Abstract
The modern world has been changing at an unprecedented rate in the last decade, especially in the ecological, technological, political, cultural and social spheres. Contrary to the obvious assumption that under these circumstances people should, more than ever before, be unbound and free, the opposite appears to be the case. Moreover, people are being increasingly alienated from others and themselves – not only in personal relationships, but also in the broader context of the social group and society within which they live and work. In an effort to understand this trend, academics in different disciplines have re-examined the historical development of the alienation theory. The work of Hegel, Marx, Heidegger, Durkheim, Sartre, Weber and Seeman serves as a starting point. Later investigations by, among others, Ghaleb (2024), Øversveen (2022), Healy (2020), Kara-Erdemir (2019), Silver (2018) and Byron (2016) analyse the factors that set the alienation process in motion, as well as the consequences for both the individual and the group with which the person socialises.
The purpose of this article is to indicate, based on historical development, the direction that the theory of alienation has taken during the past decade, as it is applied in Of fathers and fugitives by S.J. Naudé. The focus is, among other things, on the reasons for alienation and its consequences for the individual as it plays out in the various relationships in which the person is involved. These relationships focus on the members of a social group who have left their home countries, as well as those who remain behind. Both groups challenge the rules and regulations of the social group that have been formed over time in terms of a particular ideology, value system and way of life. This leads to an existential crisis that sets in motion a process of alienation that leads to self-alienation and ultimately self-destruction.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was the first person who dealt comprehensively with the idea of alienation (1770–1831) in his philosophical work The phenomenology of mind (1807). His analytical exposition laid the foundation for understanding the concept in modern society (Sarfraz 1997:46). As a point of departure he argues that the universe forms a unit in which each element has a specific place, with all these elements being dependent on one another. He distinguishes between Geist (the substance that controls man’s thinking) and the objective outside world (Hegel 1949:500). In the “objective outside world” Hegel also includes what he calls the “ethical world”, which refers to the cultural development of mankind that follows through his immediate identification with social groupings in the outside world, such as social institutions, other individuals and the environment/nature in which he lives and works (Hegel 1949:505). Only when the two (Geist and the objective outside world) are integrated with each other is alienation overcome (Hegel 1949:513, 517).
Hegel’s exposition of alienation deals with two factors, namely separation and surrender. Separation does not take place only between Geist and the outside world, but also between the individual and his former self. As a result of the changes within himself, the individual does not identify with the social substance, that is, the social, political or cultural institutions of which he previously was a part. In order to avoid alienation, the individual must “surrender” to the social system for the sake of unity. This type of alienation is accompanied by a deliberate relinquishing or surrender of the self with the intention of achieving a set or desired goal, namely unity with the social substance. This ultimately leads to self-fulfilment, in this sense: the “universal essence of man”, according to Hegel (Sarfraz 1997:46).
In 1932 Karl Marx’s Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 was published. Marx was particularly influenced by Hegel’s notion of the “universal essence of man” (Sarfraz 1997:47), but whereas Hegel presents alienation as an ontological manifestation of labour, Marx sees it as a characteristic of a specific capitalist form, a point of departure from which alienation in all the other spheres of existence can be understood (Marx 1964:175). In order to support his argument, he singles out four components of alienation, namely alienation between the labourer and his product (Marx 1979:68), depriving the worker of his control over the production process (1979:70), alienation of species (1979:72–3) and alienation from other members of his species which ultimately leads to self-alienation (1979:76). The capitalist economy alienates the individual from his creative nature, with the result that man becomes a passive object in all aspects of his life within a bourgeois society. In order not to be alienating, according to Marx (Oliver 2015:559), labour must first of all serve as confirmation of the individual’s identity by allowing him to live out his own unique qualities and abilities in full; and secondly, it must meet the needs of others.
Existentialists also investigated the concept of alienation during the 19th and 20th centuries. Both Sartre and Heidegger emphasise the absence of a divine being. Under existentialism they see the individual as a free and responsible agent who determines his own development by means of actions based on free and unfettered decisions of the will (Sartre 1967:15). The individual is alienated when he does not accept his own free will and/or does not take responsibility for personal decisions. The individual can never be entirely free, because the individual always forms part of a community in which his capacity to act and freely exercise his will is limited by that of other group members. In order to overcome alienation, man must recognise his own existence “to be in the world” (Dasein) and make adjustments to fit in (Honderich (red.) 1995:346–7).
The concept of alienation also came to the fore in the sociological field during the early years of the last century. Max Weber sees the capitalist economy as a world that forces the individual to comply with specific trade relations and predetermined rules (Weber 1996:54). The prescriptiveness of the work environment strips the worker of his individuality, and this leads to alienation (Sarfraz 1997:48). Not only the capitalist system, but also a generally accepted way of life and cultural value system place restrictions on the individual. Unlike Marx, who regarded the individual as a passive object of larger institutions in the modern world, Weber places greater emphasis on the individual himself because he has the power to change the nature of the social, economic and political sphere around him through his own actions (Korumaz 2019:275). People who start to think rationally and detach themselves from existing structures, rules and regulations (Shepard 1974:147) become alienated. This includes all people in the modern world, not only those directly involved in economic activities (Ghaleb 2024:211; Etzrodt 2024:11; Korumaz 2019:275).
For Durkheim, the social power that a community exercises is responsible for the alienation of the individual (Durkheim 1979:142, 246). When external circumstances or a social crisis disturbs the balance within the group, the group is forced to change. Because it is not possible for the community to make sense of the rapidly changing world it becomes unstable and a moral vacuum arises (Durkheim 1979:253). Previously accepted cultural codes of conduct lose their meaning before new ethical rules gain traction. This gives rise to a condition that Durkheim calls anomie (Durkheim 1982:368). These chaotic circumstances alienate the individual, confuse his thinking and can eventually give rise to suicidal thoughts, especially if the individual cannot adapt to the changing social order (Durkheim 1982:392).
Seeman (1959; 1975) aims to unbundle the different meanings of alienation and establish a more organised exposition of the concept (Healy 2020:7). He isolates five categories, namely powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation, normlessness and cultural alienation. When an individual finds himself in one or more of these states, and he cannot succeed in leading a meaningful life, a process of alienation begins which eventually leads to self-alienation (Sarfraz 1997:54). The connectedness between the individual and the world in which he lives no longer exists and he experiences himself as a stranger.
Whereas in the past the focus was on what exactly should be understood by alienation, Naudé’s novel examines, among other things, the effect of alienation on the relationship between the self and the world in which he lives, such as the relationship between the individual and space (place), the relationship between the individual and the product of his labour, personal relationships (family and social group) and the relationship between the individual and himself.
Alienation sets in motion a process that leads to self-alienation and ultimately self-destruction. A new level of time, which is supposed to offer man unlimited freedom of action, movement and expression, causes isolation with no solution to the alienation process.
Keywords: anomie; cultural alienation; isolation; migration; S.J. Naudé; Of fathers and fugitives; patriarchy; power relations; self-alienation; self-destruction
- This article’s contains elements obtained from Canva and the cover of Of fathers and fugitives by S.J. Naudé (Human & Rousseau, 2023).