A Portrayal of Utopian Ideals in Afte/Rland by Lauren Beukes

Abstract

Many a time, literary scholars have studied dystopian and utopian literature as two distinct fields of study. Indeed, few have been able to highlight their interconnectedness and overlapping boundaries. The utopian societies depicted in literary works, for instance, in their effort to suppress vices and bring order, homogeneity and unity have often times curtailed diversity and individuality. Subsequently, when one reads a dystopian text he or she may find striking elements of utopia therein. The latter is the case when one reads the novel Afterland by Lauren Beukes. Afterland is essentially a dystopian text that delves into a world that has been ravaged by a pandemic. The pivotal argument of this study is that inasmuch as the text under study is dystopian in nature certain utopian elements are palpable within it. In other words, amidst the devastation in the text, some characters still hold on to a way of life abounding with idealistic inclinations. This utopianism amidst dystopia is what is crucial for survival in Afterland and ultimately holds hope for future human rejuvenation. The study aimed at achieving two objectives: to identify and examine the utopian ideals in Afterland by Lauren Beukes and to analyze the narrative strategies she employs to present these ideals. The hypotheses of the study are that there are various utopian ideals within the sociopolitical realm of Afterland despite of the text being essentially dystopian and that the author employs narrative strategies, such as apostrophe, characterization, multi-perspective narration, flashback, popular culture references, embedded narratives and stream of consciousness to present them. For a robust discussion this study is guided by Afrocentrism and New Criticism as theoretical frameworks with the latter illuminating Beukes’ literary artistry where various strategies employed by Beukes are discussed. Further, I utilize a close textual reading of Afterland and in order to stay within the confines of the study attention is given to Beukes’ portrayal of utopian ideals in the text.