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This collection of essays analyzes the work of 29 authors and illustrators. South African children's and youth literature has a long history. The country is the most prolific publisher of children's books on the continent, producing perhaps the highest quality literature in Africa. Its traditions resonate within the larger world of children's literature but are solidly grounded in African myth and archetypes. The African diaspora in the U.S. and elsewhere have stories rooted in these oral traditions. Much has changed in South African literature for children since the 1994 transformation of the country. A field once dominated by all white and mostly female writers and illustrators has diversified, adding many new voices.
In Crossover Fiction, Sandra L. Beckett explores the global trend of crossover literature and explains how it is transforming literary canons, concepts of readership, the status of authors, the publishing industry, and bookselling practices. This study will have significant relevance across disciplines, as scholars in literary studies, media and cultural studies, visual arts, education, psychology, and sociology examine the increasingly blurred borderlines between adults and young people in contemporary society, notably with regard to their consumption of popular culture.
"This is the first full-length study of South African English youth literature to cover the entire period of its publication, from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. What gives this book particular strength is its coverage of literature up to the 1960s, which has until now recieved almost no scholarly attention. Not only is this earlier literature a rewarding subject for study in itself, but it also throws light on subsequent literary developments. Jenkins also makes comparisons with American, Canadian and Australian children's literature. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand children's literature in the context of adult South African literature and South African cultural history."--BOOK JACKET.
This book conveys the story of a society in the throes of restructuring itself and struggling to find a new identity. A particularly attractive aspect of this study is the focus on young adult literature and its place in post-apartheid South Africa, as well as its potential use in the classroom and lecture hall. Intersecting these two topics provides a compelling lens for refocusing debate on young adult fiction while offering a new and novel angle on debates in South Africa after the end of apartheid. The multilingual and multicultural South African society has resulted in fiction that differs from other parts of the English-speaking world. This work presents a holistic critique of South African young adult fiction and addresses issues such as change and transformation, identity politics, sexuality, and the issue of the right of white writers to represent and “write” characters of different races.
First Published in 1996. This encyclopedia is unique in several ways. As the first international reference source on publishing, it is a pioneering venture. Our aim is to provide comprehensive discussion and analysis of key subjects relating to books and publishing worldwide. The sixty-four essays included here feature not only factual and statistical information about the topic, but also analysis and evaluation of those facts and figures. The chapters are significantly more comprehensive than those typically found in an encyclopedia.
Some 600 alphabetically arranged entries chronicle the growing field of African literature in a work written expressly for students.