Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch

Bakhtinian dialogism places great emphasis on situating texts within the dialogues of their historical contexts. this article deploys Bakhtin's concept of heteroglossia to identify ideological and discursive currents/voices running through Hylda Richards' Next Year Will be Better, an autob...

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Main Author: Ngoshi, Hazel T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Unisa Press 2016
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Online Access:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258051501_Mapping_the_Contours_of_an_Imperial_and_Domestic_Settler_Subjectivity_Hylda_Richards_and_the_Heteroglossia_of_her_Epoch
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author Ngoshi, Hazel T.
author_facet Ngoshi, Hazel T.
author_sort Ngoshi, Hazel T.
collection DSpace
description Bakhtinian dialogism places great emphasis on situating texts within the dialogues of their historical contexts. this article deploys Bakhtin's concept of heteroglossia to identify ideological and discursive currents/voices running through Hylda Richards' Next Year Will be Better, an autobiographical account. The context in which these currents are discussed is the construction of autobiographical subjectivity. This article argues that Richards' subjectivity is constituted against the background of a historical epoch populated with the heteroglossia of imperial and colonial societies. The subjectivities that emerge in this context are those of pioneer and domestic settler subjects. In addition, the article maps the relationship between Richards' narrative to the languages of her epoch and how she articulates these. The discussion establishes that her utterances in the narrative are polemical and largely inspired by pre-existing scripts about the condition of Africa and the moral superiority of white people, especially the English race. The article foregrounds Bakhtin's insistence on the impossibility of forming self-identities outside dialogue, whether subjects are conscious of the dialogising words or not.
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spelling ir-11408-11922022-06-27T13:49:06Z Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch Ngoshi, Hazel T. Heteroglossia, dialogism, imperial subjectivity, domestic settler subjectivity, discursive formations, historical epoch Bakhtinian dialogism places great emphasis on situating texts within the dialogues of their historical contexts. this article deploys Bakhtin's concept of heteroglossia to identify ideological and discursive currents/voices running through Hylda Richards' Next Year Will be Better, an autobiographical account. The context in which these currents are discussed is the construction of autobiographical subjectivity. This article argues that Richards' subjectivity is constituted against the background of a historical epoch populated with the heteroglossia of imperial and colonial societies. The subjectivities that emerge in this context are those of pioneer and domestic settler subjects. In addition, the article maps the relationship between Richards' narrative to the languages of her epoch and how she articulates these. The discussion establishes that her utterances in the narrative are polemical and largely inspired by pre-existing scripts about the condition of Africa and the moral superiority of white people, especially the English race. The article foregrounds Bakhtin's insistence on the impossibility of forming self-identities outside dialogue, whether subjects are conscious of the dialogising words or not. 2016-05-04T08:49:16Z 2016-05-04T08:49:16Z 2012 Article 2078-9785 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258051501_Mapping_the_Contours_of_an_Imperial_and_Domestic_Settler_Subjectivity_Hylda_Richards_and_the_Heteroglossia_of_her_Epoch en Imbizo:International Journal of African Literary and Comparative Studies;Vol. 3, No. 2; p. 34-46 none Unisa Press
spellingShingle Heteroglossia, dialogism, imperial subjectivity, domestic settler subjectivity, discursive formations, historical epoch
Ngoshi, Hazel T.
Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch
title Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch
title_full Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch
title_fullStr Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch
title_full_unstemmed Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch
title_short Mapping the Contours of an Imperial and Domestic Settler Subjectivity: Hylda Richards and the Heteroglossia of her Epoch
title_sort mapping the contours of an imperial and domestic settler subjectivity: hylda richards and the heteroglossia of her epoch
topic Heteroglossia, dialogism, imperial subjectivity, domestic settler subjectivity, discursive formations, historical epoch
url https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258051501_Mapping_the_Contours_of_an_Imperial_and_Domestic_Settler_Subjectivity_Hylda_Richards_and_the_Heteroglossia_of_her_Epoch
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