Multiculturalism and Nationhood : A Postmodernist Reading of Nadine Gordimer's None to Accompany me and Gillian Slovo's Red Dust
Eric Nsuh Zuhmboshi
The University of Yaounde I (Cameroon)
Department of African Literature and Civilisations
ABSTRACT
In order to forestall the trauma of the past, post-apartheid South African leadership has been legislating
laws to reconcile cultural differences among its citizens in the hope of invigorating the spirit of nationhood.
Thus for socio-political harmony to exist in this society, cultural pluralism and dialogue must be
encouraged so that the different races and ethnic groups will see each other as part of the same nation.
Using Nadine Gordimer’s None to Accompany Me and Gillian Slovo’s Red Dust, this paper verifies the
place of multiculturalism in post-apartheid literary narratives and its influence in inculcating the spirit of
national consciousness in South Africa. From the paradigm of postmodernist criticism, this paper sustains
the premise that for social justice and harmony to reign in multicultural and multiracial societies, there
should be the political will of state leadership to shun cultural exclusionism and articulate policies that will
reconcile and accommodate cultural/racial differences thereby leading to what could be termed cultural
ecumenicism. In other words, governmental policies in such societies should be directed towards bridging
racial and ethnic cleavages in order to build a cosmopolitan society.
KEYWORDS:
nationhood, multiculturalism, postmodernist criticism, cultural ecumenicism, cosmopolitan society.
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