Die hantering van die begrip 'interverbondenheid' in Antjie Krog se bundel Mede-wete (2014)

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the concept of interconnectedness or 'interconncectedeness-towards-wholeness' and the functioning thereof in Antjie Krog's poetry volume Mede-wete (2014). The search for a multilevel union serves a continuous theme in Mede-wete. The need for interconnectedness, a term closely linked to African philosophy, is a recurring theme in Antjie Krog's oeuvre. Krog's prose works Country of my skull (1998), A change of tongue (2003) and Begging to be black (2009), her anthology Kleur kom nooit alleen nie (2000) and her volumes of translated poems Met woorde soos met kerse (2002) and die sterre sê 'tsau' (2004), are discussed and presented as precursors to her use of the term interconnectedness and the contextualization thereof.Interconnectedness is grounded in the African worldview ubuntu, where the relationship between the self and the other are emphasized. This study focusses on and highlights the different forms of human connections and the key role of the community in the successful embodiment of ubuntu. The views of various African philosophers including John Mbiti, Ifeanyi Menkiti and Kwame Gyekye are presented, as Krog's interpretation of interconnectedness (which she uses alternately with the term ubuntu) is in line with theirs.This study investigates the underlying mechanisms, evident in Mede-wete, concerning the expansion of the need for connectedness through the connection between the self and the human other; the human other in the form of the planet and the cosmos. Anthological aspects are initially presented and discussed in line with Krog's incorporation of Deleuze's process of becoming (also addressed in Begging to be black), where living entities are in a continuous process of transformation. Secondly, Krog's exploration of Bushmen spirituality, concerning the interwoven and interactive nature of the mundane and the supernatural, are discussed. Finally, it is determined how Krog, in Mede-wete, demonstrates the potential of a union with the non-human in the facilitation of interconnectedness between the self and the other.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University