GLOBAL SHAKESPEARE AND SOCIAL INJUSTICE: TOWARDS A TRANSFORMATIVE ENCOUNTER
Co-edited with Sandra Young
(Bloomsbury/Arden, 2023)
Each chapter in this book probes the relationship between Shakespeare studies and the intractable forms of social injustice that infuse cultural, political and economic life. The volume helps readers to imagine what radical and transformative pedagogy, theatre-making and scholarship might look like. The essays both invoke and invert the paradigm of Global Shakespeare, building on the vital contributions of this scholarly field over the past few decades but also suggesting ways in which it cannot quite accommodate the various 'global Shakespeares' presented in these pages.
Contributors: Susan Bennett, Linda Gregerson, Alexa Alice Joubin, Dyese Elliott-Newton, Derrick Higginbotham, Hassana Moosa, Kai Wiegandt, Rowan Mackenzie, Kirsten Dey, Abraham Stoll and Wendy Beth Hyman.
STILL AT LARGE: DISPATCHES FROM SOUTH AFRICA'S FRONTIERS OF POLITICS AND ART
(Unisa Press, 2017)
Writing about the arts in South Africa is a tricky proposition. Trying to keep up with the country’s politics is a fool’s errand. Yet these are the twin tasks that Chris Thurman has set himself while moonlighting as an arts critic and occasional socio-political commentator. This book's ‘dispatches’ are grouped thematically and framed by introductory letters. Context is key: the twists and turns in South African and global current affairs over the last ten years create a dialogue between the columns, polemics, essays and reviews. In a voice shifting from the journalistic to the academic and from chatty to critical, Thurman plays various roles: guide, provocateur, companion, campaigner, raconteur, castigator, confidant and teacher.
SOUTH AFRICAN ESSAYS ON 'UNIVERSAL' SHAKESPEARE
(Ashgate, 2014)
This book collects new scholarship and previously unpublished material, reflecting the changing nature of Shakespeare studies across various ‘generation gaps’. Each essay, in exploring the nuances of Shakespearean production and reception across time and space, is inflected by a South African connection. By investigating the universality of Shakespeare from both implicitly and explicitly ‘southern’ perspectives, the book presents new possibilities for considering (and reassessing) shifting manifestations of Shakespeare’s work across the global North and South.
Contributors: David Schalkwyk, Natasha Distiller, Sandra Young, Pier Paolo Frassinelli, Victor Houliston, Brian Pearce, Laurence Wright and Guy Butler.
AT LARGE: REVIEWING THE ARTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
(Common Ground, 2012)
This collection of journalistic essays, reviews and interviews not only explores the role of the arts – and the challenges facing artists – in a country still completing its transition to democracy, but also asks provocative questions about a range of social and political issues. Informed by an awareness of South Africa’s complex cultural history/histories, At Large offers a snapshot (or, rather, a series of snapshots) of the arts in the country during the early years of the twenty-first century, providing insight into the production and reception of both ‘local’ and ‘global’ artistic phenomena.
SPORT VERSUS ART: A SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEST
(Wits University Press, 2010)
This is a collection of essays, commentaries, personal memoirs and humorous pieces about a fraught relationship at the heart of South Africa’s public life. The book brings together a range of contributions from sport and arts journalists, arts practitioners, academics and other writers.
Contributors: Patrick Cairns, Dan Nicholl, Mninawa Ntloko, Simon van Schalkwyk, Firdose Moonda, Christopher Merrett, Jyoti Mistry, Lucky Sindane, Ashwin Desai, Gavin Sourgen, Gwen Ansell, Stuart Theobald, Anthea Buys, Edward Griffiths, Fiona Budd, Adrienne Sichel, Angus Powers, Toast Coetzer, Mike van Graan, Victor Dlamini and Helen Moffet.
GUY BUTLER: REASSESSING A SOUTH AFRICAN LITERARY LIFE
(University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2010)
Guy Butler was a substantial literary figure and 'cultural politician' in South Africa over the second half of the twentieth century, yet his is not a familiar name to the majority of South Africans and – where he is known – Butler remains a problematic figure. This book combines biographical insight with criticism of Butler's publications in various genres to offer a balanced explication of his life and work.
TEXT BITES: SOUTH AFRICAN POEMS, PLAYS, STORIES AND NON-FICTION
(Oxford University Press, 2009)
This anthology is aimed at secondary school learners who have English as an additional language. It introduces learners to the features of various genres through a range of South African writers. Questions and writing activities accompany the texts, along with a wealth of supplementary material.