A Reappraisal of Gordimer`s Politics

Liberalism has become, to quote Nadine Gordimer, `a dirty word` in South Africa. Behind this bad reputation lies the fact that the reforms proposed by South African white liberals were actually used in containing the revolutionary energies of the blacks. Thus Gordimer denunciated white liberalism as well as the apartheid regime. However, Gordimer`s declared radicalism and the West`s appreciation of her efforts towards racial equality constitute only one side of the story. When Lewis Nkosi and, later, Kathrine Wagner raise this issue, they focus on a fundamental problem. Nkosi and Wagner contend that Gordimer belongs to the `great` literary tradition of Europe and its liberal values. Wagner even claims that the `subtext` of Gordimer`s novels is grounded in the dominant racist/sexist ideologies of South Africa. Nkosi also argues that Gordimer`s adoption of radicalism is nothing more than `an insurance policy` against the unstable future of South African politics. However, I contend that neither Wagner nor Nkosi sufficiently accounts for Gordimer`s political perspective. What I would like to point out and prove is that there are certain key elements within Gordimer`s later politics that positively go beyond liberalism, and they should be called communitarian.