Apartheid and Racism in South African Children’s Literature, 1985-1995

Donnarae McCann is Visiting Professor of African-American World Studies at the University of Iowa. She is the author of White Supremacy in Children's Literature, African Images in Juvenile Literature, and The Black American in Books for Children: Readings in Racism.

While white racism has global dimensions, it has an unshakeable lease on life in South African political organizations and its educational system. Donnarae MacCann and Yulisa Maddy here provide a thorough and provocative analysis of South African children's literature during the key decade around Nelson Mandela's release from prison. Their research demonstrates that the literature of this period was derived from the same milieu -- intellectual, educational, religious, political, and economic -- that brought white supremacy to South Africa during colonial times. This volume is a signal contribution to the study of children's literature and its relation to racism and social conditions.

Preface Introduction Part I: Background Chapter I: Elements of Apartheid: Science, Theology, Government and Extra-Constitutional Government (The Broederbond) Chapter II: Gatekeepers and Literary Education Part II: Novels About Contemporary South Africa Chapter III: Civil Disobedience and Urban Conflict: The Apartheid Perspective in Novels Chapter IV: Runaways, Forced Removals, Population Control Chapter V: The First Democratic Election: Right-Wing Fears in Post-Election Fiction Chapter VI: Interracial Friendship: Sacrificial Blacks, Reformed Whites Chapter VII: Interracial Romance: Scientific Racism Persists Chapter VIII: Stories of the Supernatural: Misreading African Tradition Part III: Historical Novels Chapter IX: The Trekking Boers: Land-Grabbing in Historical Literature Chapter X: Tales of Conquest and Religious Conversion Conclusion: Is this Going to be a Democratic Society or Not? Epilogue Selected Bibliography Index