This talk will cover events that have scarred the psyche of South Africa, and include a glance at some of its most famous writers. The country’s trauma began with the arrival of Portuguese sailors in the late 1400s. Increasingly, Africans were oppressed, and in 1948, apartheid (declared a ‘crime against humanity’ in 1973) was entrenched. Black resistance grew, and in 1994 Nelson Mandela became president when the first democratic elections were held. But the fruits of democracy remain elusive in a country which currently has the world’s greatest income inequality.
Bio:
Dr Lynda Gilfillan, a former academic and specialist in South African literature, is a book editor who has worked on award-winning fiction as well as non-fiction. In 1994 she served on the National Symbols Commission, which oversaw the design of the country’s new flag.
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