English literature began in the 9th century. XIX with Th. Pringle (1789-1834), a committed poet who fought against slavery. However, he still had a “colonial” vision of South Africa, shared by poets such as W. Scully (1855-1943) and AS Cripps (1869-1952). Of greater value are the verses of F. Carey Slater (1876-1958), which, describing the most typical features of his land, was at the origin of that peculiarly South African literature which has found an important expression in the delicate lyrics and in the vigorous satire by R. Campbell (1901-1957), in the verses of RN Currey (1907-2001), FT Prince (1912-2003), A. Delius (1916-1989), Ch. Eglington (1918-1972), Guy Butler (1918-2001) and, among the most modern, Adèle Naudé (1910-1981), Ruth Miller (1919-1969), David Wright (1920-1994), SC Clouts (1926-1982), Perseus Adams (b. 1933). In its beginnings, the fiction had romantically dealt with the great national adventure: the Great Trek, the hard life of the pioneers, the struggles with the natives. But the realistic description of a patriarchal and peasant society had already appeared in the famous novel by O. Schreiner (1855-1920), The Story of an African Farm (1883; Story of an African Farm), and in the novels and short stories of Ethelreda Lewis (1875-1946), Pauline Smith (1884-1959), HC Bosman ( 1905-1951). In the post-war period, Sarah Geltrude Millin (1892-1968) introduced the theme of racial relations into literature, with the novel God’s Step-children (1924; Children abandoned by God), which, after the Second World War, was the dominant theme of the famous novel Cry the Beloved Country (1948; Cry the Beloved Land) by the liberal writer A. Paton (1903-1992). This work is at the origin of a literature of protest against apartheid, more humanitarian than political, which alternates anger or pity with an objective realistic representation. Many of these writers were forced into exile, or were unable to publish their works at home. Among the most notable is J. Cope (1913-1991), in addition to the great narrator N. Gordimer (b. 1923), whose novel The Conservationist obtained, in 1974, the Brooker prize of the British publishers. A passionate opposition to apartheid politics, together with an analysis of difficult interracial relationships, have been a constant in the production of Gordimer, who after receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991 published a collection of short stories (Jump, 1991; The jump) and a new novel (None to Accompany Me, 1994; Nobody by my side).
Another voice raised in favor of the liberation of the black people is that of JM Coetzee (b.1940), of Afrikaans origin , who however chose English to write, in addition to literary criticism essays, excellent novels, such as Age of Iron (1990), in which the protagonist’s illness becomes a metaphor for the condition of the country, or Master of Petersburg (1994), focused on the dialectic of power. The story of the tragic consequences suffered by those who had chosen to actively oppose the regime gave birth to a real female literature “from prison”, of which the anthology of writings by South African women is exemplary A Snake with Ice Water: according to ehistorylib, Prison Writings by South African Women (1992). But there are also novelists who are pro- apartheid, such as S. Cloete (1897-1976), others who do not take a position, such as D. Rooke (1914-2009), or who champion the Bushmen, such as L. van der Post (1906-1996). This literature, in which prose takes precedence over poetry, is basically rootless, oriented towards London and New York. The symbol that recurs most often is that of the exile, the wayfarer, who crosses strange countries and strange peoples. Faced with the primitive, disconcerting, incomprehensible African world, two alternatives open up: the reaffirmation of the values of the country of origin, or the rediscovery of nature as pure innocence, primordial sensuality, a reality prior to man. The literature of the seventies is strongly conditioned by the political context. However, poetry prevails, which often deals with traditional themes (P. Horn, B. Levinson, Chris Mann), or parody criticizes the system (Chris Hope), but also expresses a sense of revolt and alienation (W. Jensma, M. Nicol). In the poetic field, also worthy of mention are D. Livingstone, D. Wright, A. Perseus, Geraldine Aron, S. Bryer, J. Davids, R. Dederick, D. Farrel, P. Haring, P. Strauss, M. Swift, LJ Marois, M. Damian, H. Wigget, R. Beeton. Among the most significant theatrical authors we mention F. Dike. It is a protest literature, which reveals a deep anguish and an inner conflict determined by the socio-political situation. An important role in the promotion of this literature belongs to two notable journals: J. Davids, R. Dederick, D. Farrel, P. Haring, P. Strauss, M. Swift, LJ Marois, M. Damian, H. Wigget, R. Beeton. Among the most significant theatrical authors we mention F. Dike. It is a protest literature, which reveals a deep anguish and an inner conflict determined by the socio-political situation. An important role in the promotion of this literature belongs to two notable journals: J. Davids, R. Dederick, D. Farrel, P. Haring, P. Strauss, M. Swift, LJ Marois, M. Damian, H. Wigget, R. Beeton. Among the most significant theatrical authors we mention F. Dike. It is a protest literature, which reveals a deep anguish and an inner conflict determined by the socio-political situation. An important role in the promotion of this literature belongs to two notable journals: Classic and Staffrider, to major publishing houses and universities. Also in the theatrical field there is the challenge to the status quo and the anxiety of renewal. Generally, the authors are inspired by the work, unique in value and resonance, by A. Fugard. Among the best known are P. Dirk-Uys, P. Slabolepszy, B. Simon.
