South African post-apartheid literature: shaping a better future for the next generation of South Africans

Black post-apartheid literature is mainly predominated by didactic novels having their primary focus on exposing and criticizing the social and political ills of the era, while giving emphasis to apartheid themes like racism, after the advent of democracy. Prominent writers like Phaswane Mpe, Sello Duiker, Kgebetli Moele, and Niq Mhlongo have revealed the socio-political anomalies of the post-apartheid society and indicted the new government for its inability and disinterest. However, there appears to be a shift in the position of the post-apartheid writers, especially, in the contemporary literary scene that looks away from didactic literature. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to look into a select of post-apartheid novels that demonstrate the paradigm shift from didacticism to literature of advocacy. Nkosinathi Sithole’s Hunger Eats a Man (2015), Kopano Matlwa’s Period Pain (2016), and Thabile Shange’s In the Midst of It All (2022) are selected for their emphasis on dealing with the burning issues of the present South Africa and their call on the reader for a social change. The paper also seeks to examine the main themes the authors raised in their works. The analysis shows that the novels vividly depicted the current conundrums of the post-apartheid society. Unlike other post-apartheid novelists, however, these contemporary writers go beyond informing the reader about the socio-political anomalies and advocate for the need to bring about social change to realise the creation of the “Rainbow Nation” as envisioned by Nelson Mandela. From the paper, it can be concluded that South African post-apartheid literature is moving in the direction of shifting to literature of advocacy to shape a better future for the next generation of South Africans.