E3S Web of Conferences (Jan 2020)

The skewed social image of white South Africans in Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist

  • Chen Xiangting

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202018903031
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 189
p. 03031

Abstract

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-In this article he examines the social identity crisis of White South Africans in Nadine Gordimer’s “The Conservationist”. Gordimer describes the psychology, social deformities and human distortions of the repressed white people in post-colonial South Africa. At that time, white South Africans were tortured by colonial guilt and racial contradictions. While recognizing the culture of their European ancestors, they wanted to integrate into the black South African society. This paper analyzes the decline of South African white identity and the phenomenon of white exodus from the perspective of the protagonist’s thoughts and behaviors, and combines the political and social problems during those days.