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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Sol Plaatje reconsidered: rethinking Plaatje's attitudes to class, nation, gender, and Empire
Author:Limb, PeterISNI
Year:2003
Periodical:African Studies
Volume:62
Issue:1
Pages:33-52
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:anticolonialism
biographies (form)
History and Exploration
Ethnic and Race Relations
nationalism
colonialism
Politics and Government
About person:Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876-1932)ISNI
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/00020180300989
Abstract:Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje is widely regarded by scholars as a British Empire enthusiast, a moderate leader of the ANC who, if valiant in his espousal of black rights then nevertheless was opposed to radical working class forces. The present author proposes 'another' Plaatje: the obstinate if at times timid fighter for the rights of all Africans, critical of Empire if deferent to Western legality and broadly sympathetic to the predicament of African toilers. The author also proposes an alternative selection from his works, suggesting somewhat different attitudes than hitherto presented. He primarily examines Sol Plaatje's attitudes to African workers. To a lesser extent, he surveys his use of irony, his attitudes to Empire, nation and women, and his place today in South African studies. He argues that a close analysis of historical records and especially Plaatje's journalism, together with an appreciation of recent insights by literary scholars and a reenvisaging of his life project, all point to 'another' Plaatje. This new way of looking at Plaatje is important in interpreting the ideological and historical underpinnings of the current political hegemony of the ANC. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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