South African Writers

In this seminar we will explore a selection of texts by South African contemporary writers from the apartheid period to the post-apartheid transition years. We will reflect on how writers have responded to, shed light upon, and critically engaged with the complexities of the South African socio-political context from the 1970s to early 2000s. We will pay special attention to questions of an individual's psychological experiences in relation to their society; freedom from social norms; pain and grief; identity building and exile. Readings will include texts by Bessie Head, J.M. Coetzee, Zakes Mda and Zoë Wicomb.