Abstract
Testing Benedict Anderson’s thesis that nations are communities imagined principally in the medium of the printed word, this chapter surveys South African print culture from the decade between the South African War (1899–1902) and the moment of Union (1910). Focusing upon the two written forms identified by Anderson as central in imagining national communities — novels and newspapers — the question posed is: how did print culture contribute to the constitution of the postcolonial South African nation?1 On the basis of this one case study, I reflect briefly upon the relationship between print culture and postcolonial African nationalisms.
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© 2015 David Johnson
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Johnson, D. (2015). Print Culture and Imagining the Union of South Africa. In: Davis, C., Johnson, D. (eds) The Book in Africa. New Directions in Book History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137401625_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137401625_6
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