“Policing Borders”

Extermination and Relocation of Insects in Three South African Texts

Bibliographic Data

ID20156420
AuthorsD C Byrne (0000-0002-4436-6632, University of South Africa, corresponding author), Deirdre Byrne (University of South Africa)
Year2020
Volume36
Issue4
Pages86-104
Publication date2020-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387
PublisherUnisa Press (PUBLISHER • ZA)
DOI10.1080/02564718.2020.1822603
OpenAlexW3109697583
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited15

Borders between states are spaces of aggression and anxiety about ownership, inclusion, exclusion and group identity, and they are often reinforced by shows of force that can yield to violence. Apartheid in South Africa was primarily and explicitly an attempt at controlling who could occupy space. The erection and maintenance of borders within the country, between spaces, became more aggressive and rigid as the era progressed and it became apparent that the Nationalist dream of racially pure spaces was not going to be feasible. Since the transition to democracy in 1994, borders have remained contested since different areas have continued to be apportioned, albeit informally, for different racial groups. Confident assertions of white supremacy yield to anxiety and even paranoia when owners feel that their borders are not secure. In this article, I explore the use of monstrous insect imagery in three post- transitional South African texts − The Ugly NooNoo (Buckland & Kani, 1994); District 9 (dir. Blomkamp, 2009) and Nineveh (Rose-Innes, 2011). In each of these texts, insects serve as metaphors for aggressive border-crossing by racial others, who are figured as undesirable and myriad

Aesthetics · Aggression · Art · Citizenship · Criminology · Democracy · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · White supremacy · Animal and Plant Science Education · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Gender Studies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology

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