DECONSTRUCTING THE ACCIDENTAL BODY IN ALBINISM IN PETINA GAPPAH’S THE BOOK OF MEMORY, TARA SULLIVAN’S GOLDEN BOY AND JENNY ROBSON’S BECAUSE PULA MEANS RAIN

Abstract

In spite of the substantial amount of work on albinism in the last decade, misconceptions about albinism still abound. The veneration and condemnation of albinism and albino body image in African society as abnormal bodies is so profound, and provides a central element within the analysis of subjectivities and their constructions that runs throughout this study This study deconstructs representation and narrativisation of accidental bodies in albinism in the fictional texts of Tara Sullivan‟s Golden Boy, Petina Gappah‟s The Book of Memory and Jenny Robson‟s Because Pula Means Rain. My central argument is that these selected texts demonstrate how accidental qualities can be altered without affecting the functional unity and coherence of the object (in this case albinism) and therefore its categorical identity. The texts draw on the dominant discourse to deconstruct and interrogate the social and literary narratives of the accidental bodies. In so doing, the study constructs new dialogues and discussions of accidental bodies in albinism that counters the historical narrative to which this topic has been condemned. By analysing these accidental bodies with reference to Foucauldian concept of “abnormal” and Lenard Davis‟ concept of “normalcy”, I contend that this means that their skin colour cannot deny them humanity; personhood and a sense of being as portrayed in dominant cultural narratives