Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013): a tribute to his contribution to literature

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Periodical article

Title:	Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013): a tribute to his contribution to literature
Author:	Chapman, Michael
Year:	2014
Periodical:	Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa (ISSN 2159-9130)
Volume:	26
Issue:	1
Pages:	3-11
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	literature biography letters
About person:	Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013)
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/1013929X.2014.897461
Abstract:	This tribute to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela acknowledges his achievement through a focus on his writings and sayings. Touching on his speeches, letters, conversations, extracts from his previously unpublished writings and his insights on the occasion, the tribute turns to the life that is portrayed in the autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. This is an autobiography which, in structure and intent, has parallels with a long tradition of South African literature, particularly in the motif of the rural-urban journey, as most famously encapsulated in Alan Paton's 'Cry, the Beloved Country' (1948). My contention is that Mandela's salient 'literary' strength is to be found in a style that embodies the powerful idea. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]