Abstract
This thesis grapples with representations of intergenerational intimate partner violence and trauma in post-apartheid South African texts. Through a close analysis of the texts, I engage with the experiences of victims and perpetrators of violence from both perspectives of female and male characters in heterosexual relationships. The primary texts examined in this discussion are three texts by South African writers: Grace (2017) by Barbara Boswell, Black Widow Society (2013) by Angela Makholwa and Unimportance (2014) by Thando Mgqolozana. These novels intersect each other, engaging in an inadvertent dialogue on the prevailing violence in intimate relationships. I posit that as the three texts delve into depicting the lasting effects of intimate partner violence, they unveil the underlying factors while portraying various ways victims wrestle with this violence. They, moreover, offer diverse approaches for breaking the cycle of violence in intimate relationships. I argue that through the texts these authors paint how men’s exposure to violence in their childhood experiences shape their masculinity as adults, thus showing the complexity of violent masculinity that perpetuates this cycle of abuse. This dissertation, in exploring the imprint of violence, demonstrates how the three texts grapple with violent masculinity and concurrently propose feminist interventions in deconstructing toxic masculinity and ending the pattern of violence. Therefore, through the discussion of the three primary texts, this study illustrates how empowering both women and men as well as involving men in confronting intimate partner violence, can help break the cycle of abuse.