Lifting the veil: white zimbabwean writing and the treatment of double consciousness in Doris Lessing’s The grass is singing (1950), John Eppel’s Absent: The english teacher (2009) and Andreas Eames’ The cry of the go- away bird (2011)

Abstract

Double consciousness in not peculiar to African Americans who have suffered from the injustices of slavery. It can be traced among those who are excluded from center to the periphery in domination and control, irrespective of race or location. Though the white race has considered whiteness as a stable identity, or signifier of rationality, sanity, power, it can be noted it is an unstable identity that is always under construction. White people also find themselves occupying the bottom space in the hierarchy of power and domination. Resultantly, they find themselves secluded, alienated and failing to belong hence suffering from double consciousness. This research therefore seeks to validate the argument that white people suffer from double consciousness by focusing on literature written by white Zimbabweans. It pays particular attention to Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing (1950), John Eppel’s Absent: The English Teacher (2009), and Andreas Eames’ The Cry of the Go- Away Bird (2011).