Starting positions: the social function of literature in the Cape

Abstract

Arguments about the social function of literature in South Africa have their origins in the public lectures and literary journals of the Cape Colony in the first half of the nineteenth century. Four overlapping positions can be distinguished: the missionary position, which sees imaginative literature as a proselytising aid and an occasional substitute for the Scriptures; the utilitarian position, which sees it of limited use value in the emergent capitalist social order; the romantic position, which sees it as a repository of profound spiritual truths; and the imperial position, which sees English literature as a means of constructing and securing national identity. Looking at a diverse range of contemporary arguments about literature, from those of figures like Albie Sachs to those of institutions like the Censorship Board and the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa, connections between the early and more recent positions are suggested. Though there are no simple continuities from the 1820s to the 1990s, this survey of the earlier period reveals at the very least that current arguments have a long and complicated history.