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

Critical Arts, July, 2009 by Phil van Schalkwyk

   Since this group of [peripheral] texts takes anomalies and
   exceptions as its plot elements, the general picture of the world
   is one of extreme disorganization. The negative pole in this
   picture of the world will be realized by narratives about various
   tragic occurrences, each of which is a violation of order, i.e.
   what is least probable is, paradoxically, in this world what is
   most probable. The positive pole is manifest in miracle, the
   solution of tragic conflicts by the least expected and least
   probable means.

The positive pole, that of miracle, is represented by our peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy--a moment in history widely celebrated both in South Africa and worldwide. Indeed, seemingly irresolvable conflicts had been addressed by 'the least expected and least probable means', namely round-table negotiations instead of violent revolution--an outcome generally predicted.

On the negative side, South Africa is a country where, as the 'story' (myth) goes, the least probable is, paradoxically, the most probable. One could contend that, in South Africa, a myth of the spectacular holds sway. Obviously: myths and realities feed off each other. When one considers the statistics (Statistics South Africa 2008), it is clear that on many levels South Africa is indeed a country of extremities, most notably with regard to the ever-widening gulf between rich and poor and the staggering levels of HIV/AIDS-infection and violent crime, with women and children being worst effected. In this context, government policies on HIV and the sometimes irresponsible dismissals of those protesting against violence come to mind (Brink 2006).

As a further example of South African extremity one could site the excessive but largely suppressed fear in white South African society. Not too long ago a small group of Afrikaners made headlines when it leaked out to the media that they had been taking measures to survive the great reprisal against whites which, they believed, would follow the imminent death of the aging Mandela (Roodt 2007). This night of nemesis had been named, quite dramatically, 'The night of the long knives'.

These observations with regard to South African extremity are corroborated by South African writer N.S. Ndebele (1994:41) who contends: 'Indeed, we have seen the highly organised spectacle of the political wrestling match of the South African social formation. Everything in South Africa has been mind-boggingly spectacular.' No wonder then, according to Ndebele (ibid), that literary representations of the South African spectacle have tended to be equally dramatic, giving rise to a literature of the spectacular. This kind of literature is not only highly predictable, but also rather superficial, tending to generalise and oversimplify in its strong descriptive drive; it fails to pay analytical attention to the particular and the ordinary: 'the deepest dreams [of the individual] ... are ... sacrificed to the spectacle of group survival' (Ndebele 1994: 49-50). In short: within the tradition of the spectacular individual (psychological) considerations have to take a backseat to group ideals.