“It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988)
This article is a critical discussion of Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) from the perspective of Elleke Boehmer’s postcolonial poetics. The discussion concentrates on the story “The Clay Ox” and the eponymous novella of the collection. It is argued that both the story and the novella co...
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Institute of English Studies
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://anglica-journal.com/resources/html/article/details?id=613886 |
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| author | Marek Pawlicki |
| author_facet | Marek Pawlicki |
| author_sort | Marek Pawlicki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article is a critical discussion of Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) from the perspective of Elleke Boehmer’s postcolonial poetics. The discussion concentrates on the story “The Clay Ox” and the eponymous novella of the collection. It is argued that both the story and the novella convey a tension between the personal and the political by describing the subtleties of human relationships while at the same time showing that even this intensely private dimension of the characters’ existence is shaped by forces that affect the entire nation. As it is shown, Galgut’s collection of stories is representative of white writing in the times of the interregnum insofar as it depicts isolated, conflicted protagonists, includes the theme of physical and mental disintegration, and explores the state of personal and political precarity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5bd772e9dfd644d89027322a4006d8ce |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0860-5734 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Institute of English Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-5bd772e9dfd644d89027322a4006d8ce2025-01-02T22:37:48ZengInstitute of English StudiesAnglica. An International Journal of English Studies0860-57342023-09-01321173310.7311/0860-5734.32.1.02“It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988)Marek Pawlicki0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3477-0831University of SilesiaThis article is a critical discussion of Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) from the perspective of Elleke Boehmer’s postcolonial poetics. The discussion concentrates on the story “The Clay Ox” and the eponymous novella of the collection. It is argued that both the story and the novella convey a tension between the personal and the political by describing the subtleties of human relationships while at the same time showing that even this intensely private dimension of the characters’ existence is shaped by forces that affect the entire nation. As it is shown, Galgut’s collection of stories is representative of white writing in the times of the interregnum insofar as it depicts isolated, conflicted protagonists, includes the theme of physical and mental disintegration, and explores the state of personal and political precarity.https://anglica-journal.com/resources/html/article/details?id=613886damon galgutsouth african literaturepostcolonial short storysouth africaapartheid |
| spellingShingle | Marek Pawlicki “It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies damon galgut south african literature postcolonial short story south africa apartheid |
| title | “It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) |
| title_full | “It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) |
| title_fullStr | “It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) |
| title_full_unstemmed | “It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) |
| title_short | “It Was a Brutal Land”: Exploring the Personal and the Political in Damon Galgut’s Small Circle of Beings (1988) |
| title_sort | it was a brutal land exploring the personal and the political in damon galgut s small circle of beings 1988 |
| topic | damon galgut south african literature postcolonial short story south africa apartheid |
| url | https://anglica-journal.com/resources/html/article/details?id=613886 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marekpawlicki itwasabrutallandexploringthepersonalandthepoliticalindamongalgutssmallcircleofbeings1988 |