Shifting Identities in Nadine Grdimer’s the Pickup

Abstract

Nadine Gordimer who has garnered a well-established place among white African writers is a towering figure of the Global Literature. One may discern the aspect of globalization in Nadine Gordimer’s post-apartheid novel The Pickup. Identity is one of the prominent and opt- repeated themes of Gordimer's novels. In The Pickup Gordimer chooses to deal with the issues of displacement, alienation, immigration and identity and lifts these problems from a local or national to a global level. This novel addresses the theme of identity that assumes significance in the twenty-first century with its greater emphasis on globalization. This paper thus analyzes shifting identities in The Pickup which is first set against the backdrop of post-apartheid South Africa and then against an unnamed Arabic village background.