Abstract
The intention of this dissertation is to examine the writings of three South
African women authors who are active in the post-apartheid era. Work by South
African women writers, mainly English-speaking, has been emerging at a
remarkable rate in the first 10 years of democracy. The three women authors
chosen for examination here have been selected because of their different
racial and social backgrounds. In different ways, they attempt to recuperate an
alternative past by using a voice previously denied them through sexist and
racial discrimination during apartheid South Africa.
Post-apartheid writing has not received its due attention. In the main, the
treatment of the works of post-apartheid authors has been slight and superficial.
Unsurprisingly, the writers whose works are examined here reveal a cultural
awareness of a society previously dominated by racial discrimination. However,
their creative responses to the period of transition and the new social and
political realities have been diverse, and this makes for revealing and
enlightening analysis, criticism and comparison.