Introduction: Sameness and Difference in the “New” South Africa—Desire and Nonhuman Resistance

Abstract

This introductory chapter examines the contemporary state of post-apartheid South Africa by looking at the massacre at the Marikana platinum mines as an example of the failures to bring about a “new” South Africa or “rainbow” nation. It offers a brief overview of the colonial and apartheid periods before looking at the efforts to transform South African society away from its violent past through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and other efforts. Then the chapter outlines the potential of contemporary South African literature to foster new ways of thinking and relating, especially those novels featuring non-human animals and desire. It also scopes out the project’s contributions to the fields of animal studies, postcolonial studies, biopolitics, ecocriticism, and Deleuze studies.