ABSTRACT
This chapter covers the literary works Magona wrote about HIV/AIDS which illuminate the paradoxical aspects of crisis, namely tensions between tradition and modernity and the polarity between literature and activism. This chapter starts by explaining the various factors that caused South Africa to become the epicenter of the virus and the silence surrounding it in society and in cultural production. It then analyzes Magona’s relevant writings: her short stories on the topic dealing with stigma surrounding the virus; her novel Beauty’s Gift decrying the vulnerability of women to the virus because of male infidelity; the play Vukani! Wake Up! expressing outrage over rape and its intersection with HIV; and poems from her collection Please, Take Photographs lamenting the effect of the virus on the younger generation. This chapter concludes that these writings go beyond just shock and pathos to explore the complicated impact of disease and death on human relationships and to envision the potential for resilience and hope amidst despair. She achieves this, the chapter concludes, by bringing explicit activism into her narratives and by highlighting the complicated nature of tradition which both reinforces patriarchal values that endanger women and redeems personal and communal relationships in times of trouble.
