Narratives of Southern African Farms

This paper will attempt to specify a literary genre of farm narrative, canonically exemplified by Schreiner, Lessing and Coetzee, in order to raise the question of what alternative narratives there may be. Narratives of entrapment or regression will be juxtaposed with artistic and autobiographical expositions offering a pioneering myth and logic, served to open up overlooked questions of autonomy and local community. Particular attention will be given to one illustration (author will supply illustration), literally a watercolour painting that can be seen to undo certain expectations of the farm setting established by the dominant literary tradition.