A History of South African Literature
Christopher Heywood surveys representative South African poems, plays and prose works in five literary traditions: Khoisan, Nguni-Sotho, Afrikaans, English, and Indian. Heywood's selections include over 100 authors and selected works--covering poetry, theater and prose. Explored in the context of crises leading to the formation of modern South Africa, South African literature emerges from this study as one of the great literatures of the modern world.
- A very comprehensive one-volume history of South African literature in all its languages, encompassing works from all the communities in the country, both written and oral
- Covers over 100 writers and their works in their social and historical contexts
- An essential work for students and scholars of African and comparative literature; those unfamiliar with South African literature will discover one of the great literatures of the world
Reviews & endorsements
"South Africa's rich and complex history comes to life in this comprehensive account...an impressive authority...the sheer variety of style and form that Heywood encompasses in his criticism is extraordinary." - Times Literary Supplement
Product details
June 2010Paperback
9780521153782
314 pages
229 × 152 × 18 mm
0.46kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- List of abbreviations
- Literary map of South Africa
- 1. Introduction: communities and rites of passage
- Part I. Towards Sharpeville:
- 2. Poetry before Sharpeville: singing, protest, writing
- 3. Theatre before Fugard
- 4. Prose classics: Schreiner to Mofolo
- 5. Fiction of resistance and protest: Bosman to Mphahlele
- Part II. Transformation:
- 6. Poetry after Sharpeville
- 7. Theatre: Fugard to Mda
- 8. Novels and stories after 1960
- Notes
- Glossary
- Select bibliography
- Index.