Civilising Grass: The Art of the Lawn on the South African Highveld

270 Pages·2019·14.174 MB·English

by  Jonathan Cane

CIVILISING GRASS

CIVILISING GRASS
The Art of the Lawn on the South African Highveld
Jonathan Cane
Published in South Africa by:
Wits University Press
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
Johannesburg 2001
www.witspress.co.za
Copyright © Jonathan Cane 2019
Published edition © Wits University Press 2019
Images and figures © Copyright holders
Cover artwork: David Goldblatt, Saturday afternoon in Sunward Park, Boksburg,
April 1979. Courtesy David Goldblatt Legacy Trust and Goodman Gallery,
© David Goldblatt Legacy Trust
First published 2019
http://dx.doi.org.10.18772/12019073108
978-1-77614-310-8 (Paperback)
978-1-77614-311-5 (Web PDF)
978-1-77614-312-2 (EPUB)
978-1-77614-313-9 (Mobi)
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retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher,
except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, Act 98 of 1978.
All images remain the property of the copyright holders. The publishers gratefully
acknowledge the publishers, institutions and individuals referenced in captions for the
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Project manager: Lisa Compton
Copyeditor: Alison Lockhart
Proofreader: Lisa Compton
Indexer: Sanet le Roux
Cover design: Jonathan Cane
Typesetter: Newgen
Typeset in 10.5 point Plantin
To Gerrit, who taught me to write,
and to André, who was patient

The front lawn lay spread like a huge welcome mat,
inviting me into the nooks and crannies of
their private spaces. But I was afraid …
— Ivan Vladislavic´, Flashback Hotel: Early Stories
I envisioned all sorts of dramatic deaths: a woman
strangling herself to death after being overwhelmed by
hot flashes in one of the kerosene lamp-lit tunnels of the
asylum; another one drowning in her night sweat; a man
standing for hours on end against the wall in another
tunnel masturbating himself to death; men and women
writhing on the sprawling lawns dying from melancholia.
— Zakes Mda, Cion