الفهرس 
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Abstract
In the second half of the Twentieth Century, Palestine
and South Africa witnessed major political, social, and
literary changes that gave rise to a literature of resistance.
‘Resistance literature’ has played an important role and has been used effectively in the fight against oppression. Most of the poetry related to this period has been described as ‘poetry of resistance’. In Palestine and South Africa, poetry has played an active role in the liberation movement; it has become part of the struggle. The aim of the thesis is to reveal the theme ‘resistance to oppression’ in a selection of Palestinian and South African poetry. For that purpose,samples of poems written by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and the South African poet Mongane Wally Serote have been discussed.The theoretical framework of the thesis focuses on the concept of ’resistance’ as presented in Harlow’s Resistance Literature (1987), besides a discussion of the concept of
oppression in Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed
(1970). Iris Marion Young’s concept of the five faces of
oppression -marginalization, powerlessness, violence,
exploitation, and cultural imperialism- is focused upon in the selected Palestinian and South African poems as factors for resistance. The two books of Ghassan Kanafani, Resistance Literature in Occupied Palestine (1966) and Palestinian Resistance Literature under Occupation (1968) are used as well. The thesis is divided into an introduction, three chapters
and a conclusion.The introduction discusses the two concepts‘oppression’ and ‘resistance’. Chapter one highlights the political, historical, and literary contexts of Palestine and
South Africa. The researcher discusses the origin, ideology,
aesthetics and political agendas: the ‘Palestinian Culture of Resistance’ and the ‘Black Consciousness Movement’, in the 1960sand the1970s. Both movements haves similar historical and therefore aesthetic traditions. Their struggles stand out
against dehumanization; strive for the liberation of not only occupied lands but also occupied minds. By using their own cultural forms and language, Palestinians and Black poets manage to create powerful poems of resistance. The researcher elucidates similarities in the literary traditions that united Palestinian resistance poetry and South African ‘Soweto poetry’ in the 1960-70s in their struggle for independence and justice. Chapter two tackles the theme ‘resistance to
oppression’ in a selection of poems written by Mahmoud
Darwish (1941-2008). He is a Palestinian cultural icon
describing his people’s struggle for independence while criticizing both the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian leadership. Chapter Two examines his poems in: Leaves of the Olive Trees (1964), A Lover from Palestine (1970) and State of Siege (2002). In chapter two, an intensive discussion of Darwish’s poems reveals the interplay between politics
and literature. ‘Resistance to oppression’ is the main theme
in Darwish’s poems in general and in the selected poems, in
particular. The assertion of a suppressed and denied identity is a form of resistance. Darwish, as a member of an
oppressed group, challenges the image imposed by his
oppressors and chooses to correct it. His poetry reflects a
cultural background that is fundamentally different from the dominant Israeli culture. Darwish develops a conscious
awareness of the situation of oppression. He struggles to
preserve the Palestinian collective memory. For Darwish the battle for memory is often no less important than the battle
on the ground. The oppressors continuously try to erase the
memory of the oppressed. His poems on ‘Kafr Qassim’ serve
to communicate the impact of the massacre. They have
created a shared memory among the Palestinians,
strengthening their sense of national identity. Fostering
exuberance and enthusiasm as opposed to melancholy is
another form of resistance. Darwish is very optimistic about the inevitability of emancipation and the end of suffering and oppression. There is hope for liberation, hope for freedom and hope for a new future. In his poetry, he asserts his conviction of Arab rebirth in spite of all humiliation, misery
and death. Darwish utilizes nature as a powerful form of
resistance to the colonization of his homeland. Nature plays a vital role as a form of resistance to colonialism in the Arab nation in general and in Palestinian generations in particular. Darwish is influenced by the natural beauty of his homeland
and, therefore, Palestinian nature is strongly reflected in
many of his poems. Chapter three discusses a selection of Mongane Wally Serote’s resistance poems. The poet’s social and literary background is presented before the analysis of the poems chosen. Serote’s contribution to the South African literary field has been invaluable. He is well-known as one of the
‘Soweto’ poets who embodied the literary revival of black
voices in the 1970s. His poems present a harsh and realistic
picture of the apartheid regime. Serote spent his lifetime expressing the injustices and harsh realities of life for black people under apartheid. His thought-provoking poetry not only expressed the effects that oppression had on South
Africans, but it also stands as a timeless body of work that
marks an important period in South Africa’s history. The
researcher discusses some poems in Serote’s Yakhal ’Inkomo (1972), Tsetlo (1974) and his long sixty pages poem Behold Mama Flowers (1978), in this poem, Serote invokes a
hunter’s tale about a body, chopped into tiny fragments and thrown into the river, which a child sees as flowers when they dance in the water.
The researcher has tackled the theme ‘resistance to oppression’ in a selection of Serote’s poems exploring the
different forms of resistance. Serote’s poetry creates a
necessary opposition to the degraded identity imposed by
colonialism and apartheid. In his poetry, there is a committed and positive search for oneself and for one’s proper place in one’s immediate surroundings. Another form of resistance is
the development of a conscious awareness of the situation of oppression. Similar to Darwish, Serote was influenced by Freire’s concept of ‘conscientisation.’ He believes that the oppressed blacks can be ‘conscientized’; they can be reformed and engaged in the struggle against apartheid. Serote depicts the different faces of oppression to sensitize the oppressed blacks to their oppressive surroundings, to
raise their consciousness and encourage them to act. Like
Darwish, he uses “memory as a weapon.” He links between
the past and the present as he uses memories as some form of a weapon. He finds inspiration in the holocaust of ‘Soweto.’ Serote extends his resistance message not only to a Pan-Africanist perspective, but to a global anti-colonial outlook.He reflects on racism, capitalism, and imperialism in the context of America, South Africa and other parts of the
world. He links apartheid in South Africa with racism in
America. His resistance poetry is optimistic as it presents a
firm belief that soon oppression of the black majority by the white minority will be defeated in a triumphant battle. Finally, the conclusion is summing up the final assessment of the main explorations examined in the thesis.It weaves the previous three chapters together and compares between the two resistant poets of both countries showing the
similarities and the differences between them.