Contrary: Critical Responses to the Novels of Andre Brink

Published since the late 1980s, the criticism collected in this volume strives to be representative of the kind of research undertaken on Brinks work and give insight into a variety of its aspects, focusing primarily on its most significant part, the novels and their reception. The essays look at Brinks approach to the genre and its narrative techniques. They also contextualize Brinks writing in relation to existentialism, (post)colonialism, myth-making, magic realism, representations of gender and sexuality, the dialectic of history and fiction, the picaresque tradition, and the tensions between memory, narration and identity. The collection includes one of the best profiles on the life and work of AndrBrink, written by Nicholas Wroe of the Guardian, as well as an overview essay by Godfrey Meintjes which was originally published as three separate pieces. The combined text of the latter, like no other, introduces all of the important phases and influences of Brinks prose writing. The contributors are: A.J. Hassall, Neil Cochrane, Heilna du Plooy, Peter Horn, Richard Peck, Christell Stander, Nicholas Wroe, Isidore Diala, Marita Wenzel, Johan Anker, Lianne Barnard, Godfrey Meintjes, Monica Bungaro, Jochen Petzold, Ampie Coetzee, H.P. van Coller, Henriette Roos, Mathilda Bothma, Ute Kauer, Louise Viljoen, and Willie Burger.

Paperback. English. Protea. 2013. Good Condition.