Claiming the city in South African literature / Meg Samuelson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Samuelson, Meg, author.

Series:

Transdisciplinary Souths

Transdisciplinary souths

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

South African literature (English)--History and criticism.

South African literature (English).

South African literature--History and criticism.

South African literature.

Cities and towns in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

ix, 116 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021.

Summary:

"This book demonstrates the insights that literature brings to transdisciplinary urban studies, and particularly in the study of cities of the south. It surveys more than a century of South African writing - from the origins of the industrial city to the first two decades of democracy - with the aim of tracing the forms through which the city has been constituted and refigured in literature. It focuses on the extractive and enclaved city that was produced from the inaugural claim staked by mining capital in the late nineteenth century and tracks the ways in which the literature issues various counter claims in order to reimagine the city as a place of assembly and attachment. The study argues for a reading of the South African city as both distinctive and closely tied to the global economy into which it has been designed to funnel gold, and looks to the literary city to advance a contrary emphasis on community, conviviality, and care. An accessible and informative introduction to the major literary depictions of and responses to the South African city at significant historical junctures, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students of both literature and South Africa, as well those working in urban studies and Global South studies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction

2. All that glitters

3. Light city, dark city

4. Resistant cities

5. Reassembling the city.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Samuelson, Meg. Claiming the city in South African literature

ISBN:

9780367763930

0367763931

9781032004389

103200438X

OCLC:

1248598277