A Critical Survey of Contemporary South African Poetry: The Language of Conflict and Commitment

Abstract

<p>The thes is concentrates on South African poetry from 1960 to the present. It closely examines a selection of poems by Breyten Breytenbach, Dennis Brutus, Pascal Gwala, Wopko Jensma, Oswald Mtshali, Arthur Nortje, Cosmo Pieterse, Sipho Sepamla, and Wally Serote, among others. The body of the thesis discusses these poets' contributions to poetry about prison, exile, and township life.</p> <p>The thesis focuses on the struggle between various polical, racial, and cultural groups for hegemony over South Africa's poetic development. Such issues as language, ideology, and censorship are explored insofar as they in! .luence t:ne content and structure of the poetry. This body of poems, sadly, is little studied in North America. The thesis presents an introduction to and a survey of the major tendencies in South African poetry and, in part, attempts to relate the poetry's role in expressing the commitment of these poets to the ending of apartheid and the eventual resolution of the conflict for freedom.</p>