South Africa, racism and Irish sectarianism in dolores Walshe's in the talking dark and Damian Smyth's soldiers of the Queen
Journal
English Studies in Africa
Journal Volume
54
Journal Issue
2
Pages
118-135
Date Issued
2011
Author(s)
Abstract
Abstract Susceptible to the changing landscape of ethnicity in an Ireland marked by an increasing number of immigrants and asylum seekers, playwrights have been prompted to examine the bitter sectarian violence which South Africa has gone through in the past few decades from a border-crossing experience. The traumas of South Africa under apartheid can be examined alongside the similar experiences of partition in Ireland and vice versa, opening up new understanding of human conflicts, bigotry, and insularity in this global village. This article therefore aims to scrutinize two less discussed dramas which unearth the neglected experiences of the Irish diaspora in South Africa in particular, examining how a country under apartheid may be a mirror, albeit not necessarily a faithful one, to the alarming issue of the Northern Ireland Troubles and racial conflicts across the Emerald Isle. Most interestingly, the two plays concerning South Africa observe the racially split nation from two different angles, possibly as a result of the different gendered perspectives of each playwright. The two plays are Dolores Walshe's In the Talking Dark and Damian Smyth's Soldiers of the Queen. Keywords: South AfricaIrelandapartheidNorthern Ireland Troublesracism
Type
journal article