These fictional themes resonate the disquiets with social organizations, cultural identity, and human resistance. Herein, we explore how Gordimer’s novel works as a social indictment of apartheid and a discussion of the difficulties of power and dependence.

[1] Cole, Ernest Dominic. Post-apartheid and its representation: The interregnum as motif in selected South African novels. University of Connecticut, 2008.