Zoe Wicomb: Playing in the Light: Works Entry

Navigating the injustices of apartheid as impositions of political ideology is a central concern for writers at the forefront of the South African literary canon. For Zoë Wicomb, this task also involves capturing the complexities of racially stratified structures as daily, practical barriers to relationships and ambitions. In a number of Wicomb’s works, the everyday interactions of her characters are informed by a critique of social, cultural and national distinctions – a project described by Wicomb as “the recovery of minor, neglected or disparaged peoples and events” (Wicomb, 2013). Her earlier works (You Can’t Get Lost in Capetown (1987) and David’s Story (2001)) provide fresh perspectives on issues of identity, the experiences of translocation, and parent-child relations. Wicomb’s more recent novel, Playing in the Light, continues to address these concerns -- namely, the effect apartheid had on personal and national relationships, the conflict between races and generations, the rigid set of binaries upon which South African apartheid society was established, and the legacy of racial oppression in post-apartheid South Africa.