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Lewis Nkosi is one of South Africaâs foremost writers and critics, and one of the few survivors of the exile generation dating from the Drum era. Up until now, however, no full length study has been done on his work. This is a gap in South African literary history and criticism that this book is intended to fill. Besides his well known earlier works, Nkosi is still very much an active writer as the publication in 2002 of his novel, Underground People, shows, with his latest novel due out in 2005. The timing of Still Beating the Drum, a book which intends to highlight and evaluate his extensive and varied oeuvre, is thus appropriate. Given Lewis Nkosiâs life trajectory, this volume will appeal to readers interested in South African and African literature, both in South Africa and abroad. Intended as a important critical resource on Lewis Nkosi, the book is divided into three parts: Part One collects papers from scholars around the world currently working on Nkosiâs work in various genres; Part Two reprints key articles from different moments in Nkosiâs critical writing, together with hitherto unpublished recent interviews with Nkosi; and Part Three provides the reader with a timeline and extensive bibliography for Lewis Nkosi, both invaluable resources for scholars working on Nkosi given the scattered nature of much of his more ephemeral writings in the past. Lewis Nkosi is an important figure in South African literature whose voice has been heard far and wide â this book aims to collect for critical consideration some of the echoes and reverberations his voice has generated.
Lindy Stiebel is Professor of English at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. She is the author of Imagining Africa: landscape in the African romances of H.Rider Haggard (Greenwood, 2001) and Thomas Baines and the âGreat Mapâ (Campbell Collections, 2001).
Liz Gunner is Acting Director of the Centre for African Literary Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. She is co-editor of Text, Theory, Space: land, literature and history in South Africa and Australia (Routledge 1996); and she has edited and translated the writings of Isaiah Shembe in Man of Heaven and the Beautiful Ones of God: Isaiah Shembe and the Nazareth Church (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2004).
Liz Gunner is Acting Director of the Centre for African Literary Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. She is co-editor of Text, Theory, Space: land, literature and history in South Africa and Australia (Routledge 1996); and she has edited and translated the writings of Isaiah Shembe in Man of Heaven and the Beautiful Ones of God: Isaiah Shembe and the Nazareth Church (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press 2004).
"The articles [..] are carefully selected and of a high qualityâ¦[i]t is [..] a fitting tribute and recognition of the man and the authorâ¦" - in: NELM News, Vol. 45 (December 2006)
"â¦erudite, well-researched essaysâ¦" - in: African Studies Review, Vol. 49, No. 3 (December 2006)
"â¦erudite, well-researched essaysâ¦" - in: African Studies Review, Vol. 49, No. 3 (December 2006)
Acknowledgements
Illustrations
Preface
Liz GUNNER and Lindy STIEBEL: Introduction: Lewis Nkosi â Inscriptions
PART ONE: WRITING ON LEWIS NKOSI
THE LITERARY CRITIC
Annie GAGIANO: Lewis Nkosi as Literary Critic
Chris WANJALA: Lewis Nkosiâs Early Literary Criticism
Oyekan OWOMOYELA: Lewis Nkosi: A Commentary Piece
THE DRAMATIST AND POET
Liz GUNNER: Contaminations: BBC Radio and the Black Artist â Lewis Nkosiâs âThe Trialâ and âWe Canât All be Martin Luther Kingâ
Sikhumbuzo MNGADI: Hostage Drama: The Rhythm of Violence and Some Comments on âThe Black Psychiatristâ
Astrid STARCK-ADLER: Psycholoanalysis and Apartheid: The Image and Role of the Psychiatrist in Selected Works of Lewis Nkosi
Therese STEFFEN: The Desire of Knowledge, or, the Body in Excess: Lewis Nkosiâs Play âThe Black Psychiatristâ
Litzi LOMBARDOZZI: An Introduction to the Poetry of Lewis Nkosi
THE NOVELIST
Lucy GRAHAM: âBathing Area â For Whites Onlyâ: Reading Prohibitive Signs and âBlack Perilâ in Lewis Nkosiâs Mating Birds
Lindy STIEBEL: The Return of the Native: Lewis Nkosiâs Mating Birds Revisited in Post-Apartheid Durban
Companion Piece: South African Censorsâ Report on Mating Birds
Andries OLIPHANT: Mammon and God: Reality, Imagination and Irony in Underground People
Raffaella VANCINI: Beyond the Literature of Protest: Lewis Nkosiâs Underground People
PART TWO: LEWIS NKOSI IN HIS OWN VOICE
INTERVIEWS
14.1 Interview with Lewis Nkosi
25 October 2002, Durban, South Africa
conducted by ZOÃ MOLVER, filmed by DAVID BASCKIN
14.2 Nuruddin Farah and Lewis Nkosi in conversation with ACHILLE MBEMBE at the Time of The Writer Festival, Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban, South Africa on 15 March 2003 Creative Arts, University of KwaZuluâNatal
A RETROSPECTIVE SELECTION
15.1 Fiction by Black South Africans
15.2 Alex La Guma: The Man and His Work
15.3 Negritude: New and Old Perspectives
15.4 White Writing
15.5 Bloke Modisane: Blame Me On History
15.6 The Republic of Letters After the Mandela Republic
PART THREE: SOURCES FOR LEWIS NKOSI
16 Bibliography
17 Timeline
Notes on Contributors
Index
Illustrations
Preface
Liz GUNNER and Lindy STIEBEL: Introduction: Lewis Nkosi â Inscriptions
PART ONE: WRITING ON LEWIS NKOSI
THE LITERARY CRITIC
Annie GAGIANO: Lewis Nkosi as Literary Critic
Chris WANJALA: Lewis Nkosiâs Early Literary Criticism
Oyekan OWOMOYELA: Lewis Nkosi: A Commentary Piece
THE DRAMATIST AND POET
Liz GUNNER: Contaminations: BBC Radio and the Black Artist â Lewis Nkosiâs âThe Trialâ and âWe Canât All be Martin Luther Kingâ
Sikhumbuzo MNGADI: Hostage Drama: The Rhythm of Violence and Some Comments on âThe Black Psychiatristâ
Astrid STARCK-ADLER: Psycholoanalysis and Apartheid: The Image and Role of the Psychiatrist in Selected Works of Lewis Nkosi
Therese STEFFEN: The Desire of Knowledge, or, the Body in Excess: Lewis Nkosiâs Play âThe Black Psychiatristâ
Litzi LOMBARDOZZI: An Introduction to the Poetry of Lewis Nkosi
THE NOVELIST
Lucy GRAHAM: âBathing Area â For Whites Onlyâ: Reading Prohibitive Signs and âBlack Perilâ in Lewis Nkosiâs Mating Birds
Lindy STIEBEL: The Return of the Native: Lewis Nkosiâs Mating Birds Revisited in Post-Apartheid Durban
Companion Piece: South African Censorsâ Report on Mating Birds
Andries OLIPHANT: Mammon and God: Reality, Imagination and Irony in Underground People
Raffaella VANCINI: Beyond the Literature of Protest: Lewis Nkosiâs Underground People
PART TWO: LEWIS NKOSI IN HIS OWN VOICE
INTERVIEWS
14.1 Interview with Lewis Nkosi
25 October 2002, Durban, South Africa
conducted by ZOÃ MOLVER, filmed by DAVID BASCKIN
14.2 Nuruddin Farah and Lewis Nkosi in conversation with ACHILLE MBEMBE at the Time of The Writer Festival, Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban, South Africa on 15 March 2003 Creative Arts, University of KwaZuluâNatal
A RETROSPECTIVE SELECTION
15.1 Fiction by Black South Africans
15.2 Alex La Guma: The Man and His Work
15.3 Negritude: New and Old Perspectives
15.4 White Writing
15.5 Bloke Modisane: Blame Me On History
15.6 The Republic of Letters After the Mandela Republic
PART THREE: SOURCES FOR LEWIS NKOSI
16 Bibliography
17 Timeline
Notes on Contributors
Index