Performing Xenophobia: a Conversation with Jonathan Nkala and Bo Petersen

Flockemann, Miki; Roberts, W. Dayton; Castle, Andrea; Krog, Antjie; Ngara, Kudzayi

doi:10.1080/10137548.2009.9687910

South African Theatre Journal

2009

DOI: 10.1080/10137548.2009.9687910

|View full text |Cite

Performing Xenophobia: a Conversation with Jonathan Nkala and Bo Petersen

Miki Flockemann

W. Dayton Roberts

Andrea Castle

et al.

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2010

Publication Types

Select...

Article1

Relationship

Self Cite1

Independent0

Authors

Journals

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There are some people who experience more than I do and I will be very happy if they can open up and tell me more stories and let them be told. (Flockemann 2009) Hannah Arendt's claim that 'storytelling reveals meaning without the error of defining it' (in Dlamini 2009: 178) also seems apposite to the meanings of a story like Jonathan's. This, in tum, speaks to the more nuanced and layered interpretations that emerged gradually during and after the conversation with Nkala and Petersen, perhaps precisely because the playwright did not make 'the error of definition' .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So then people feel 'I have to get rid of you because both as failure or success, you threaten me.' (Flockemann 2009) The Crossing, however, works on an opposing assumption, namely the claiming of commonality with strangers. In the post-apartheid context, this emphasis on commonality despite difference challenges the discourses of indigeneity and exceptionalism embraced by individuals like the trucker.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The everyday experience of xenophobia: performingThe Crossingfrom Zimbabwe to South Africa

et al. 2010

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Debates on the underlying causes of xenophobia in South Africa have proliferated since the attacks -between March and May 2008. Our article shows how exploring the everyday 'ordinariness' of xenophobia as performance can contribute additional insights not readily available in the public media or in works such as the recently published Go home or die here: violence, xenophobia and the reinvention of difference (Hassim et al. 2009).The claim that as metaphor the meaning of performance is discovered i n the dialectic established between the fictitious and actual context, provides a point of departure for a discussion of an autobiographical oneman play, The Crossing, in which Jonathan Nkala performs .his hazardous and 'illegal' rites of passage from Zimbabwe to South Africa. The play's aesthetic of 'witnessing', associated with the protest generation, intersects with and looks beyond a post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) aesthetic. To contextualise our discussion of Nkala's work we track trends in responses to xenophobia, including the suggestion that the attacks were underpinned by prevailing discourses of exceptionalism and indigeneity. However, the intimacy of targeting those living close to you needs fuller analysis. We will argue that the liminality of the performance event provides scope for making connections not directly 'there' at the moment of performance . This has a bearing on the 'return' to Fanon and claims about 'negrophobia' characterising many reports in the public domain on the events of 2008. In turn, this invites speculation about the re-alignments indicated here.Seven years ago, a 21-year-old Zimbabwean man from Kwekwe told his mother he was going into the bush to fast, pray and collect firewood (his father is late). She didn't hear from him till nine months later when he called her from Johannesburg and started sending her money and groceries. It's an amazing and unique theatrical story -and yet in reality it is the story of tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who have put their lives at risk while searching for better ones. -Review of Jonathan Nkala's The Crossing, The Zimbabwe Standard, May 2009. 1

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The everyday experience of xenophobia: performingThe Crossingfrom Zimbabwe to South Africa

et al. 2010

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Performing Xenophobia: a Conversation with Jonathan Nkala and Bo Petersen

Cited by 1 publication

References 0 publications

The everyday experience of xenophobia: performingThe Crossingfrom Zimbabwe to South Africa

The everyday experience of xenophobia: performingThe Crossingfrom Zimbabwe to South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About