Idleness in South
Africa by J.M. Coetzee
Coetzee’s chapter, Idleness in South Africa in the
book White Writing (1988), looks at the European settlers in
South Africa and how they observed and experienced the Hottentot’s in South
Africa. Idleness in South Africa looks at the “idle, indolence, sloth,
laziness, torpor” lifestyle of the Hottentots and the western ideal of “what it
means to be man”.
This chapter can be divided into three sections (1)
observations of the Hottentots, (2) condemning the Hottentot for his idleness
and (3) history of idleness in South Africa. Looking at part one: observations
of the Hottentots, here Coetzee mentions how European settlers described the
Hottentots, taking note of their beast-like manner but they are in fact men.
Hottentots were seen as having handicapped speech, eating animals as well as
animal intestines, they sleep together not differentiating between men and
women and they appear unwashed and “smell fiercely” (Coetzee 12). These
observations are all identified by a checklist from the European settlers.
European settlers saw the Hottentots as idle because they did not make up for
Adam's fall or atone for his sins. The Hottentots were seen as living a life
without religion or God.
Part two: condemning the Hottentot for his idleness, looks
at punishing the Hottentot for being idle. Hottentots were seen as being lazy
and anyone who associates themselves with them will also become lazy and idle.
Hottentots had no future unless they worked for the Boers. Idleness of the
Boers weren’t seen the same as the Hottentot idleness.
Part three: history of idleness in South Africa focuses on
the idleness of the Hottentots that still presents itself in the
over-employment and underpayment of people. Coetzee also mentions the
Immorality Act and Mixed Marriages Act of Apartheid South Africa and how
Europeans interacting with Hottentots brought laziness among the Europeans and
this in some way led to these two acts.
The life of the Hottentots presented by European settlers is
one of laziness, idleness, indolence and torpor, a life, that in a busy world
today, people seek - one of solitude and peace. Coetzee states “certainly no
one dreams of asking whether what looks like Hottentot dolce far niente
(pleasant idleness) may not be the mere outward aspect of a profound Hottentot contemplative
life” (Coetzee 18). He makes the argument whether the life of a Hottentot isn’t
in fact the paradise we seek, having leisure time and faith that everything
will be provided for. This can be a bitter pill to swallow if association with
the Hottentots is not ideal and for European settlers they viewed the
Hottentots using their own framework that differences are perceived in a
framework of sameness (Coetzee 13).
Coetzee poses interesting and challenging arguments in this
chapter Idleness in South Africa from White Writing. Some
arguments are very complex and difficult to understand but it challenges the
reader’s thinking and knowledge about South African history, the idea of
paradise and whether the Hottentot life is something that could have been close
to the ideal life, a “dolce far niente” - a pleasant idleness.
Hi Thandi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! I like your comments on the structure of the chapter, and the way this leads from commentary on the Hottentots to the phobia about the "degeneration" of the white settler, particularly the Boers. Its worth considering the reasons, according to Coetzee, that Hottentot "idleness" was not perceived as a version of "the contemplative life". This has to do with the ways in which categories were constructed within early traveller accounts - the kinds of categories that lead to an account of "anthropological man".
This is a really interesting post regarding the "idleness" of the Hottentots and how it was perceived by early European settlers. What is even more interesting, is that fact that Boer "idleness" is somehow considered different from Hottentot "idleness" and that this condition is "contagious". This post has been quite informative and a pleasure to read. Thank you Thandi.
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