Compare and Contrast: ‘A desirable society’ Essays -- Literary Analysi

Both Andre Brinks A dry out White harden and James Joyces The Dead peril two very different societies undergoing artistic, cultural and political transitions. In 1914, Ireland saw the Nationalist party at its peak, where Irish society was desperately searching for a sense of cultural identity and political stability. Joyce takes an apolitical approach in order to objectively show Dublin to his fellow Dubliners in his nicely spiffed up looking glass. Andre Brink, in comparison, documents a temporal shift into 1976, during the Soweto uprising, in which the non-white population of South Africa protested against the Nationalist Partys apartheid regime. Brink, like Joyce, draws upon this inspiration to offer a truthful commentary upon South African society. Although both novels are placed within entirely contrasting contexts, both display similar themes of political fermenting and social division, which reveals two very flawed and undesirable societies.In this essay I will compar e and contrast the ways in which Joyce and Brink introduce the societies that they are a part of. I will compare the treatment of colonisation, segregation and both cultural and nationalistic identity in each novel, and make out the integrity of each authors commentary and critiques upon two transforming nations.Colonisation plays an important role in both Brinks A Dry White Season and Joyces The Dead. Brink bases the events of his novel around the Soweto uprising, in which South Africas non-whites fought against the Nationalist Partys apartheid regime. The main conflict was oer the Nationalist Party proposing schooling in non-white schools to be carried out in both English and Afrikaans languages. The non-white student population much preferr... ...ue of national identity, with the watch of colonisation and conflicting ideas. One detail that is consistent in both Joyces The Dead and Brinks A Dry White Season is the completely apolitical and factual approach the authors tak e. Without forcing any ideas upon the reader, Joyce and Brink allow us to construct our own opinions upon the way in which their societies operate.Works CitedDeane, Seamus. 1982. Joyce and Nationalism. Sussex The Harvester recommendDiala, Isidore. 2002. History and the inscriptions of torture as a purgatorial fire in Andre Brinks fiction. Texas University of North TexasLevenson, Michael. 1994. Living History in The Dead. New York St Martins PressPecora, Vincent P. 1986. The Dead and the Generosity of the Word. PMLA 101.2Schwarz, Daniel R. 1994. The Dead A Critical History. New York St Martins Press