Solidarity in Athol Fugards Township Plays

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: Good, University of Munster (English Seminar), course: Advanced Seminar: Literature from Southern Africa, language: English, abstract: At the moment solidarity is of topical interest more than ever. In the news wehear of the decline of the welfare state, of cuts in social services. We discuss aboutour solidarity with the United States of America with regard to the war in Iraq. There are shows on television to collect money for poor countries in the thirdworld or for post-war reconstruction. These are all forms of solidarity. But whatreally is solidarity?This paper wants to have a closer look at the term "e;solidarity"e;, its nuances andits conditions. Solidarity depends on the society and on the time. As an example Iwould like to examine the term on the basis of Athol Fugard's Township Plays. The Township Plays are: No-good Friday (1958), Nongogo (1959), The Coat(1966), Sizwe Bansi is Dead (1972) and The Island (1973). These five plays werewritten under the conditions of the oppressive apartheid system whichcharacterized South Africa's politics since 1948. During the following years theWhites oppressed the Blacks in a very cruel way, cut back their rights and madethem live and die under miserable circumstances. In such an inhumane situationsolidarity grows very fast and reaches its peak. I would now like to examine howsolidarity is described in the five South African plays, in which situations itoccurs. Furthermore, it may be interesting to look who acts in solidarity withwhom and in which situations there is perhaps even a lack of solidarity. Theseshall be the main aspects of my paper.