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KarolinaBłeszyńska
thatIhavebeenagardener,firstfortheCouncil,latertomyself,andthe
gardenersspenttheirtimeswiththeirnosestotheground.”32
MichaelK,whosesymboliconeletterofasurnamemakeshim
bothanonymousandcomparabletoWaltWhitman’sEveryman,33isan
individualwhorepresentseverySouthAfrican.AsReingardNethersole
states:“Thegardeninitsmanifoldformsdenotesapieceofspecific
territorializationinwhichapartofthelandscapehasbeensetaside
asaparticularspacediferentfromotherareassuchasfields,forests,
mountains,seas,etc.”34ThegardenthusprovidesMichaelKapiece
oftheSouthAfricanwildernessasaterritorialunit,whichofershim
thepleasureofshapingnatureandadmiringhisdeeds.Thegardenalso
possessesasymbolicdimension.AsNethersholecontinues:
Furthermore,thedepictionsofthegardenorparkoranyother
limited“natural”space(asopposedtothecity)inliterature
andinvisualartsareimbuedwithsymbolicmeaningsfromthe
aesthetictothecognitive,psychological,moral,andsocial.The
gardeninthelife-world(reality)aswellasthegardenrendered
inliteratureandpaintingthusbecomesasiteuponwhich
changingrelationsbetweenmanandnatureaswellaschanging
functionsofsymbolicandcognitivesystemscrosseachotherand
intermesh.35
Undersuchcircumstances,MichaelKmayalsobepresentedas
acolonialgardenerwho,analogouslytoLucy
,evadespoliticalissuesand
acceptsthepoliticsofthenativeinhabitantsofSouthAfricaandofthe
land.Heexistswithinhisowngardenrealityandrespectsthefertile
landandthereforehedesirestocreate“the<real’gardensasopposed
totheirsupposedly<fictional’counterparts.”36Thefertilityoftheland
maybethusinterpretedasthesymbolicgestureofthelandwhichofers
itsfertilityandcropsinexchangeforrespectofitscreationandforthe
attemptstohearthepolyphonicvoicesofitsnativepeople.
“Thegardenwasamediumthroughwhichliteraturereflectedthe
problemofrelatingculturalvaluestoasocialstructureintransition.”37
32Coetzee,LifeandTimesofMichaelK,p.20.
33WaltWhitman,“SongofMyself,”in:LeavesofGrass(NewYork:Everyman’s
Library
,1994).
34ReingardNethersole,“EnchantedGardens:LandscapeImaginaryintheWorksof
HofmannstahlandKlimt,”ModernAustrianLiterature,vol.22,no.3/4(1989),p.109.
35Nethersole,“EnchantedGardens,”p.109.
36Nethersole,“EnchantedGardens,”p.110.
37CharlesE.Schorske,Fin-de-SiecleVienna:PoliticsandCulture(NewYork:Vintage,
1981),p.280.
