University of Venda Discourses on Difference and Oppression

Mediating difference:

Politics of representation.

Antjie Krog’s chronicling of the Women at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Country of my Skull (1998)

Jo-Anne Prins

"The world is my representation, my imagination." (Schopenhauer quoted by Safranski 1989:210)

The fragmented nature of this paper is symbolic of the difficulty of the discourse of truth, language and trauma. The point of departure is the philosophy of truth followed by brief references to South African apartheid history of banning and censorship. The focus is on the position of the author in relation to the narratives of a few of the women at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa.

The TRC was chosen as a necessary process for South Africa in dealing with the past. Alex Boraine, executive director of Justice in Transition project in South Africa, rightfully asserts that "[i]n any attempt to deal with the past, the victims’ stories must be told" (1995:xv). The aim of this paper is not to focus on the workings of the TRC but rather on the difficulty of representation in the testimonies of the women.

The politics of representation is linked to the position of the author in relation to the subject. The author determines the parameters of the subject. Representation implies a certain view, with the desire to approach the real. Therefore no representation can be equated with the real. Arthur Schopenhauer writes a philosophy about "Darstellungen von Darstellungen" (representations of representations) in response to Kant’s problem of trying to describe "ein Ding an sich" (the thing in itself). Schopenhauer argues that the thing itself cannot be stated but we can only have a representation of a representation. Language is one of the means by which to interpret the world around us. Saussure takes this idea further in his language theory, with the signifier and the signified. This philosophy tries to explain the impossibility of language to explain the thing in itself. Language names things around us to create meaning and assists as a form of communication, but the process of naming is arbitrary and language consists of signs for the world around us which is signified. Language is a representation of, or a desire for meaning. Therefore any representation of reality can only be an approximation of that reality.

The question arises, is any "true" representation of reality possible? The question of the validity of truth as concept has been questioned since Nietzsche, who wrote in his Zarathustra: Wir wissen auch zu wenig und sind schlechte Lerner: so müssen wir schon lügen" (quoted from Bindschedler 1966). He interpolates that the truth is unattainable. Nietzsche’s concept of "Wahrheiten" introduced the idea of the plurality of truth. Turn of the century philosophy maintained that there is no single universal truth but truths relative to various realities.

Antjie Krog’s Country of My Skull expresses the desire and need to represent reality. In this context it is a reality of struggle and pain and the memory of the experience thereof. The author fleetingly comments on the concept of truth, in relation to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa (1996-1998):

And the idea of truth. Even if it’s not spelt with a capital… Nadine Gordimer once asked a black writer: ‘Why do you always picture a white woman lounging next to a swimming pool? We are not all like that!’ He replied: ‘Because we perceive you like that.’ Gordimer admits that she has to take cognizance of that truth. (1998:15)
This ties in with Nietzsche’s plurality of truth. Krog emphasises the complexity of choosing this word to describe the commission: If its (the commission) interest in truth is linked only to amnesty and compensation, then it will have chosen not truth, but justice. If it sees truth as the widest possible compilation of people’s perceptions, stories, myths and experiences, it will have chosen to restore memory and foster a new humanity, and perhaps that is justice in its deepest sense. (1998:16)
Patricio Aylwin, president of Chile 1990 to 1994 also speaks about justice in their experience of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission: "To publicly reveal the truth, to vindicate the good name of the victims and to provide reparations for their relatives are also forms of justice" (1995:42).

Truth is about perception and context. Schopenhauer asks "What is this world of perception besides being my representation?" (1989:212) The perception is subjective, but this is not to discredit that perception as Gordimer complies. The danger of discrediting someone’s perception of the truth was of particular consequence with the personal experiences brought forward by the victims of apartheid and more so once entering the arena of dialogue with the perpetrators. The commission had to deal with various perceptions of truths intertwined in their history. Mamphela Ramphela, vice-chancellor to the University of Cape Town, asks: "Whose truth is to be pursued by this commission? Is there any scope for more than one truth to be explored?" (1995:35) The commission had no choice but to attempt to facilitate all truths. Ingrid de Kok writes: "Nobody believes that the TRC will or can produce the full ‘truth’, in all its detail, for all time. It is in the multiplicity of partial versions and experiences that truth ‘as a thing of this world’, in Foucault’s phrase will emerge" (1998:61). This history of truth was kept secret for many years.

When many resistance organisations were banned, for example, the South African Communist Party (SACP) in 1950, the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960 and the Pan African Congress (PAC) in 1960 , the truth about activists involved in these organisations, was also forced to go unerground and much could only be revealed during the course of the hearings of the commission. The lapse of time made this task more difficult. The banning of these organisations also created room for propaganda. Propaganda can either be seen as a misrepresentation of reality or just an alternative representation of reality. Political propaganda very often not only misrepresents reality but also creates untruths. Barnes quotes Gilsenan’s explanation of the lie: "The lie is a technique for the restriction of the social distribution of knowledge over time, and is thus ultimately woven into the system of power and control in society" (1994:145). The South African context illustrates this system of power and control by restricting the production of public knowledge. Sechaba and Ellis (1992) use the word "disinformation". Propaganda is essential for the successful running of a country with unjust human rights laws. "In 1978-79 there were revelations in the press, and in subsequent commissions of inquiry, that the South African Department of Information had been conducting a secret propaganda war to sell apartheid to the world" (Hachten, Siffard 1984:230). In the eighties it was most notable how the government kept control over the media: "Critics charge that the SABC through its skillful use of selection, placement, and omission deliberately gives the South African public a distorted and unrealistic picture of daily events – a world view that conforms to Afrikaner aspirations and fears" (Hachten, Siffard 1984:200-1). Censorship was enforced and one way was to use alternative words, for example using the word "projectiles" instead of stones when describing the "stone-throwing" of youths during unrest. Language as a system of signs can use various signs to signify the same thing.

In their book, Comrades against Apartheid (1992), which Ellis and Sechaba wrote jointly, they site two examples of the Richter brothers who were shot and Bach who died in Soviet Labour camps in 1938 and 1941 while seeking support for the South African Communist Party. The "truth of their fate was not publicly known for 50 years" (20). Truth and history is linked in Hegel’s philosophy: "To Hegel the working of history was a happening of truth" (Safranski 1992:22). The truth is only confirmed as truth if it is made public. That is why the truth and reconciliation commission is vital for South Africa. It is not possible that all truths will be heard. It is important that an attempt is made to record as much as possible.

Just as there is a concept of the plurality of the truth, so too there is a plurality of representation of a reality. These representations are influenced by the individual’s perception of that reality. Realities vary cross-culturally, socially, politically and economically. The reality of struggle and pain in Apartheid South Africa was not a common reality for all. Different communities experienced apartheid differently, as is illustrated by the victims as well as the amnesty applicants. Professor Jaap du Randt says during his interview for the selection of the commissioners: "One person’s search for the truth is the other’s witch-hunt" (Krog 1998:18). The Truth Commission set up a dialogue between victim and perpetrator, which created a fusion of truths. This dialogue was characterized by a Christian ethic of confession and forgiveness. Albie Sachs, former ANC activist now judge on South Africa’s first Constitutional Court argues for two kinds of truth, "microscopic truth" which is "factual and verifiable" and "dialogue truth… [which] is social truth, the truth of experience that is established through interaction" (1995:105). The latter is more important for the work of the TRC (Sachs, 1995). Dialogue truth implies both talking and listening. Alex Boraine emphasises the need for "creative listening [so] that the healing process can begin" (1995:141). Fusion seems to imply a harmonious process, which in fact it was not. Instead it was a jagged and conflicting fusion of truths.

Krog places her experience within the reality of Apartheid in the very first chapter, as Afrikaner, in the heading, "They Never Wept, the Men of My Race". The "Men" referred to here, are the Afrikaners, the main perpetrators of Apartheid. But this is a problematic category. The concept of main perpetrators abdicates responsibility from those who benefited. Men excludes Afrikaner women as well English speaking liberals. Mahmood Mamdani (NIZA conference, Leiden Nov. 1998) raised the issue of the beneficiaries who were not challenged via the process of the commission.

Posel writes: "The ideology of apartheid was historically and conceptually bound up with that of Afrikaner nationalism." (1987:433) The Afrikaners created an exclusive national identity placing them superior to all other identities. Land ownership was and still is central to the Afrikaner identity:

The claims of whites to South Africa was explained – archeological evidence to the contrary notwithstanding – in terms of their ancestors’ having settled a virtually uninhabited land at the same time, or even before, the black tribes were moving down from the north. This was used also to justify the claim by whites to 87 percent of the land, leaving the homelands with only 13 percent traditionally occupied by blacks. (Hachten, Siffard 1984:233-4) Krog’s family’s farm which she refers to time and again, forms part of her Afrikaner reality and helps to place her background within the text she writes: As if back into a womb, I crawl – the heavy-light eiderdown, the hot-water bottle. Through the window I see the sleeping farmyard washed away in moonlight. A plover calls far off. Overcome with the carefreeness of my youth, I doze off – safe in this stinkwood bed, safe in this sandstone house, this part of the Free State. Everything is so quiet. (1998:4)
Later it is illustrated that only an illusion of peace could be found on the farm. There was a great fear of attack and death, which had to be combated by nightly escapades to fight the enemy, reminiscent of fighting the ‘enemy’ in apartheid South Africa. In contrast to her experience, farms were and to a large degree still are spaces of oppression for black people, "where bodies were buried after torture, places where humiliations such as the "dop" system were practised and symbolises physical torture for many labourers" (Deirdre Prins Feb 2000). The story of the farm, about the violence and politics of trespassing, runs parallel to the reports of the Truth Commission, which creates a space as point of reference for a significant part of the author’s reality. The reality of the farm remains in conflict with the reality of journalism, specifically covering the commission. They both contradict and influence each other. The commission is trying to unravel the past truths. The farm’s present reality is affected by and is a result of the past truths.

Bodies

"Until now, truth commissions have not paid special attention to women, as either victims or perpetrators of human rights abuses… We focus on the experience of women alone because we believe that it is women’s voices that are most ignored" (Goldblatt, Meintjes 1998:28;29). Many women found it easier to speak about the suffering and loss of husbands and sons than there own suffering. Three all-women hearings were held. It created a space where women felt safe enough to speak about their most painful experiences.

The chapter "Truth is a Woman" in Krog’s Country of my Skull focuses on sexual abuse and torture of women, both in the resistance movements as well as with the security forces.

Krog describes the warmth and safety through the experience of the body. The body is central to the hearings at the commission. The initial feeling of comfort and safety on the farm stands in stark contrast to the experience of torture recorded in the chapter "Truth is a Woman". Zakrah Nakardien narrates:

What bothered me were the rats. They were the size of cats and they were in the passage all the time. While I was eating, three of them would watch me. I took my clothes to block their access, but they ripped all that and came in, crawling up, until one night they reached my neck… I screamed the place down and they found me in a corner eating my T-shirt. This is how berserk I was. (1998:181)
Safranski (1992) writes referring to Schopenhauer’s philosophy: Our own body is that reality which we possess not just as representation but which we ourselves are …I can transfer myself into the world of objects and yet, simultaneously, I am the ‘thing in itself’. Self-experience of my own body is the only point at which I can discover what the world is apart from its being my representation.(212)
When the body becomes the site of torture and severe trauma, one of the important channels of experiencing reality becomes distorted. Your body is the only potential non-object. One can experience it as non-object. Therefore trauma to the body, the means by which one perceives reality, creates psychological trauma. Our body is the only reality we can possess. Therefore when the possession of this reality is painful one’s perception of reality is traumatised. How does one try to represent a reality of trauma without distorting the representation? The rats in the testimony symbolise part of the traumatic experience of the victim’s reality. She says later: "I felt as if I was going deeper and deeper into the ground. It felt as if all the cells were coffins full of dead people." (1998:181) The narrative represents the experience of distortion of the physical reality. In this example the narrative falls into metaphoric expression. Njabulo Ndebele explores this phenomenon in the testimonies at the TRC: What is being remembered actually happened. If today they sound like imaginary events it is because, as we shall recall, the horror of day-to-day life under apartheid often outdid the efforts of the imagination to reduce it to metaphor.(1998:19)
Deborah Matshoba says during her testimony: "When I look around, I marvel at how we battle to be normal – and no one knows how shattered we are inside…" (1998:185). Her words sum up the intimate relationship between the body and the psyche. While in detention Matshoba suffered from severe asthma. The chronic condition of asthma was a medium of receiving both care and torture. Now physically free of the reality of detention the asthma has disappeared. Her cry that "no one knows" can now change through the medium of the TRC. The commission has created a space for the "memory as a means of excavating silence" (Brink 1998:33). The silence of pain and torture of the body can be narrated through language. Where the experience moves beyond language the narrative breaks down and becomes fragmented.

Rita Mazibuko’s testimony is one of extreme physical torture at the hands of the ANC, whom she was trained with to oppose the government. Suspicion fell on her for being a spy, which led to months of extreme physical abuse, mostly of a sexual nature. Her story is fragmented and has no definite time sequence. This is characteristic of testimonies of trauma. Krog seems to fall into the patriarchal discourse of rape in response to Rita’s testimony:

It is a strange testimony. Is this woman with the good-natured face, who speaks of rape as if it is water, who emphasizes the youth of her rapists, nothing more than an ordinary prostitute? And is her sexual history perhaps the reason why Phosa says afterwards that he has never heard of Rita Mazibuko or ‘Mumsy Khuswayo’ – her code name in the ANC. (1998:184)
The words "[n]othing more than an ordinary prostitute" carries the danger of trivialising the victim’s experience and that of any prostitute. One is tempted to ask: "What is ordinary about being a prostitute?" These words are indicative of a judgement being passed on the memory of Mazibuko’s experience. The truth as told by the woman is not supported. Instead of immediately referring to the pain and suffering, rather her sexual history is questioned. Krog comments further that at the end of Rita’s testimony "[n]ot one of the Commissioners, not one of the feminists agitating for women’s rights, stands up and says: "We respect the right of Rita Mazibuko to tell the truth as she sees it, just as we respect the right of Mathews Phosa to tell the truth as he sees it. But we expect him to do the same." (184) Goldblatt and Meintjes write that "Rita Mazibuko is one of the only woman to have spoken about sexual violence at the hands of her own MK comrades in Swaziland and Mozambique where she was accused of being an informer" (Agenda 1997). In an interview with Thenjiwe Mtintso, former senior member of the ANC’s military wing she said that women were reluctant to speak about their experiences in the camps for personal reasons as well as out of organisational loyalty (Golblatt, Meintjes 1997).

Perception and context as explained earlier is central to truth. But this aspect of truth is polemical within the raped and rapist discourse. The danger of applying the concept of the plurality of truth is to favour one above the other especially within systems of power.

Rape, physical and sexual abuse and the constant threat of it, is central to the testimonies of the women. Even though men are also sexually tortured, the women explain that ‘rape’ is a woman’s issue: "Men don’t use the word ‘rape’ when they testify. They talk about being sodomized, or about iron rods being inserted into them. In so doing they make rape a women’s issue." (1998:182) The different words chosen to describe similar experiences signifies a gender hierarchy even within the discourse of pain and torture.

The testimonies illustrate the inadequacy of language to represent the reality of trauma. There is a desire to speak even though it is very painful. Many of the women feel that their truth should be told. Ndebele writes in reference to the testimonies of the TRC: "In few countries in the contemporary world do we have a living example of people reinventing themselves through narrative." (1998:22) Zalaquett says that "memory is identity" (Krog 1995:115). The TRC represents the process of narrating memory and thereby reasserting identity. But in the representation of this painful reality as firstly orally represented then in printed text, much of that truth becomes fragmented. The only possibility for representation is a fragmented discourse. In the process of writing what has been narrated, omissions occur. The difference in the identity of the writer and that of the narrators creates a fractured, recontexualized narrative marked by the gap between "truthtelling’ and perception.

The chapter closes with a reference to a visit to a friend who has a maid working for her. Krog cites myth as a mediator of two worlds and helps one to "live with what you cannot endure" (1998:190). The contradiction of black and white realities in South Africa she claims is overcome by myth, a myth which "proves that things have always been like this, that things will never change" (1998:190).

But it is change that is desired through the telling of the truth. Goldblatt and Meintjes accept that violence and torture is difficult to engage with but we must "celebrate the bravery of South African women and… highlight the need for the protection of fundamental human rights so as to work towards our vision of a transformed society" (1998:57).

Derrida claims at the Conference sur le non-savoir: "But we must speak. "The inadequation of all speech… at least, must be said"" (1978:262). One should continue to strive for representation of reality but remain critical of the ability of language to represent and act as a system of meaning. The dynamic relationship between the writer and the narrators needs to be consciously mediated. The testimonies of the women will never be fully represented just as the truth can never be fully told, but what can be verbalised must be, so that healing can begin.

References

Aylwin Patricio 1995 Address published in The Healing of a Nation? Justice in Transition:Cape Town.

Barnes J A 1976 A Pack of Lies: Towards a Sociology of Lying Great Britain: Cambridge University Press.

Bindschedler Maria 1966 Nietzsche und die poetische Lüge Berlin.

Boraine Alex (ed) 1995 The Healing of a Nation? Justice in Transition: Cape Town.

Brink Andre 1998 "Truth, memory, and narrative" in Negotiating the past: The making of memory in South Africa (ed Nuttall, Coetzee) Oxford University Press: Cape Town.

De Kok Ingrid 1998 "Cracked heirlooms: memory on exhibition" in Negotiating the past: The making of memory in South Africa (ed Nuttall, Coetzee) Oxford University Press: Cape Town.

Derrida Jaques 1978 Writing and Difference USA: University of Chicago Press.

Ellis S and Sechaba T 1992 Comrades against Apartheid: the ANC and the South African Communist Party in Exile London, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press .

Goldblatt B and Meintjes S 1997 "Dealing with the aftermath: sexual violence and the Truth and Reconcilation Commission in Agenda no 36 p.7-18.

Goldblatt B and Meintjes S 1998 South African Women Demand the Truth in What Women do in Wartime: Gender and Conflict in Africa London, New York: Zed Books Ltd.

Hachten W and Siffard A 1984 The Press and Apartheid: Repression and Propaganda in South Africa London: Macmillan.

Krog Antjie 1995 Address published in The Healing of a Nation? Justice in Transition: Cape Town.

Krog Antjie 1998 Country of my Skull Johannesburg: Random House.

Marks S and Trapido S 1987 The Politics of race, Class and Nationalism in Twentieth Century South Africa London, New York: Longman.

Ndebele Njabulo 1998 "Memory, metaphor, and the triumph of narrative" in Negotiating the past: The making of memory in South Africa (ed Nuttall, Coetzee) Oxford University Press: Cape Town.

Nuttall Sarah 1998 "Telling ‘free’ stories? Memory and democracy in South Africa autobiography since 1994" in Negotiating the past: The making of memory in South Africa (ed Nuttall, Coetzee) Oxford University Press: Cape Town.

Omar Dullah 1995 Keynote address published in The Healing of a Nation? Justice in Transition:Cape Town.

Ramphele Mamphela 1995 Address published in The Healing of a Nation? Justice in Transition:Cape Town.

Sachs Albie 1995 Address published in The Healing of a Nation? Justice in Transition:Cape Town.

Safranski Rudiger 1990 Schopenhauer and the wild years of Philosophy Massachusets; Harvard University Press.

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