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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:South African literature vs the political morality
Author:Mphahlele, Es'kiaISNI
Year:1983
Periodical:The English Academy Review
Volume:1
Pages:8-28
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:politics
literature
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/10131758385310031
Abstract:Good writers are always challenging old moral and political assumptions and myths of their cultures. Two main literary approaches really challenge the social evils of a society. One is ridicule through satire, the nihilistic kind or the kind that blends subtly with comedy; the other is a more direct show of resentment, with frequent use of apocalyptic rhetoric. From this background the author reviews the works of some South African writers, distinguishing between Afrikaans and African writers. Since the boundaries between the Africans, whites, Indians and 'coloureds' in South Africa have been frozen today, the author has retreated into his racial milieu (the 'ethnic imperative'), in which he feels safe and which provides him with a richer life to draw from. This paper, the opening address to the Conference of the Association of University English Teachers of South Africa, July 1983, ends with the remark that perhaps a day will come when black and white writers in South Africa will find themselves waging a concerted assault on the political morality of the times. Ref.
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