" but no wings buttress now": Selected poems in Antjie Krog's mede-wete read through the lens of autobiographical post-secular late work

Abstract

In Antjie Krog's collection of poetry, mede-wete (English translation, Synapse, by Karen Press)1 there are a number of poems in which the author's search for a new kind of spirituality is articulated and in which the implicit longing for unity of all living things is suggested. Even before Socrates, philosophers speculated that wholes do indeed exist, but that their independently functioning parts are nothing but theoretical speculation. In modern physics, this concept is embodied in quantum field theory, which implies that everything that exists can be compared to waves at sea that cannot exist independently of the ocean. For the seeker of spiritual truth, the holistic path is a mystical path on which life reveals itself in its deeper meaning and "where our thoughts, feelings and actions are integrated by a clear intelligence and knowledge, and where a feeling of intimacy and participation with something greater than our normal selves occurs" (Ashraf 2012). In this manner the individual pursues so-called "higher knowledge". The purpose of this article is to suggest a theoretical paradigm on the basis of which the spiritual aspects in mede-wete can be discussed. I mainly rely on theories of autobiography as a spiritual practice, especially as an aspect of authors' "late work", post-secularism and ecopsychology when analysing a number of core poems, namely "moniaal", ("postulant"), "'n eland staan by 'n kuil" ("an eland stands at a pool"), "ongelowig is nie die regte woord nie" ("faithless is not the right word"), and "kerssonnet" ("christmas sonnet"). It can be argued that, in these poems, it becomes evident that rigid categories have lost their relevance in modern times. New categories have been imagined by the poet and phrased in poetic similes suggesting a larger whole in which plants, animals and people exist in interrelated and interdependent ways. In this way the boundaries of egocentrism by which modern people have been trapped are lifted, and existing religious boundaries are re-imagined through the creation of holism as a new reality - a reality that is greater than the sum of its individual elements; a liquid, ever-changing reality, adapted to the situation as it presents itself. The first section of the article focuses on spiritual autobiography and the individual's search for transcendent meaning as an aspect of identity construction. Spirituality involves, among other things, the feeling of interconnectedness with something greater than ourselves, which often includes a search for the meaning of the individual's life. As such, it is a universal human experience that can deeply affect human beings emotionally. Spiritual autobiography is often practised by writers who, towards the end of their lives, focus on the past in the light of universal human experiences in order to make sense of their own lives. Especially in autobiographies written in the later phase of an author's life, family and family relationships often play an important role - not only the role of the poet's ancestors and origins is investigated and reflected upon, but often children and even grandchildren form part of a reflection on the future and the legacy of the individual to posterity. It is precisely these poems that are examined in this article. Although mede-wete is clearly not intended as a spiritual autobiography, there is ample reason to consider several poems in this collection through the lens of theories on this particular genre, as there are such a large number of poems that correspond to the poet's (Antjie Krog's) biographical details. What is interesting is that three of the poems analysed directly follow on a poem about the poet's grandchildren or other toddlers. Therefore, I argue that there is a rhetorical connection between these "child poems" and the poems on spiritual reflection that directly follow them. It seems that "child poems" often give rise to reflection on transcendent experiences and to the need to explain these experiences. Several poems in mede-wete can be interpreted as confessions of faith. In the second section, I discuss the poem "kerssonnet" ("Christmas sonnet") from which it would appear that biblical metanarratives no longer provide modern people adhering to a secular value system with the hermeneutics of trust necessary for a firm belief in biblical truths. In its stead, the speaker, for example in a poem such as "ongelowig is nie die regte woord nie" ("faithless is not the right word"), suggests an alternative paradigm that does not imply a return to traditional religions, but rather a greater awareness of the continuing relevance of religion in secular societies. Such "post-secular" discourse is characterised by individual preferences for particular aspects of spirituality, implying that spirituality is still important, although it does not depend on the hegemony of mainstream discourse. In a post-secular world, new metaphors must be found to talk about God. In "ongelowig is nie die regte woord nie" ("faithless is not the right word") the following metaphor is significant: "we all drink like babies at a breast we feel / the nipple between our gums and say: It's / God (.)". By means of this metaphor, then, postmodern feminist discourse enters the poem - a discourse that refers to Julia Kristeva's theory of the mother as abject. Abjection here is the personification of the radical Other, the non-Self - or God. The poem "'n eland staan by 'n kuil" ("an eland stands at a pool"), discussed in the third section, depicts a mystical experience, an ecstatic moment in which the speaker comes into direct contact with the Holy One and feels herself, in a mystical way, being united with the universe. It is interesting to note that the eland is considered by San people to be a sacred animal, but that it is also the animal associated with rites of passage and initiation. My argument being that one can also read this poem as the creed of a newly initiated, someone who begins to walk a new spiritual path. The poem expresses the insight, which also underlies the whole volume of poetry, that all things created are interconnected.