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Planting The Seeds Of A Non-Racial Society: White Women As Agents Of Change In July’S People, Disgrace, And A Blade Of Grass, Mike Madden

Mike Madden

This thesis examines three South African novels written about the interregnum,the period marking the transition from apartheid to post-apartheid eras. Specifically, Gordimer’s July’s People, Coetzee’s Disgrace, and DeSoto’s A Blade of Grass are studied in order to explore the function of white women as leaders of change in fiction of the interregnum. After a brief introduction, the second chapter looks at Maureen Smales as she demonstrates the ability to adapt to her post-revolutionary society. The third chapter compares white male and female perspectives, as seen in the stubborn character of David Lurie, and in the accepting character of his daughter, …