This document outlines a university lecture on place and space in South African poetry. It includes analysis of poems like "The Cry of South Africa" and compares it to "The Spartan Woman". Students are asked to write poems from different perspectives on a place, then analyze each other's works. The lecture discusses themes like belonging, abandonment and alienation in relation to geography. It provides historical context on South Africa and asks students to research the poet Olive Schreiner's views during the South African War.

1. Place and Space
in South African
Poetry
English 2A LU 1 Theme 2

2. In the previous lecture, we analysed
“The Spartan Woman” and went
over the structure of an academic
essay.
Have you discovered anything
interesting about the history of
South Africa?
Do you feel more confident in your
ability to write an academic essay?
Recap

3. Learning Outcomes
LO2.1
Critically discuss the
major themes of the
prescribed poems.
LO2.3
Critically analyse the poetic
representations of geography,
culture, place, space, land,
landscape, power and identity
within and across the prescribed
poems.
LO2.2
Discuss the influence of the
historical and cultural context
of each prescribed poem on
those poem’s themes.

4. Focaliser
&
narrator
1. Think of two perspectives (of an
individual or group) regarding a
particular place.
2. Cast one as the focaliser, and the
other as the narrator.
3. Write a poem where the narrator
explains their perspective on the
particular place with the focaliser.
You have five minutes to write a
minimum of four lines. Use a blank page
and don’t sign your name.
If you have extra time, write another
short poem with the roles reversed.

5. Analysis of focaliser and narrator
Who is the narrator in the poem?
Who is the poem’s focaliser?
Are there tensions between
narrator and focaliser regarding
place?
Make sure your poem is anonymous and hand it in to be redistributed.
You will be given a classmate’s poem. Analyse it according to these questions.
What is the effect of the
description of place?

6. Unreliable narrator
Readers want to believe the
story they are being told, but
it is important to remember
that the “narrator” may be
lying, sarcastic, or have a
twisted version of reality.
The Take offers perspective
on the “Unreliable Narrator”.
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=Y4riBhnDWbA [20:50]

7. Discussion: The Cry of South Africa
What is the poem about?
What does it mean?
What sort of poem is it?
What does it remind you of?
Listen to the poem being read out loud (page 123) and consider these
questions.
Discuss the answers in groups of 4-5. You have five minutes.
What is its basic message?
Does it communicate its
message effectively? How?
LO2.1
Moffett (2013:14)

8. Language analysis
Schreiner uses the Afrikaans word “kop” (line 2) in a poem written in
English. Examine the reasons for her particular word choice here. Use the
theory and language of landscapes to support your answer.
LO2.2
The IIE (2017:21)
Photo | Heloise Hunter | Oxpecker 2021

9. Close reading: The Cry of South Africa
Identify significant and repeated
words or lines.
Check punctuation and the effect it
has on pace and meaning.
Identify the musicality of the
words.
Independently complete a close reading. Make notes, highlight and circle relevant
words on the poem itself, or create a mind map. You have 15 minutes.
Examine images and comparisons,
unpacking the associations.
Ask How the poem conveys its
message and Why.
LO2.1
Moffett (2013:19-21)

10. Themes
Belonging?
Belonging, abandonment, and alienation are common themes for poetry about
space and place.
Are any of them major themes of “The Cry of South Africa”?
What are the poem's other major themes?
Share the themes and your reasoning with the class.
Abandonment?
Alienation?
LO2.1

11. South Africa’s historical context
1886 Gold Rush
Gold rush brings miners to
the Witwatersrand in masses,
resulting in land grabs and
the establishment of
Johannesburg. Resentment
of British and Uitlander
presence in Transvaal.
LO2.2
1880-1881 First Boer War
Afrikaners of the Transvaal
win against the British (25
Boer deaths; 401 British
deaths) in the First Boer War,
resulting in independence of
South African Republic.
1899-1902 South African War
British are victorious after
scorched-earth policy and
invention of concentration
camps for Afrikaans and Black
civilians. Deaths: 22,092 British;
6,198 Boer; 46,370 civilians.

12. South Africa’s political context
Which population does Olive Schreiner’s “The Cry of
South Africa” refer to in this line?
The dead who grew up on me!
And this?
By arms of men loud called from earth’s farthest bound
What evidence supports your hypothesis?
LO2.1
Moffett (2013:10;106)
Photo | Nadine Spires| Wikimedia

13. Conduct research on Olive Schreiner
and her sympathies during the South
African War (1899-1902).
Identify the focaliser and the
narrator of “The Cry of South Africa”.
Outline an analysis of “The Cry of
South Africa” as an anti-war poem.
Consider the elements of an
academic essay, from the Golden
Argument Thread to supporting
paragraphs, each of them beginning
with a topic sentence.
LO2.3
Photo
|
Heloise
Hunter

14. Compare
Recall Elizabeth Cloete’s “The Spartan
Woman” (page 154).
Compare and contrast the imagery
and poetic devices used in each poem.
Do so individually, and write down
your analysis in a structured
paragraph of approximately five
sentences.
You have 10 minutes.

15. Bibliography
Moffett, H. 2013. Seasons Come to Pass: A Poetry Anthology for Southern African
Students. 3rd edition. Cape Town: Oxford University Press, pp.11–29;106.
The Independent Institute of Education (IIE). 2022. English 2A: South African
Literature Module Outline. pp.7–21.