Sports and dance in reconciliation of binary oppositions: “Master Harold” ... and the boys (1982) and “Invictus” (2009)
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to critically examine the play Master Harold"… and the boys (1982) and the film “Invictus” (2009) with a focus on their role in reconciling the division between ‘other’ and ‘self’ through sports and dance. Grounded in the scope of postcolonial studies with an interdisciplinary approach, the study benefits from Homi Bhabha’s concept of the Third Space and Gayatri Spivak’s interpretation of the Subaltern as its theoretical frame. The film “Invictus” (2009) is predicated upon the narrative of Nelson Mandela and his endeavour to forge unity among the populace of South Africa, facilitated by the national rugby team known as the Springboks. Within the confines of South Africa, the institutionalized racism known as apartheid had starkly delineated the white Afrikaners from the black populace, who were relegated to a status deemed inferior, devoid of equitable human rights. Athol Fugard’s theatrical piece, "Master Harold"… and the boys (1982), unfolds against the backdrop of 1950s South Africa, where apartheid holds sway, thereby fuelling the binary opposition between white and black, alongside the institutionalized animosity directed towards the latter. Nevertheless, the dynamic between Sam and Willie, two middle-aged black servants, and Hally, their young master, exhibits promise, as they engage in candid dialogue concerning life and ballroom dancing. Clint Eastwood’s cinematic interpretation and Fugard's play both illuminate interstitial spaces that destabilize the binary dichotomy of ‘self' and ‘other’ upon which racial divisions are predicated. The two productions demonstrate that these liminal spaces are cultivated through the mediums of sports and dance, subverting the delineations imposed by such systems and creating a shared national identity. The study concludes that through their ability to transcend barriers and create inclusive spaces, sport and dance serve as powerful tools in reshaping social dynamics.
Project Number
Gerekmemektedir
References
- Ambesange, P. V. (2016). Postcolonialism: Edward Said & Gayatri Spivak. Research Journal of Recent Sciences, 5(8), 47–50. https://doi.org/E-ISSN 2277-2502
- Assumpção, L. O. T., Silva, J. B. L. da, Silva, N. B. da, & França, N. M. de. (2016). Sports, Nationalism and Symbolic Efficiency: The Film Invictus. International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies, 3(1), 18–24. https://doi.org/ISSN 2394-6296
- Beck, B. (2011). Not as a Stranger: Rooting for the Home Team in Invictus and The Infidel. Multicultural Perspectives, 13(1), 23–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2011.548182
- Bhabha, H. K. (1990). Nation & Narration. Routledge.
- Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture. Routledge.
- Fourie, P. (2020). “Little man you’ve had a busy day”: Music in the onstage and offstage lives of “Master Harold.” The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 57(2), 477–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021989419892658
- Fugard, A. (1982). Master Harold… and the boys. Theatre, 14(1), 4–26. https://doi.org/10.1215/01610775-14-1-4
- Huddart, D. (2006). Homi K. Bhabha. Routledge.
- Maggio, J. (2007). “Can the subaltern be heard?”: Political theory, translation, representation, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 32(4), 419–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/030437540703200403
- Mandela, N. (1995). Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela / by Nelson Mandela. Back Bay Books.
- Morris, R. C. (2010). Can the subaltern speak?: Reflections on the history of an idea. Columbia University Press.
- Moya, A. (2017). When borderlands are where we live: Disgrace (Jacobs, 2008), Invictus (Eastwood, 2009) and district 9 (Blomkamp, 2009). Journal of African Cinemas, 9(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1386/jac.9.1.19_1
- Mushtaq, H. (2010). Othering, Stereotyping and Hybridity in Fiction: A Post-Colonial Analysis of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) and Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians (1980). Journal of Language and Literature, (3), 25–29.
- Mwaanga, O., & Adeosun, K. (2019). Reconceptualizing Sport for Development and Peace (SDP): An ideological critique of nelson ‘madiba’ mandela’s engagement with Sport. Sport in Society, 23(5), 847–863. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2019.1584184
- Oppenheim, C. E. (2012). Nelson Mandela and the power of ubuntu. Religions, 3(2), 369–388. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3020369
- Riach, G. (2017). An analysis of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s: Can the subaltern speak? Macat Library.
- Rutherford, J. (1990). Identity: Community, Culture, difference. Lawrence & Wishart; illustrated edition.
- Said E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Sasani, S. (2015). A postcolonial reading of Athol Fugard’s “master Harold” . . . and the boys. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(3), 458–465. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s2p458
- Spivak, G. C. (2005). Scattered speculations on the subaltern and the popular. Postcolonial Studies, 8(4), 475–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790500375132
- Steenveld, L., & Strelitz, L. (1998). The 1995 Rugby World Cup and the politics of nation-building in South Africa. Media, Culture & Society, 20(4), 609–629. https://doi.org/10.1177/016344398020004006
- Sutton, B. (2001). Fugard’s “master Harold” and the boys. The Explicator, 59(2), 109–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940109597102
- Warner Bros. (2009). Invictus [Film].
İkili karşıtlıkların uzlaştırılmasında spor ve dans: “Master Harold” ... and the Boys (1982) and “Invictus” (2009)
Abstract
Bu çalışmanın amacı, 1982 yapımı “Master Harold”… and the boys oyununu ve 2009 yapımı “Invictus” filmi’ni eleştirel bir şekilde incelemek ve eserlere konu olan spor ve dans faaliyetlerinin ‘öteki’ ve ‘ben’ arasındaki ayrımı uzlaştırmadaki rolüne odaklanmaktır. Disiplinler arası bir yaklaşım ile postkolonyal çalışmalar kapsamındaki bu araştırma teorik çerçevesini Homi Bhabha’nın Üçüncü Mekân ve Gayatri Spivak’ın Subaltern kavramları üzerinden şekillendirir. “Invictus” filmi (2009), Nelson Mandela’nın hikayesine dayanmakta ve Mandela’nın Güney Afrika halkı arasında birlik sağlama çabalarını, Springboks olarak bilinen milli ragbi takımı üzerinden iletilmektedir. Güney Afrika’nın sınırları içinde, “apartheid” olarak bilinen kurumsallaşmış ırkçılık, beyaz Afrikanerleri, eşit insan haklarından yoksun olarak aşağılanmış bir statüye iten siyah halktan keskin bir şekilde ayırmıştır. Athol Fugard’ın “Master Harold”… ve the boys (1982) adlı tiyatro oyunu ise apartheid'in hakim olduğu 1950’lerde geçmektedir, ve beyazlar ile siyahiler arasındaki ikili karşıtlığın nasıl şekillendiği ve bunun da siyahilere karşı sistematik düşmanlığı nasıl arttırdığını gözler önüne sermektedir. Bununla birlikte, eserdeki iki orta yaşlı siyah hizmetçi Sam ve Willie ile genç efendileri Hally arasındaki yaşam ve salon dansları üzerine samimi ve dinamik diyalogları ikili karşıtlığın minimize edilmesi açısından umut verici bir zemin sunmaktadır. Clint Eastwood’un sinematik yorumu ve Fugard’ın oyunu ile birlikte ele alınması, ırksal ayrımların temellendirildiği ‘ben’ ve ‘öteki’ kavramlarını içeren ikili ayrımların kararlılıkla yok edilmesine destek olan ara alanları ortaya çıkarır. İki yapıt da bu ara alanların, spor ve dans gibi araçlar aracılığıyla oluşturulduğunu ve bu sistemler tarafından dayatılan ayrımları altüst ederek ortak bir ulusal kimlik oluşturabileceğini göstermektedir. Çalışma, engelleri aşma ve kapsayıcı mekânlar yaratma potansiyelleri sayesinde, spor ve dansın toplumsal dinamikleri yeniden şekillendirmede güçlü araçlar olarak hizmet ettiği sonucuna varır.
Ethical Statement
Gerekmemektedir
Project Number
Gerekmemektedir
References
- Ambesange, P. V. (2016). Postcolonialism: Edward Said & Gayatri Spivak. Research Journal of Recent Sciences, 5(8), 47–50. https://doi.org/E-ISSN 2277-2502
- Assumpção, L. O. T., Silva, J. B. L. da, Silva, N. B. da, & França, N. M. de. (2016). Sports, Nationalism and Symbolic Efficiency: The Film Invictus. International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies, 3(1), 18–24. https://doi.org/ISSN 2394-6296
- Beck, B. (2011). Not as a Stranger: Rooting for the Home Team in Invictus and The Infidel. Multicultural Perspectives, 13(1), 23–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2011.548182
- Bhabha, H. K. (1990). Nation & Narration. Routledge.
- Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture. Routledge.
- Fourie, P. (2020). “Little man you’ve had a busy day”: Music in the onstage and offstage lives of “Master Harold.” The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 57(2), 477–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021989419892658
- Fugard, A. (1982). Master Harold… and the boys. Theatre, 14(1), 4–26. https://doi.org/10.1215/01610775-14-1-4
- Huddart, D. (2006). Homi K. Bhabha. Routledge.
- Maggio, J. (2007). “Can the subaltern be heard?”: Political theory, translation, representation, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 32(4), 419–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/030437540703200403
- Mandela, N. (1995). Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela / by Nelson Mandela. Back Bay Books.
- Morris, R. C. (2010). Can the subaltern speak?: Reflections on the history of an idea. Columbia University Press.
- Moya, A. (2017). When borderlands are where we live: Disgrace (Jacobs, 2008), Invictus (Eastwood, 2009) and district 9 (Blomkamp, 2009). Journal of African Cinemas, 9(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1386/jac.9.1.19_1
- Mushtaq, H. (2010). Othering, Stereotyping and Hybridity in Fiction: A Post-Colonial Analysis of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) and Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians (1980). Journal of Language and Literature, (3), 25–29.
- Mwaanga, O., & Adeosun, K. (2019). Reconceptualizing Sport for Development and Peace (SDP): An ideological critique of nelson ‘madiba’ mandela’s engagement with Sport. Sport in Society, 23(5), 847–863. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2019.1584184
- Oppenheim, C. E. (2012). Nelson Mandela and the power of ubuntu. Religions, 3(2), 369–388. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3020369
- Riach, G. (2017). An analysis of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s: Can the subaltern speak? Macat Library.
- Rutherford, J. (1990). Identity: Community, Culture, difference. Lawrence & Wishart; illustrated edition.
- Said E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Sasani, S. (2015). A postcolonial reading of Athol Fugard’s “master Harold” . . . and the boys. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(3), 458–465. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s2p458
- Spivak, G. C. (2005). Scattered speculations on the subaltern and the popular. Postcolonial Studies, 8(4), 475–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790500375132
- Steenveld, L., & Strelitz, L. (1998). The 1995 Rugby World Cup and the politics of nation-building in South Africa. Media, Culture & Society, 20(4), 609–629. https://doi.org/10.1177/016344398020004006
- Sutton, B. (2001). Fugard’s “master Harold” and the boys. The Explicator, 59(2), 109–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940109597102
- Warner Bros. (2009). Invictus [Film].
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Literary Theory, Postcolonial Literature |
| Journal Section | RESEARCH ARTICLE |
| Authors | |
| Project Number | Gerekmemektedir |
| Publication Date | June 19, 2024 |
| Submission Date | March 19, 2024 |
| Acceptance Date | March 31, 2024 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2024 Volume: 14 Issue: 2 |
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