"Of Masters, Scholars, and the Global Prize Economy"
by Monica Popescu
So for in this course, the thing that surprised me the most is the global applicability of South African issues. I thought that I knew about South Africa, but I now realise that it was very rudimentary knowledge. The issue of authorship and national literature is something that interests me a lot because of the similar Canadian problems I've been thinking about for a long time. The "old colonial yardstick" for measuring the quality of literature through "internationally recognized prizes, always held up to the standards and logic of global recognition and a putative universal quality," is a very topical issue here in Canada (which is somewhat funny if we're talking about a desire to move away from a global comparison).
It seems to be a "colony problem," or rather an "ex-colony problem." There is an anxiety about national literature. In countries that are rich in histories of oppression and domination, the idea of a "national" literature is very contested. There seems to be, not so much an anxiety of influence, but an anxiety of a lack of influence. Coovadia's critique of the "Coetzee religion" illustrates this point quite well. Who should have the say when it comes to defining the problems of a country? It is the old argument of "what makes a ______ literature?"
While I agree with Coovadia on many points, this debate makes me wonder at what point is an author allowed to transcend the role of a national writer? In Canada, this debate arises every 3 seconds. What makes a Canadian novel? What makes a Canadian writer? We try to claim as many writers as our own, no matter how small their connection to Canada is. But why do we need to measure Canadian literature against a long-established tradition, especially when this country is so different historically and culturally than most European countries or even the US. South Africa seems to have a lot of the same questions: what is "the role South African authors play in the global cultural imaginary"? I hope by the end of the course, I can begin to make some connections or conclusions, no matter how tentative or limited they are.
All of these issues make me wonder about Zoe Wicomb, who also left South Africa. How was her departure received and how has it impacted her reputation?