On The DL
Rita Barnard
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Mon., Jan. 22, 5 p.m., free, Penn Bookstore, 3601 Walnut St., 215-898-7595
Don't let her extensive background in colonial American literature fool you -- Rita Barnard is not your typical academic. A former adviser to Oprah's Book Club, this Penn professor has abandoned William Bradford in favor of contemporary South African literature.
"I like working on things that are completely fresh," says Barnard, whose new book, Apartheid and Beyond: South African Writers and the Politics of Place (Oxford University Press), is just that: After a decade of research and travel, Barnard offers unique readings of the relationships between South African writers and their environments. Drawing on everyone from Foucault to postcolonial theorist Achille Mbembe, she explores the effects of place on literary form.
Although she's mostly concerned with the literary, Barnard also depicts the everyday operations of apartheid. Stories of segregation, imprisonment and poverty evolve from the criticism, as do hopeful predictions and reflections upon reform.
Ten years after beginning the project, Barnard is still passionate about the material and collaborating with colleagues in Johannesburg.
"Humans," she speculates, "have a need to be global."
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