K. Sello Duiker and the Possibility of a Different Future in <i>The Quiet Violence of Dreams</i>

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International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies

Volume 2, Issue 1

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K. Sello Duiker and the Possibility of a Different Future in The Quiet Violence of Dreams

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Author(s): Manosa Nthunya

Publication date (Print): 1 June 2019

Journal: International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: trauma, history, queer, futurity

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Abstract

In this paper I argue that K. Sello Duiker's novel The Quiet Violence of Dreams (2001) invites readers to think differently about the future and its inherently unknown possibilities. It will argue that even though Lee Edelman has written in No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive (2004) that futurity is fundamentally permeated with notions of heteronormativity, that the future can in fact still be understood outside this framework. It will make use of José Esteban Muñoz's understanding of futurity in Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity (2009) to argue that queerness is that which has not yet happened. Duiker's novel is preoccupied with the question of the future and its possibilities within a post-apartheid setting. Even though its protagonist, Tshepo, has a deeply traumatic history, the events and the people that he comes across challenge his perception of himself as he begins to reimagine what it means to be human in a post-colonial setting.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Manosa Nthunya

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50020082

Journal ID (jcode): intecritdivestud

Title: International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN: 2516-550X

ISSN: 2516-5518

Publication date (Print): 1 June 2019

Volume: 2

Issue: 1 ( doiID: 10.13169/intecritdivestud.2.issue-1 )

Pages: 56-70

Affiliations

Department of English, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Article

Publisher ID: intecritdivestud.2.1.0056

DOI: 10.13169/intecritdivestud.2.1.0056

SO-VID: 54438546-5c23-4214-9232-fadd51d299a1

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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lang eng

ScienceOpen disciplines: Social & Behavioral Sciences

Keywords: trauma,history,queer,futurity

References

Ahmed, S. (2006). Orientations: Toward a new phenomenology. A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies, 12(4), pp. 543–574. Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58ad660603596eec00ce71a3/t/58bec800b8a79b7c599de24a/1488898050432/Orientations+Toward+a+Queer+Phenomenology.pdf
Barris, K. (2006). What kind of child. Cape Town: Kwela Books.
Bersani, L. (1995). Homos. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Boswell, B. (2017). Grace. Rondebosch: Modjaji Books.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of “sex”. New York: Routledge.
Dlamini, N. (2016). The transformation of masculinity in contemporary Black South African novels. PhD thesis. Retrieved from http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/jspui/bitstream/10539/19859/1/Nonhlanhla's%20Thesis%20-%20final%20final.pdf
Duiker, K. S. (2000). Thirteen cents. Cape Town: David Philip.
Duiker, K. S. (2001). The quiet violence of dreams. Cape Town: Kwela Books.
Edelman, L. (2004). No future: Queer theory and the death drive. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Fortuin, B. N. (2015). Institutionalised homosexuality in South Africa: Queering same-sex desire. PhD thesis. Retrieved from https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/98074
Gevisser, M., & Cameron, E. (1993). Defiant desire: Gay and lesbian lives in South Africa. Johannesburg: Raven Press.
Halberstam, J. (2011). The queer art of failure. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Halperin, D. (2007). What do gay men want? An essay on sex, risk and subjectivity. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Love, H. (2007). Feeling backward: Loss and the politics of queer history.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Magona, S., (2012). It is in the blood: Trauma and memory in the South African novel. In E. Mengel & M. Borzaga (Eds.), Trauma, memory, and narrative in the contemporary South African novel. New York: Rodopi.
Matlwa, K., (2007). Coconut. Auckland Park: Jacana.
Mda, Z., (2002). The heart of redness. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Mhlongo, N., (2013). Way back home. Cape Town: Kwela Books.
Mzamane, M. V. (2005). Words gone two soon: A tribute to Phaswane Mpe and K. Sello Duiker. Pretoria: Umgangatho Media and Communications.
Munoz, J. E. (2009). Cruising utopia: The then and there of queer futurity. New York: New York University Press.
Ratele, K. (2016). Liberating masculinities. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Rodriguez, J. M. (2011). Queer sociality and other sexual fantasies. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 17(2–3), pp. 331–348.
Ruti, M. (2017). The ethics of opting out: Queer theory's defiant subjects. New York: Columbia University Press.
Spain, A. (2016). Transitional encounters: practices of queer futurity in K. Sello Duiker's Thirteen Cents. Safundi, 17(4), pp. 416–433.
Vladislavić, I. (2001) The restless supermarket. Claremont: David Phillips Publishers.
Warner, M. (1999). The trouble with normal: Sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life.
Wicomb, Z. (2000). David's story. New York: The Feminist Press.

Comments

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[1] Ahmed, S. (2006). Orientations: Toward a new phenomenology. A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies, 12(4), pp. 543–574. Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58ad660603596eec00ce71a3/t/58bec800b8a79b7c599de24a/1488898050432/Orientations+Toward+a+Queer+Phenomenology.pdf

[2] Barris, K. (2006). What kind of child. Cape Town: Kwela Books.

[3] Bersani, L. (1995). Homos. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[4] Boswell, B. (2017). Grace. Rondebosch: Modjaji Books.

[5] Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of “sex”. New York: Routledge.

[6] Dlamini, N. (2016). The transformation of masculinity in contemporary Black South African novels. PhD thesis. Retrieved from http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/jspui/bitstream/10539/19859/1/Nonhlanhla's%20Thesis%20-%20final%20final.pdf

[7] Duiker, K. S. (2000). Thirteen cents. Cape Town: David Philip.

[8] Duiker, K. S. (2001). The quiet violence of dreams. Cape Town: Kwela Books.

[9] Edelman, L. (2004). No future: Queer theory and the death drive. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

[10] Fortuin, B. N. (2015). Institutionalised homosexuality in South Africa: Queering same-sex desire. PhD thesis. Retrieved from https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/98074

[11] Gevisser, M., & Cameron, E. (1993). Defiant desire: Gay and lesbian lives in South Africa. Johannesburg: Raven Press.

[12] Halberstam, J. (2011). The queer art of failure. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

[13] Halperin, D. (2007). What do gay men want? An essay on sex, risk and subjectivity. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

[14] Love, H. (2007). Feeling backward: Loss and the politics of queer history.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[15] Magona, S., (2012). It is in the blood: Trauma and memory in the South African novel. In E. Mengel & M. Borzaga (Eds.), Trauma, memory, and narrative in the contemporary South African novel. New York: Rodopi.

[16] Matlwa, K., (2007). Coconut. Auckland Park: Jacana.

[17] Mda, Z., (2002). The heart of redness. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

[18] Mhlongo, N., (2013). Way back home. Cape Town: Kwela Books.

[19] Mzamane, M. V. (2005). Words gone two soon: A tribute to Phaswane Mpe and K. Sello Duiker. Pretoria: Umgangatho Media and Communications.

[20] Munoz, J. E. (2009). Cruising utopia: The then and there of queer futurity. New York: New York University Press.

[21] Ratele, K. (2016). Liberating masculinities. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

[22] Rodriguez, J. M. (2011). Queer sociality and other sexual fantasies. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 17(2–3), pp. 331–348.

[23] Ruti, M. (2017). The ethics of opting out: Queer theory's defiant subjects. New York: Columbia University Press.

[24] Spain, A. (2016). Transitional encounters: practices of queer futurity in K. Sello Duiker's Thirteen Cents. Safundi, 17(4), pp. 416–433.

[25] Vladislavić, I. (2001) The restless supermarket. Claremont: David Phillips Publishers.

[26] Warner, M. (1999). The trouble with normal: Sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life.

[27] Wicomb, Z. (2000). David's story. New York: The Feminist Press.