A History of South African Literature [Hardcover]

This book is a critical study of South African literature, from colonial and pre-colonial times onwards.This book is the first critical study of its subject, from colonial and pre-colonial times to the present. Christopher Heywood discusses selected poems, plays and prose works in five literary traditions: Khoisan, Nguni-Sotho, Afrikaans, English, and Indian. The discussion includes over 100 authors and selected works, covering poetry, theatre and prose. The literature is explored in the setting of crises leading to the formation of modern South Africa. In Christopher Heywood's magisterial study, South African literature emerges as among the great literatures of the modern world.This book is the first critical study of its subject, from colonial and pre-colonial times to the present. Christopher Heywood discusses selected poems, plays and prose works in five literary traditions: Khoisan, Nguni-Sotho, Afrikaans, English, and Indian. The discussion includes over 100 authors and selected works, covering poetry, theatre and prose. The literature is explored in the setting of crises leading to the formation of modern South Africa. In Christopher Heywood's magisterial study, South African literature emerges as among the great literatures of the modern world.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.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 classiclCå