Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Retief, Glen
URN	etd-04062005-210410
Title	The Chameleon's Home Country
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	English, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Mark Winegardner Committee Chair Hunt Hawkins Committee Member Neil Jumonville Committee Member Robert Olen Butler Committee Member
Keywords	Homosexuality Apartheid Kitsch South Africa Creative Nonfiction
Date of Defense	2005-01-24
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Drawing upon the author’s experiences of growing up white and gay in apartheid South Africa, this collection of personal essays explores themes of kitsch, displacement, love, sexuality, and forgiveness. A central question posed by the work is whether virtues such as love and forgiveness are worth the cost they frequently exact. These costs include, but are not limited to, denial of the self and individual perception in order to make possible a sense of profound union with other persons. In the end the dissertation concludes that it is best to accept a level of permanent and irrevocable yearning for connection and healing which human life will never entirely fulfill.
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