Paper short abstract:

This paper provides a literary analysis of the critical dystopia in Imraan Coovdia's A Spy in Time (2018).

Paper long abstract:

This paper provides a literary analysis of Imraan Coovadia’s A Spy in Time (2018). This text, set in a post-apocalyptic South Africa, deals with the issues of race and class, so entrenched into the South African social fabric. In addition to exploring the above, this paper focuses on the dual nature and role of technology in the South African dystopian genre. While depicted as a powerful tool, technology often functions to serve the needs of those who wield its power, rendering the “other” powerless. Coovadia’s narrative weaves a tale of espionage across various times and spaces. This paper also explores post-humanism as depicted through a dystopian lens. The notion of the critical dystopia and the dual nature that it reflects is also explored in this discussion. Coovadia’s narrative exists at the impasse between the past and the present; the old and the new, through the trope of time travel, which is explored during the course of this analysis.