Pamela
Student No:
Unique No: 677732
ENG2603 Assignment 3
1. The critique of xenophobia in its multiple dimensions, is the subject of
Welcome to our Hillbrow. Write an essay in which you demonstrate the
validity of this assertion.
Welcome to our Hillbrow, written by Phaswane Mpe, expresses the lives of South Africans
after the apartheid era. The writer demonstrates to the reader the various struggles that South
Africans had to face, such as violence for power, xenophobia, HIV/AIDS, depression,etc.
The book’s aim was to show the perspective of how people were treating each other and how
the people easily turned against one another on the basis of how they lived and where they
came from. They were several topics that the writer addressed; however this essay shall
critically analyse and discuss the issues pertaining to xenophobia.
In order for me to fully explain the topic, it is important for us to understand the term
“xenophobia”. According to webster’s dictionary “xenophobia is the fear and hatred of
strangers or foreigners or of anything that is from a strange or foreign place”1. In simpler
terms, xenophobia is a deep and unreasonable dislike or fear of people who are from another
country or area. Xenophobia is a form of stereotype that has common characteristics with
other forms of prejudice like racism and homophobia, however xenophobia only differs from
these forms of discrimination as they are based on characteristics and xenophobia is generally
fixed on the fact that members that are foreign should not mix with members that are from (ie
born within) the community or country.
In the novel, “welcome to our hillbrow”, the writer tries to describe the anguish and
dislocation of the people that moved from the rural areas of South Africa to Hillbrow in the
mid 90’s. Hillbrow was known as a tough neighbourhood in Johannesburg that had a
relatively big population of immigrants from all parts of Africa.
The novel follows the journey of the protagonist, Refentše and his friends and family
members, as they describe his transition from rural South Africa to Hillbrow, to further his
education. Hillbrow was known as the “meancing monster”, due to the areas increase in
crime and degeneracy. The narrator transcends the reader through Refentše’s life in Hillbrow
to stir up thoughts regarding the issues prevailing in the community. One of those major
concerns or issues was the community’s xenophobic mindset.
1
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xenophobia
Student No:
Unique No: 677732
ENG2603 Assignment 3
1. The critique of xenophobia in its multiple dimensions, is the subject of
Welcome to our Hillbrow. Write an essay in which you demonstrate the
validity of this assertion.
Welcome to our Hillbrow, written by Phaswane Mpe, expresses the lives of South Africans
after the apartheid era. The writer demonstrates to the reader the various struggles that South
Africans had to face, such as violence for power, xenophobia, HIV/AIDS, depression,etc.
The book’s aim was to show the perspective of how people were treating each other and how
the people easily turned against one another on the basis of how they lived and where they
came from. They were several topics that the writer addressed; however this essay shall
critically analyse and discuss the issues pertaining to xenophobia.
In order for me to fully explain the topic, it is important for us to understand the term
“xenophobia”. According to webster’s dictionary “xenophobia is the fear and hatred of
strangers or foreigners or of anything that is from a strange or foreign place”1. In simpler
terms, xenophobia is a deep and unreasonable dislike or fear of people who are from another
country or area. Xenophobia is a form of stereotype that has common characteristics with
other forms of prejudice like racism and homophobia, however xenophobia only differs from
these forms of discrimination as they are based on characteristics and xenophobia is generally
fixed on the fact that members that are foreign should not mix with members that are from (ie
born within) the community or country.
In the novel, “welcome to our hillbrow”, the writer tries to describe the anguish and
dislocation of the people that moved from the rural areas of South Africa to Hillbrow in the
mid 90’s. Hillbrow was known as a tough neighbourhood in Johannesburg that had a
relatively big population of immigrants from all parts of Africa.
The novel follows the journey of the protagonist, Refentše and his friends and family
members, as they describe his transition from rural South Africa to Hillbrow, to further his
education. Hillbrow was known as the “meancing monster”, due to the areas increase in
crime and degeneracy. The narrator transcends the reader through Refentše’s life in Hillbrow
to stir up thoughts regarding the issues prevailing in the community. One of those major
concerns or issues was the community’s xenophobic mindset.
1
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xenophobia
