Literature and the Law in South Africa, 1910-2010 (eBook)

The Long Walk to Artistic Freedom

Ted Laros (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017
250 Seiten
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (Verlag)
978-1-68393-016-7 (ISBN)

Infos

On the basis of institutional and poetological analyses of legal trials concerning literature held in South Africa during the period 1910–2010, this study describes how the battles fought in and around the courts between literary, judicial, and executive elites eventually led to a constitutional exceptio artis (artistic freedom) for literature.

---

In 1994, artistic freedom pertaining inter alia to literature was enshrined in the South African Constitution. Clearly, the establishment of this right was long overdue compared to other nations within the Commonwealth. Indeed, the legal framework and practices regarding the regulation of literature that were introduced following the nation's transition to a non-racial democracy seemed to form a decisive turning point in the history of South African censorship of literature. This study employs a historical sociological point of view to describe how the nation's emerging literary field helped pave the way for the constitutional entrenchment of this right in 1994. On the basis of institutional and poetological analyses of all the legal trials concerning literature that were held in South Africa during the period 19102010, it describes how the battles fought in and around the courts between literary, judicial and executive elites eventually led to a constitutional exceptio artis for literature. As the South African judiciary displayed an ongoing orientation towards both English and American law in this period, the analyses are firmly placed in the context of developments occurring concurrently in these two legal systems.

Autor

Ted Laros is assistant professor of literary studies at the Open University of the Netherlands.

Inhalt

AcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: Literature in LawPart I: Legal Groundwork, 1910-55Chapter One: Preparing the Ground for AutonomizationPart II: Hesitant Legal Recognition, 1955-75Chapter Two: The 1965 Trials: Wilbur Smith’s When the Lion Feeds andCan Themba’s “The Fugitives”Chapter Three: The 1974 Trial of André Brink’s Kennis van die AandPart III: Despite Rollback Efforts, Ongoing Recognition, 1975-80Chapter Four: The 1978 Case of Etienne Leroux’s Magersfontein, O Magersfontein!Part IV: Decisive Legal Recognition, 1980-2010Chapter Five: (The Road to) Constitutional AutonomyChapter Six: ConclusionWorks CitedIndex

Produkt-Details

• Reihe/Serie: The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Law, Culture, and the Humanities
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Rechtsgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Schlagworte: African Studies • Censorship • Literary History • Literary Studies • postcolonial studies • Sociology
• ISBN-10: 1-68393-016-9 / 1683930169
• ISBN-13: 978-1-68393-016-7 / 9781683930167