(In)dependent meaning: Representations of addiction and recovery in selected poems produced in a rehabilitation centre
Literator
| Field | Value | |
| Title | (In)dependent meaning: Representations of addiction and recovery in selected poems produced in a rehabilitation centre (On)afhanklinke betekenis: Voorstellings van verslawing en herstel in geselekteerde gedigte geskryf in ’n rehabilitasiesentrum | |
| Creator | Pretorius, Antoinette Carolin, Andy Fourie, Reinhardt Krüger, Lida | |
| Description | In this article we provide a close reading of selected poems written during creative writing workshops at a drug rehabilitation centre. We argue that these poems expose some of the uncertainties and complexities that characterise the representation of identity in experiences of addiction and recovery. We show that the speakers in these poems attempt to imagine and represent their experiences in language through a number of structuring binaries. These binaries include those between the speaker’s experiences of active addiction and recovery, and the speaker’s personal experience versus societal expectations and perceptions. Our reading of these poems is informed by the clinical context in which they were written, and our analysis reflects the bifurcation that governs this liminal space. Individual agency in these different spheres is approached in a very tentative way, and the speakers in these poems are shown to have trouble envisioning the future at the same time as their pasts appear unsettled. We argue finally that while current discourses and vocabularies surrounding addiction seem incomplete and inadequate for the expression of some complex experiences, poetry provides a platform that accommodates ambivalence and a multiplicity of meanings. Hierdie artikel ondersoek ’n aantal geselekteerde gedigte wat geskryf is tydens kreatiewe skryfwerkswinkels aangebied by ’n dwelmrehabilitasiekliniek. Ons voer aan dat hierdie gedigte sommige onsekerhede en kompleksiteite blootlê wat die representasie van identiteit in ervarings van verslawing en herstel kenmerk. Ons toon aan dat die sprekers in hierdie gedigte probeer het om hulle ervarings deur ’n aantal binêre teenstellings in taal te versinnebeeld. Dít sluit in die teenstelling tussen die spreker se ervaring van aktiewe verslawing en herstel, en die spreker se persoonlike ervaring teenoor maatskaplike verwagtinge en persepsies. Ons interpretasies van hierdie gedigte word gerig deur die kliniese konteks waarbinne hulle geskep is, terwyl ons ontleding die splitsing weerspieël wat hierdie liminale ruimte oorheers. Individuele agentskap binne hierdie verskillende gebiede word op tentatiewe wyse benader, en daar word aangedui hoe die sprekers in hierdie gedigte met moeite ’n toekoms insien terwyl hul verledes terselfdertyd rusteloos voorkom. Uiteindelik argumenteer ons dat terwyl teenswoordige diskoerse en uitdrukkingsmoontlikhede betreffende verslawing onvolledig en onvoldoende blyk te wees vir die uiting van veelvuldige ervarings, bied juis die poësie ’n platform wat teenstrydighede en menigvuldige betekenisse kan akkommodeer. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2017-08-31 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v38i1.1395 | |
| Source | Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 12 pages Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 12 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1395/2433
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1395/2432
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1395/2434
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1395/2431
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
