Black Consciousness and South Africa’s National Literature

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Tom Penfold

   Pages 1-16

3. The History of Black Consciousness

   • Tom Penfold

   Pages 17-40

4. Literary Journals and the Direction of the Nation

   • Tom Penfold

   Pages 41-63

5. Black Consciousness and the Soweto Poets

   • Tom Penfold

   Pages 65-90

6. Theatrical Performance in the 1980s

   • Tom Penfold

   Pages 91-111

7. The Poets of No Sure Place

   • Tom Penfold

   Pages 113-136

8. Continued Imaginings

   • Tom Penfold

   Pages 137-144

9. Back Matter

   Pages 145-149

   PDF

This book analyses Black Consciousness poetry and theatre from the 1970s through to the present. South Africa’s literature, like its history, has been beset by disagreement and contradiction, and has been consistently difficult to pin down as one, united entity. Much existing criticism on South Africa’s national literature has attempted to overcome these divisions by discussing material written from a variety of different subject positions together. This book argues that Black Consciousness desired a new South Africa where African and European cultures were valued equally, and writers could represent both as they wished. Thus, a body of literature was created that addressed a range of audiences and imagined the South African nation in different ways. This book explores Black Consciousness in order to demonstrate how South African writers have responded in various ways to the changing history and politics of their country.

• National literature
• Cultural ideology
• Poetry
• Steve Biko
• Postcolonial

“A compelling account of the development of Black Consciousness as a cultural phenomenon, which complements and extends existing intellectual and literary histories. Ranging from BC’s 1970s heyday to its contemporary legacy, this timely study includes illuminating discussion of key Soweto Poets and their post-apartheid successors, whom Penfold strikingly dubs ‘Poets of No Sure Place’. A significant contribution to South African studies.” (Dr Peter Blair, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Chester, UK)

• University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

  Tom Penfold

Tom Penfold is Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Birmingham, UK, in 2013. He has published widely on contemporary South African poetry and fiction. His current work compares literature in Brazil and South Africa.

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