The Transatlantic World of William Bloke Modisane, 1951-1986

In South African literary and intellectual history, critical perspectives on Bloke Modisane have largely centred on the singular achievement of his only published book Blame Me on History. While the book remains both a masterful memorial to the passage of a life and a unique contribution to the social history of black South Africans under apartheid, the narrative’s conclusion with the year 1959, its proscription in 1963, and the author’s appearance on the banned list of writers in 1966 has hindered scholars’ appreciation of Modisane’s intellectual and cultural production beyond the 1950s. It has also fragmented popular understandings of Modisane as many readers not only presume the book to be the only work he ever produced, but also assume to know the extent of his intellectual life and legacy. This dissertation traces Modisane’s intellectual and cultural development from his pre-exilic years in South Africa to the United Kingdom, East Africa, North America, Italy, the German Democratic Republic, and the Federal Republic of Germany. It argues that Modisane was a pioneering transatlantic intellectual figure who made an unrivalled, albeit underrated, intellectual and cultural contribution to South African creative arts, British radio broadcasting and theatre, East African literature and history, the American Civil Rights Movement, and the global anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles. Based on previously unexplored archives from South Africa, Germany, America, France, and the United Kingdom, this dissertation draws on the histories of black transnationalism, African and diasporic intellectual traditions, the black literary archive, history and performance cultures, and Commonwealth and cultural history. It situates Modisane in his rightful place as one of South Africa’s most prominent historical and intellectual figures of the twentieth century.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Njica, Siyabonga

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dubow, Saul

• South Africa
• exile
• anti-apartheid
• black transnationalism
• Cold War
• CIA
• decolonization
• Civil Rights Movement
• radio
• theatre
• cultural production

Licence

• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.93177

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/345756