Shane Moran - Alternation Journal

Two Women C'vitics cindSo~lth Apiccin English Literary Studies
ofr!npuhlishcd piays, novels, andpoems. In 1960, she and her family were forced to
to England. wilere she remained in exile until herdeatll'.
Whercas Van Heyningen's notion of democracy is often unconnected to t
in sweet reasonableness. in petitions and table conferences. in changing the
ilidividual hearts ofopprcsso~-s. And it is afaith that dies hard (1 942,;: 13).
social reality it ptirporis to describe, Taylor's understanding of politics displays a stro ile Olive Schreiner rnay be forgiven for her turn-of-the-century optimism
sense oi'the racial basis of South African society, drawing attention to the gap betwe
liberal ideals and material reality. South Africa is described as
cerning what the liberal spirit might achieve,
... time has conclusively, ruthlessly proved the baukruptcy of liberalism to
a society wherc thc ruling class is a privileged minority planted on the hack
of a concluered and oppressed people and sucking from then1 its wealth and
polvcr(1913d:12).
stem tlie tide of political events. Such tliorns as it might have fancied itself
as inflicting on tlie rhinoceros hide of govern~iients have been brushed aside
like thistledown (1 942e: 13).
in Goth kfrrca, astde from inequalities in the judiciany, the growth of anti-Semitl
anit poc\l ecmom~c cond~tions, raclst legislat~on such as the Colour Rar 4ct and
Masters mcl Servants Act are a f~~rther 'blot on the dernocral~c page of our statute ho
(19 l!c 7) 9hectinttnues,
or is in broad agreement with the perceived need to foster a more crit~cal and
pendent public sphere in South Africa, and echoes Van Heyningen's ernphasrs on
llnportance of education Discussing the South Afiican education system, 'Taylor
ses anxieties concerning the cultural phllistmism, intellectual docllrty and
al apathy of increasing numbers of South Africans. Th~s she attributes, In part, to
1 '?L ivlIi hat11 L ZL'~ Ilii ULi1l1~ iZ1-p1i~it ntatir)ll isril tile i ?nii ALI 1nt1 illc
' I c 1 ire 1 iiilf glc>i ~1 Jrixni of il~r ~IIIICI~?/L\ 0; (ICI-?OLI~C>
r1t1 c i i ? l - ~ ~ 11% ~ t l ,) ~ t r1r~IJ1i :~*ypoIt( rr< ~II*II\LII~S~ tlic~icil~\ L pi~t ~ftl:r D ~ ) I I ~ J ~
:~I~I c, >,*.ii life Tit ~ I ? Y c?rn~nuirit) biilri.( i:rtiii~ny ti1 ii Iic ic vitally iniport 11'11
* 3 ~ L L O I I ~ ~ ~ (10 I ~ \ lL I L 7) ~ ~ L ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
authorltariall school sy~tein based on rote leanilng and the examinat~on method
ylor's fears about 'the lure of tlie penny dreadful', and her arguments about the
cesslty of 'tramed judgement' (1940b 14) bear the d~stlnct~ve Influence of the
lvtiny posrtlon However, it 1s not the decline of the 'oiganic communrty' that she
rs, but the political consequences of publlc 'suggestlblltty and ~gnorance' (1 94le 6)
he face of rncreasingly sophist~cated techniques ofmass persuasion She argues
'\ *!I, I: i i b rwd an ccoir:)rnic, incquallty With ~ri I ldss baric' shc iiigucc, 'boul We do not want a nat~on ot doc~le, reg~me~lted men and women unable to
thlnA fot themselves. unable to ludge betlveen tlie true and tlie false They
p~ovrde all evcellcnt seed-ground fo~ the Fascist ~deology and Fasc~st
21 ~)~ri):lllc r!eeds, she questiollr tilt Iil?cfnl hel~cf in the rn~lolabrl~ty of riidivrd~idl hi1
1~2lit\ nnii itecdom.; 111 a capitallit system, pointing orit that thr II~~~VI(!U~I u
methods. fo~ goose-stepp~ng and rac~al van~ty, to1 Intolerance and the
dol la try of Fuhrers, fhotball captarns and film stars (1941 d 7)
(d~~t~~l!vn at the inclcy of thc rn-ipersonal force\ of a vast 'state machine' (1 919
fi~al \OLI~! cotlb~n'-~is IC achieved hy srrbiier -hut no leis citect~vc -foi!ni of ctat
L D iLICv1 ~
rmed with the crltical skills acquired in an educat~on which fosters ~ndependent
ought, the South African cltlzen will be able to successfully negotiate the modern
enace of both advertiser and propagandist. In addltlon, South Afrlcan chlldt en wlll be
1'1 ~1115:t pi. to :j~ti:itiori~, (xi io~~al li~itl~r and IIIC sitnteglci thlo\li;il kthlch ade fit both 'to take thelr place in society and ... to change rt where ~t 1s rotten'
940b.14) Taylor, however, adds an important qualrficatlon to the argument that
LOII~I~IC itself to ah5tr'lct norions ofde~nocincq, dnd ~ts tail~rre to develop its nqsul ion can achieve social change. In response to the demand that training in
111to ~ on~~ete political teims Olive Schi elncr's early liberal hopes, for exam ratrc cltizenshrp should begin 111 schools, she argues that these attempts at
ezpollslrig 'the all too famrlrarly vague terms of "the welfare and happiness of or~n-worthwhile in themselves-are nevertheless based on the assumptron that
iis a whole"' (l912e 13), ale understood as exceptional ~n thclr dema school exrsts in a vacuum whereas rt 1s an inseparable part of a social and econolnlc
ul~rcsirr~led franch~se Finally, wh~le shc aclulowledges the need fo~ a mole vlgoro tem' (19411 9). Present econornrc and soclal inequalitres already dlctate that only a
cl lilcal and ~ndependcnt publrd sphere, she argues that a llberdl taith In such channel ileged few wtll benefit from these reforms Furtheimole, alef fully lnstllled
social reiolm ai d free preys, parllamentdry representation and political tiansparenc emocratic principles will be at odds with
mlsplacecl
, .
I hc iiRri-a1 knows tlie non-L:uropean is not gctting a squal-c den1 and I-enlises
an econolnic and social world where the ideals ofjustice and cq~iality . . . a!-e
at a discount; wherc deeds and words stand at opposite poles; where the
that a cliangc is imperative. if While as well as Black and C:oloui.cd are to
siirvivc. Fcaring both catastrophe and violent charlge, he has a nriglity faith
dignity of the i~idividual and the dignity of labour are fictiou and not fact