What About De Lô by Adam Small - Dr Emma Barnes, University of Salford

In this lecture, Dr. Emma Barnes from the University of Salford offers a detailed analysis of Adam Small’s poem What About de Lô, focusing on its critique of apartheid laws that criminalized inter-racial relationships in 20th-century South Africa. Dr. Barnes explains how Small uses form and structure to reflect the forced separation of races under apartheid, notably through the line breaks that symbolize the physical and social divisions between his characters, Diana and Martin. She also discusses how the poem highlights racial hierarchies, with the positioning of Diana, a white woman, above Martin, a Black man, mirroring the societal structures of apartheid. The phrase "What about de Lô" refers to the law itself, symbolizing how both families, and society at large, are bound by these oppressive regulations. Through this close reading, Dr. Barnes demonstrates how Small's repetition of the phrase "What about de Lô" unites the families under the oppressive system of racial segregation, and how the poem's tragic conclusion speaks to the enduring impact of apartheid’s laws.