Paul Slabolepszy's evocation of empathy in a South African setting: a realisation of the potential of comic technique

[摘要] English: A study of comedy reveals its variety and scope, its subjective nature, howwe are able to see in it a reflection of life and customs, and how comedy is able toevoke empathy for characters through our laughter of recognition.South Africa's stormy political background is reflected in Slabolepszy'sdramas, from the turbulent apartheid years of the 1980s onwards, (for example, inplays such as Saturday Night at the Palace, Packing for Perth I, Sidewalking,R.S.A, Boo to the Moon, Packing for Perth II and Smallholding) through theearly 1990s with their uncertainties and turnover of leadership, until fulldemocratization in 1994, and the eventual attempts at forgiveness andreconciliation until the present.Although Slabolepszy's plays are not exclusively political, like some ofFugard's, do not rally people to action as Mda's and the township plays do, or arenot as corrosively satiric as most of Pieter-Dirk Uys's work, he provides insightinto the South African situation and, through a variety of comic techniques, is ableto evoke empathetic understanding for his characters in a South African setting.The sensitive humour and wit in Braait Laaities (1991) evoke empathy fora conservative, white woman, and a streetwise, black male, who are able tocommunicate on mutual ground, despite a stormy political South Africanbackground and personal sorrow. Mooi Street Moves (1992) is a particularlypoignant play in which Slabolepszy through a variety of comic devices evokesempathy for a black and a white man who succeed in reconciling their differences,despite their conflicting politics and cultural heritage.His plays also reflect comedy's tragic alter ego, especially in the personalangst of characters in plays such as The Return of Elvis du Pisanie (1992) andPale Natives (1994).In Fordsburg's Finest (1998), a black woman who has been in exile andreturns to a democratic South Africa to redefine her roots after an interim periodof almost forty years, becomes the focus of his concern. The play transcends thelimitations of politics, race, sex and skin colour. Slabolepszy evokes empathy forpresent-day South Africans through various comic techniques, and demonstrateswith perceptive insight that forgiveness between people is indeed possible.Slabolepszy experiments with various comic devices and techniques, plusvarying degrees of comedy, ranging from bitter satire in his earlier plays, forexample, Saturday Night at the Palace (1982), to an overall more light-hearted,even farcical approach in his other plays; for example, Under the Oaks (1984),Miles from Machadodorp (1992), Victoria Almost Falls (1994), Tickle to FineLeg (1995) and Heel Against the Head (1995). Through a comic approach whichalternates between dark and light-hearted humour, and low comedy, Slabolepszy isable to touch on contentious issues, for example, white male bonding in PaleNatives (1994). Absurdist elements are introduced in Travelling Shots andSmallholding, which demonstrate his versatility and ability to implement variouscomic techniques with success.Like his contemporaries, he shows his use of English to function as alinguafranca , but uses a distinctly South African patois, mixed with English,Afrikaans and ZululXhosa expressions and South African slang, as a comic deviceto evoke both laughter and empathy, and to make his plays more authentic.Slabolepszy's appeal is both national and international, and he is one ofSouth Africa's most popular playwrights. He extends the boundaries of his workby providing peculiar insight into the South African situation, as well as the humanpsyche. His plays are accessible to people from all walks of life, notwithstandingrace, creed or colour, and through humour, he is able to evoke empathy for allindividuals within a South African socio-political context.It is clear that Slabolepszy in his plays has been able to realise comedy'spotential to evoke empathy for individuals in a South African setting through avariety of comic techniques.

[发布机构] University of the Free State