230274 South African Literature from Apartheid to Democracy (S) (WiSe 2024/2025)

This class is part of the focus semester "Democracy".

Drawing on the rich body of South African creative writing in English, this seminar will address a selection of acclaimed writers and texts from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Sindiwe Magon's epistolary novel Mother to Mother (1998) and Gillian Slovo's novel Red Dust (2000) will be subject to our investigation as well as a range of short stories by William Plomer, Alan Paton, Njabulo Ndebele, Nadine Gordimer and Antjie Krog. In close readings, we will investigate the continuities and contrasts that run through this sample of (short) fiction. We will also locate the texts in their historical contexts by exploring South African culture, society and politics before, during and after apartheid. Our discussion will include issues such as colonialism and its legacies, apartheid legislation, power relations, languages and literary traditions.

Teilnahmevoraussetzungen, notwendige Vorkenntnisse

Students are expected to have completed Basic Module 2 "Introduction to Literary Studies".

Literaturangaben

Students should get hold of the following two novels – any edition will do:
Magona, Sindiwe, Mother to Mother (1998)
Slovo, Gillian. Red Dust (2000)