To commemorate its founding 25 years ago, PS will be republishing over the coming months a selection of commentaries written since 1994. In the following commentary, Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer explores literature’s role in society and, in particular, in post-apartheid South Africa.
CAPE TOWN – As the eighteenth-century theological philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg reminded us, the written word is humankind’s exclusive property. So there is a commonly accepted recognition that the responsibility writers possess for this treasure is great. Yet there are as many disagreements about the role that literature is to play in society as there are definitions of that role.
CAPE TOWN – As the eighteenth-century theological philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg reminded us, the written word is humankind’s exclusive property. So there is a commonly accepted recognition that the responsibility writers possess for this treasure is great. Yet there are as many disagreements about the role that literature is to play in society as there are definitions of that role.