Somewhere Where We Can Meet

This book is meant to examine the representation of place and cross-racial relationships in five novels by Nadine Gordimer. These novels are: Burger's Daughter (1979), July's People (1981), A Sport of Nature (1987), My Son's Story (1990) and None to Accompany Me (1994). On the one hand, place is depicted as a setting of action in the sense that it anticipates the development of the relationship between the racial couples. On the other hand, it may be only an illustrative background of the success or failure of the relationship. Place, in other words,is representative of racial integration or disintegration. Furthermore, the book will examine the possibility of reading Gordimer as a post-colonial writer through her portrayal of the opposition the Self/the Other. It will show Gordimer's contradictory position in presenting a stereotypical image of the Other which undermines her ability to free herself from the prejudices of her race. Gordimer's inability to deny her identity as a white writer and to overcome barriers of racial difference becomes clear. Thus we find embedded in the sub-text of the novels many myths about the Other.