
Postcolonialism
South/African Perspectives
Michael Chapman(Editor)
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Published on 26. September 2008
Book
Hardback
185 pages
978-1-84718-599-0 (ISBN)
Description
This collection poses two overarching questions: Is there a role for the literary imagination in postcolonial studies? And where might one locate South Africa or, more generally, South/African perspectives, in a field delineated primarily by northern institutional purposes and practices?While engaging with contemporary debates the essays seek to turn current postcolonial emphases on theoretical formulations and issue-driven interpretation towards the subjective experience of literary texts in specific contexts.The Introduction, "Postcolonialism: A Literary Turn", suggests a template of 'late postcolonialism' beyond empires writing back to the centre. Instead, ongoing challenges include settler identity, past and present; independent or compromised African/diasporic voices; the character of the postcolony in which the pre-modern, modern, and postmodern contest a single though heterogeneous place, or space; and the 'voicing' of the silent subaltern alongside the 'postcolonialising' of Nobel laureates Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee.Despite the utopian political pronouncements of many postcolonial projects (the West's own undoing) this collection wishes to stimulate us-students, academics-to see afresh, and comparatively, across worlds. In this, a literary turn may achieve an ethical dimension.
Reviews / Votes
"Postcolonial studies in South Africa obviously has important work to do."Robert J.C. Young, New York UniversityMore details
Edition
Unabridged edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Newcastle upon Tyne
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Unabridged edition
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 212 mm
Width: 148 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84718-599-0 (9781847185990)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2009
1st Edition
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
€80.99
Available for download
Person
Michael Chapman is a professor of English at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. His publications include Soweto Poetry (1982; 2007), South African English Poetry: A Modern Perspective (1984), The 'Drum' Decade: Stories of the 1950s (1989; 2001), and the literary history Southern African Literatures (1996; 2003). His collection of essays, titled Art Talk, Politics Talk: A Consideration of Categories, appeared in 2006.