July’s People

by Nadine Gordimer
This entry was created for the Fall 2014 semester by Kristen Kelley, David Moran, and Brennan York.
Why Banned: Bad for Gods and Government

Banning History:

Apartheid, the racist policy of South Africa first introduced in 1948, was designed to empower whites and strip the black people of the country of their basic civil rights. Over the 46 year period in which the policies were in place, there would be many protests against it in many forms. Perhaps one of the most key commentators on Apartheid would be Nadine Gordimer, a South African writer who lived during the time of the segregated country. Her works, which routinely commented on and condemned Apartheid, were routinely banned by the government upon publication, for they challenged the strict policies that were held in place by the Afrikaner National Party. "July's People" was once such publication. The novel created an alternate, and at the time, very possible future, in which the black people of South Africa have begun a revolution against their white oppressors and are turning violent against them, even liberal families. This was seen as a threat to the government and consequently banned, in fear of an actual open revolution occurring, even though many believed that such a revolution was becoming inevitable. Despite her work constantly being removed by the government, Gordimer never went into exile. The book was not unbanned until the end of Apartheid, when a new party took control of the government, in 1994.
This was not the last time the book was to be banned, however. In 2001, a school panel in the Gauteng province of South Africa decided to ban the book. The reason they cited was that it contained questionable content and was racist towards black people. Though Gordimer was initially amused, she soon realized that banning books was a serious issue. Before long, however, the ban was swiftly lifted by the education minister of Gauteng, Ignatius Jacobs, who also said he would come up with a new way to handle books that would be introduced into the curriculum. The book, for its time, was considered an accurate portrayal of a potential future, and was intended to be realistic, instead of offensive.

Author Bio

Born of English and Latvian parents, Nadine Gordimer was born in Springs, South Africa in 1923. Gordimer grew up surrounded by the racist social class system of South Africa in the 1920s and 1930s. As Eastern European immigrants, Gordimer's family fell in the 'caste' below earlier European settlers and Afrikaners, or those who were decedents of French, Dutch, and German colonizers. Gordimer also realized that her social class was considered superior to that of the black Africans. Her father was a Jewish, and therefore was a minority who faced much discrimination growing up in Latvia under Russia's regime, therefore he was accepting of the social class system that existed in South Africa due to his familiarity with similar discrimination processes. Gordimer's mother on the other hand had a much more difficult time confronting the class system, and therefore became involved in political activism. Her mother also founded a daycare for black children whose parents were workers in the town.
Gordimer fell ill in her childhood, but only briefly. Her mother though, was so frightened for her that she pulled her out of school and Gordimer ended up living a relatively isolated childhood. It was because of this that she became passionate about reading which lead to her passion in writing. She was published in an adult journal at the age of 15. After a brief stint in college, Gordimer moved to Johannesburg in 1948. It was at this time that the National Party, made up of white Afrikaners, won the election and began to gentrify neighborhoods and implement the apartheid. Gordimer strongly opposed the apartheid and the white supremacist power in government. In Gordimer's political activism, she became close friends with the two attorneys that defended Nelson Mandela in his 1962 trial. Mandela was the leader of the African National Congress, which Gordimer was a strong supporter of even when it was illegal in South Africa. She also helped to found the Congress of South African Writers.
Apart from July's People, Gordimer has written several other books discussing the issue of the apartheid and racial struggles in South Africa. Some of her highest acclaimed works include; A World of Strangers, Occasion for Loving, A Guest of Honor, The Conservationist, The Late Bourgeoise World, and Burger's Daughter. In the case of Burger's Daughter being banned, Gordimer protested by producing a pamphlet entitled “What Happened to Burger's Daughter”, causing the government to lift the ban. Many of her works have both been banned by the South African government and won prestigious literary awards around the world, including the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Literature. She was the first woman to win the award in 25 years and the first ever South African recipient. 1990 was the year that Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and upon his release Gordimer was one of the first people that he wanted to meet with. Gordimer recently passed away July of 2014 at the age of 90.

"Contemporary Reviews" Review

Published in 1981, Gordimer’s July’s People did not fail in receiving mixed responses. While a handful of writers felt that the novel was set in “the near and recognizable future,” it seemed only matter of time before a “black” revolution erupted in South Africa. Paul Grey of Time Magazine began his article with calling the novel’s future to be “inevitable.” And while some argued that the revolution was what drove the novel into the ground, others believed very “little actually happens on the surface,” urging that at its core, July’s People’s “demonstrates the tension and complex interdependencies between whites and blacks in South Africa,”(Tyler 1981) through a very specific example of a white liberal family. It is only when finding safety from the horrors of revolution through their black servant July, that the roles of power quickly change. The novel also ties in conversation about gender; observing the hostility that takes place between Bam and Maureen as husband and wife as well as between July and Maureen. Interestingly enough I was not able to find any articles or reviews from South Africa about the book. All the reviews I managed to find were from the months following the novel’s publication, none of which touched on the actual situation in South Africa during 1981.
While some reviewers such as Chettle felt that Gordimer’s novel “never seems to grapple seriously with the question she has raised,” others understood the novel to be without sympathy, and therefore without bias. Tyler writes in her article from the New York Times: “this level succeeds so extraordinary because of the Smaleses’ liberalism. It would have been too easy to make them racist. . .” instead they are put in a very conflicted position where there principles and fears as a white family in Africa change as their time amongst July’s people grows. It is Gordimer’s lack of sympathy that allows for her to “expose the hypocrisy” of her characters and it’s this blunt level of honesty that doesn’t allow for a false hope. It is also this characteristic that allows a character such as July to be justified and yet according to Jacoby held in “a prejudiced fear. . .  our readiness to think the worst of the black man.”
As the couple becomes fully aware of their dependence in July, their hope for a new start is attached with the constant struggle between using their liberalism for convenience, as in for safety within July’s walls or a” reassuring pretense, as an attempt to appease their own guilt” (Jacoby 706) and yet both Bam and Maureen are aware of the consequences. “They had fled the fighting in the streets, the danger for their children, the necessity to defend their lives in the name of ideals they didn’t share in a destroyed white society they didn’t believe in.” It’s this and more that makes the novel the success it is. As Gray writes: “her vision breaks through the color barrier to encompass both sides. She shows how individual acts of kindness can override institutional injustice.” Gordimer doesn’t limit or censor herself in what she feels is a truth about racial distinction. In portraying the struggle of this white family the reader comes to a realization that both Smales and July alike are “trapped by their past. . .” and that “the best will in the world cannot save them. . .” (Jacoby 706).

Discussion Questions

- Having to flee to safety with July, does this actually reverse roles and put Maureen and Bam at the mercy of July, or is he still more like their servant?
- Why do you think the Smaleses’ children were able to adapt to the inverted racial situation easier than the adults?
- July’s wife is rather indignant about the arrival of the Smaleses; she indicates her disbelief at them not having anywhere to go, despite how having so many rooms they have in their house. How does this, and other parts of the book, vividly illustrate the class differences between the two families?
- How does the image of Maureen and Lydia, paired in the context of the photographer, change from what Maureen believed? Why is that?
- Can connections be drawn between the world created in this book and worlds created in dystopian novels?
- How does Maureen running to the unidentified helicopter at the end represent her being unable to cope with the situation of suddenly being the inferior race?