South African Literature After the Truth Commission

Book excerpt: In the wake of apartheid, South African culture conveys the sense of being lost in time and space. The Truth Commission provided an opportunity for South Africans to find their bearings in a nation changing at a bewildering pace; the TRC also marked the beginning of a long process of remapping space, place, and memory. In this groundbreaking book, Shane Graham investigates how post-apartheid theatre-makers and writers of fiction, poetry, and memoir have taken this project forward, using their art to come to terms with South Africa’s violent past and rapidly changing present.