This paper deals with the topic of reconciliation and nation building in post-apartheid South Africa by focusing on James Gregory’s memoir “Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend”. Written in collaboration with British journalist Bob Graham and strategically published in 1995, when Mandela’s iconic status as “Father of the Nation” was at its highest, this book tells the exemplary conversion story of one of Madiba’s prison guards during his long years of incarceration. It shows how the racist Afrikaner warder turned into a sympathetic confidant and friend through the epiphanic discovery of the moral stature and commendable humanity of the “black terrorist”. While considering the vexed question of the historical reliability and controversial reception of “Goodbye Bafana”, especially in South Africa, my aim is to better investigate the discursive policy, semantic layers, and identity-construction strategies in a work that has been so far largely neglected by critics. Via his self-portrayal as a “redeemed Afrikaner” (and Graham’s mediating voice), Gregory appears to promote solidarity, social repair, and a new sense of community belonging.
L’articolo affronta il tema della riconciliazione e del “nation building” nel Sudafrica post-apartheid, focalizzandosi sulla testimonianza biografico-memoriale di James Gregory, “Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend”. Scritta in collaborazione con il giornalista britannico Bob Graham e pubblicata strategicamente nel 1995, quando l’aura iconica del Mandela “Padre della Nazione” aveva raggiunto un picco di intensità, l’opera racconta la storia della conversione esemplare di una delle guardie carcerarie di Madiba durante il suo lungo periodo di prigionia. Il testo mostra come un carceriere afrikaner razzista si sia trasformato in amico e confidente grazie all’esperienza epifanica innescata dalla statura morale e dalla grande umanità del “terrorista nero”. Pur considerando la questione controversa della fedeltà storica e della ricezione ben poco entusiastica di “Goodbye Bafana”, soprattutto in Sudafrica, il mio scopo è stato investigare più in profondità la politica discorsiva, le stratificazioni semantiche e le strategie di costruzione identitaria in un’opera finora sostanzialmente trascurata dalla critica. Con il suo autoritratto di “Afrikaner redento” (e la voce mediatrice di Graham), Gregory sembra riuscire a promuovere la solidarietà, le politiche ricostitutive e un nuovo senso di appartenenza comunitaria.
Questioning Legacies, Fashioning the Postcolonial Self: A Reading of James Gregory's "Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend"
Laura Giovannelli
2017-01-01
Abstract
This paper deals with the topic of reconciliation and nation building in post-apartheid South Africa by focusing on James Gregory’s memoir “Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend”. Written in collaboration with British journalist Bob Graham and strategically published in 1995, when Mandela’s iconic status as “Father of the Nation” was at its highest, this book tells the exemplary conversion story of one of Madiba’s prison guards during his long years of incarceration. It shows how the racist Afrikaner warder turned into a sympathetic confidant and friend through the epiphanic discovery of the moral stature and commendable humanity of the “black terrorist”. While considering the vexed question of the historical reliability and controversial reception of “Goodbye Bafana”, especially in South Africa, my aim is to better investigate the discursive policy, semantic layers, and identity-construction strategies in a work that has been so far largely neglected by critics. Via his self-portrayal as a “redeemed Afrikaner” (and Graham’s mediating voice), Gregory appears to promote solidarity, social repair, and a new sense of community belonging.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
