'Against extremity': Eben Venter's Horrelpoot and the quest for tolerance

Critical Arts, July, 2009 by Phil van Schalkwyk

   And he said
   'Anyone can run to excesses,
   It is easy to shoot past the mark,
   It is hard to stand firm in the middle.'
   From Canto XIII, Ezra Pound

Abstract

Eben Venter's (2006) novel Horrelpoot (Clubfoot) responds to the various forms of degeneration in present-day South Africa, taking it to the extreme and, indeed, right to the deepest heart of fear. Horrelpoot is, ultimately, a full-on confrontation with contemporary, largely unspoken/unacknowledged fear, rooted in the age-old dread of the ancestors, and an attempt at getting it out of the system. My reading focuses on this novel's mapping of the interplay of fear, (in)tolerance, and extremity/extremism. The survey begins with a clarification of the two shades of meaning of 'tolerance'. This is followed by a semantic contrasting of 'extremism' and 'extremity', after which extremity within present-day South Africa is considered. This is done with the aid of Lotman's theory of the 'semiosphere', and includes some observations on the role that peripheral texts, such as in Horrelpoot, have to play in relation to the post-1994 hegemonic drive toward conformity in South Africa. Subsequently, Horrelpoot's exploration of the extreme--both in South African and more general, psychological terms--is investigated. Next, the focus is shifted to Horrelpoot's implicit take on the Adornian notions of 'dissonance' and 'authenticity'. I argue that Horrelpoot echoes Adorno's thinking with regard to transcending society's standardisation and conditioning. Horrelpoot could be read as an expression of the dialectical openness to experience/the moment in history that Adorno advocated, and to this purpose it revisits important constitutive texts, most notably Joseph Conrad's Heart of darkness (1902). I conclude with some remarks on Socratic dialogue, pluralism and self(-acceptance) within the context of the (South African) quest for tolerance and reciprocity.

Keywords: Adorno, contemporary South Africa, cultural studies, dialectical openness, dissonance, Eben Venter, extremity, extremism, fear, Heart of darkness, Horrelpoot, Joseph Conrad, pluralism, Socratic philosophy, South African literature, tolerance, toleration, Trencherman

Introduction

Afrikaans novelist Eben Venter's (2006) Horrelpoot (Clubfoot) (3) is not only a remarkable retake on Joseph Conrad's Heart of darkness (1902), but also responds to the various forms of degeneration in present-day South Africa, taking it to the extreme and, indeed, right to the deepest heart of (white) fear. It is an exploration of reciprocity, (self-)acceptance, and, by implication, of tolerance. Despite its literary antecedent being rather specific, Horrelpoot is a highly evocative and elusive novel, resisting any attempt at pinning it to a single interpretation. This reading will, therefore, be an explorative sounding of Horrelpoot's semiotic depths and expanses, with special focus, however, on its mapping of the interplay of fear, (in)tolerance, and extremity/extremism. The distinct approaches offered by local Socratics (Johan Degenaar; Marthinus Versfeld) and Frankfurt School adept Johan Snyman will serve as basic framework, since Horrelpoot is, to my mind, couched in these philosophical strands. The Socratic (4) belief in free and open dialogue resonates with, for example, Habermas's (1970, 1998) advocacy of critical dialogue within the public sphere, which can be traced back to Kant's (1964) idea of 'public intelligence'. It is also not far removed from the more recent focus in the social sciences on (boundaries as sites of) relationality (Lotman 1990; Lamont & Molnar 2002).

This emphasis on the public sphere ties in with Murphy's (2007) argument concerning the two shades of meaning of 'tolerance'. Whereas tolerance in the first sense refers to individual attitudes, tolerance in the second sense (as 'toleration') relates to public, political arrangements that protect individuals and groups from intolerant practices. Murphy (2007) calls for a fostering of the second meaning of tolerance, given the fact that a mere cultivation of tolerant personal attitudes is not enough to achieve and maintain a 'tolerant society' or a 'culture of tolerance'. Elaborating on the theme of tolerance as toleration, Russell (2007) draws attention to a very basic, yet often forgotten, consideration: that tolerance and rejection are inextricably linked. A need for tolerance arises only if a given set of beliefs or a certain kind of behaviour has been rejected. Russell (2007) also points out that, within the concept of tolerance, there resides an awareness not only of the (threatening) Other as potential challenger to the structures and values of those who believe themselves tolerant, but also of the power wielded by the granter(s) of tolerance. Indeed, as will become clear further on, Venter's Horrelpoot deals explicitly with the rejection and even expulsion of the threatening Other as part of the quest for reciprocity. It will also be demonstrated that intolerance in relation to the Other is inseparable from intolerance in relation to the Self.