Confronting “Self” and “Other” in Damon Galgut’s The Good Doctor

Abstract

This article evaluates the position and experience of whites in South Africa after the advent of a black majority government, insofar as these are represented by the English-speaking white male protagonist in The Good Doctor (2003) by Damon Galgut. Analysis of the novel will illustrate that the legacy of colonisation and apartheid continues to influence the settler descendants’ perceptions of self and the other and their place in the country.