'I Read What I Like': politics of reading and reading politics in apartheid South Africa

bibliographic database
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Periodical article

Title:	'I Read What I Like': politics of reading and reading politics in apartheid South Africa
Author:	Matteau-Matsha, Rachel
Year:	2013
Periodical:	Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa (ISSN 0258-7696)
Issue:	83
Pages:	56-85
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	reading censorship apartheid social change political consciousness
External link:	https://muse.jhu.edu/article/533959
Abstract:	This article discusses the alternative reading practices that occurred in the shadow of censorship during the apartheid period in South Africa. Following a brief overview of the censorship apparatus' institutionalisation process, the focus of the article turns to readers and the alternative reading networks and sites of book distribution of banned or likely to be banned publications that emerged despite censorship. By linking these reading practices to the broader political landscape, the article examines the role played by readers as agents of social change, drawing parallels between their reading protocols and political activism. Building on the field of book history, this research reflects on the value of literature as a medium for social change. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract, edited]