The early writings of Alex La Guma : reflections on cultcha, identity, and freedom in the 1950s and 1960s /
"Alex la Guma was a major twentieth-century South African novelist. His first novel, A Walk in the Night, in1966 brought him instant recognition as a pioneering writer on the African continent. Its 'startling realism and accurate imagery' drew high praise from his contemporaries. Wole...
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Cape Town, South Africa :
Best Red,
2025.
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| Summary: | "Alex la Guma was a major twentieth-century South African novelist. His first novel, A Walk in the Night, in1966 brought him instant recognition as a pioneering writer on the African continent. Its 'startling realism and accurate imagery' drew high praise from his contemporaries. Wole Soyinka, later awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o . The critic and writer, Lewis Nkosi, likewise, compared La Guma's intense and sombre vision of the individual in society to that of Dostoevsky. La Guma was also an important political figure. As leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation and a communist, he was charged with reason, banned, house arrested and eventually forced into exile. At the time of his death in 1985 he was serving as chief representative of the African National Congress in the Caribbean. Published on the centenary of Alex LaGuma's birth on 20 February 1925, The Early Writings of Alex LaGuma contains a selection of his early work as a journalist and short story writer, before he became a published novelist and was forced into exile. It provides unique cameos of South African life and politics during turbulent time in the country's history - the late 1950s and early 1960s, the years around Sharpeville-at the same time giving us insight into the making of a novelist. The 'hidden' world of Alex La Guma -material, social, emotional, political and intellectual - at a time when he was developing into a serious writer, is revealed. Many of the themes in his fiction are first encountered and developed in these early newspaper articles, providing useful material for literary scholars seeking to understand the progression of his work."--Back cover. |
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| Physical Description: | xl, 264 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781928246718 1928246710 |