South African Modernism 1880-2020

非洲艺术家和作家很少与现代主义联系在一起。它传统上被认为是一场横跨大约1890-1939年的欧美艺术运动。当讨论非洲与现代主义的关系时，它总是被赋予一个局外人的立场。因此，非洲的艺术和雕塑要么被视为巴勃罗·毕加索、罗杰·弗莱和弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫等关键现代主义人物的“原始”灵感，要么被描述为欧内斯特·曼科巴、奇努瓦·阿切贝和恩古吉·瓦提翁等非洲艺术家和作家的“晚期现代主义者”或欧美形式的模仿者。这一研究项目旨在通过对南非的具体案例研究，挑战这些关于非洲与现代主义之间关系的长期观念。我们的目标是通过全面描述南非文学现代主义及其在1880-2020年期间的国际联系，彻底改变传统的现代主义叙事。我们将调查a)南非的个人和文本网络如何帮助塑造从19世纪到今天的文学现代主义；b)现代主义如何继续为南非作家提供一种充满政治色彩的表现模式，以应对重大历史事件和不断变化的政治、经济、社会和文化背景；以及c)南非文学如何与其他全球形式的现代主义写作相关联和比较。利用在回答这些问题的过程中收集的证据，该项目还试图实现另一个目标，即支持英语学习中非殖民化课程的发展。自2015年以来的活动，包括#RhodesMustFall和“为什么我的课程是白色的？”使这一问题引起了国际社会的关注。“课程去殖民化”现在是各级教育工作者的当务之急。因此，我们将利用面向公众的活动和学术研讨会，支持创建免费提供的研究和教学文件、学者演讲录音、非学术出版物和其他在线资源。这些材料将通过揭示南非作家在一场重大文学运动的发展中所发挥的核心作用，帮助教育工作者重新审视现代主义是如何被思考和教授的。研究期间从1880年第一部南非小说奥利弗·施莱纳的《非洲农场的故事》完成，到2020年施莱纳逝世100周年结束。2020年计划的活动包括庆祝她的贡献的面向公众的活动，以及所罗门·普拉杰的《姆胡迪》完成100周年(及其出版90周年)、沙佩维尔大屠杀60周年和纳尔逊·曼德拉出狱30周年。通过学术和交叉的学术/新闻出版物，项目组还将研究南非作家如威廉·普洛默、罗伊·坎贝尔、理查德·里夫、刘易斯·恩科西、纳丁·戈迪默、彼得·亚伯拉罕、亚历克斯·拉·古马等人的跨国个人和文学联系。这些事件、人物和文本在南非及其他地方确立和启发了现代主义文学形式，并影响了全球公众对殖民、种族隔离和后殖民南非的看法。因此，它们为评估现代主义文学与世界舞台上的政治之间的关系提供了有利的切入点。国际文学联合会将领导项目活动和学术研讨会的组织，并产生三部独著的学术成果；国际文学联合会将出版施莱纳的《非洲农场的故事》的新版；国际文学联合会和国际文学联合会将共同编辑一本散文集；国际文学联合会和英国文学协会将共同撰写一篇针对学校和大学英语教师的文章，一篇针对普通读者的文章。因此，该项目将为学者、教育工作者和更广泛的公众开辟关于现代主义和南非文学的新视角。

African artists and writers are rarely associated with modernism. It is traditionally thought of as a Euro-American artistic movement spanning roughly the period 1890-1939. When Africa is discussed in relation to modernism, it is always assigned an outsider position. African art and sculpture is therefore either seen as "primitive" inspiration for key modernist figures such as Pablo Picasso, Roger Fry and Virginia Woolf; or otherwise African artists and writers such as Ernest Mancoba, Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong'o are described as "late modernists" or imitators of Euro-American forms. This research project aims to challenge these long-held beliefs about the relationship between Africa and modernism through a specific case study on South Africa.We aim to overhaul conventional narratives of modernism by providing a comprehensive account of South African literary modernism and its international connections across the period 1880-2020. We will investigate a) how South African personal and textual networks helped shape literary modernism from the nineteenth century to the present day; b) how modernism continues to provide a politically-charged mode of representation for South African writers responding to major historical events and changing political, economic, social and cultural contexts; and c) how South African literature is related, and compares, to other global forms of modernist writing.Using evidence gathered in the process of answering these questions, the project also seeks to fulfil one further aim, which is to support the development of decolonised curriculums in English Studies. Campaigns since 2015, including #RhodesMustFall and "Why is my curriculum white?" have brought this issue to international public attention. "Decolonising curriculums" is now a top priority for educators at all levels. We will therefore use public-facing events and academic workshops to support the creation of freely-available research and teaching documents, recordings of talks by academics, non-academic publications and other online resources. These materials will aid educators in reframing how modernism is thought about and taught, by revealing the central role played by South African writers in the development of a major literary movement.The period of study commences with the 1880 completion of the first South African novel, Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm, and ends at 2020, the centenary of Schreiner's death. The planned activities for 2020 include public-facing events that celebrate her contribution, as well as the centenary of the completion of Solomon Plaatje's Mhudi (and 90th anniversary of its publication); the 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre; and the 30th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison. Through scholarly and crossover academic/journalistic publications, the project team will also be examining the transnational personal and literary connections of South African writers such as William Plomer, Roy Campbell, Richard Rive, Lewis Nkosi, Nadine Gordimer, Peter Abrahams, Alex la Guma, and others. These events, people and texts established and inspired modernist literary forms in South Africa and beyond, and affected global public perceptions of colonial, apartheid and postcolonial South Africa. They therefore provide vantage points from which to assess the relationships between modernist literature and politics on the world stage.The PI will lead the organisation of the project events and academic workshops, and produce three single-authored scholarly outputs; the Co-I will produce a new edition of Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm; the PI and Co-I will co-edit an essay collection; and the PI and RA will co-author one article aimed at school and college English teachers, and one aimed at a general readership. The project will therefore open up new perspectives on modernism and South African literature for scholars, educators and the wider public.