{"id":350,"date":"2022-08-27T01:12:04","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T19:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/?p=350"},"modified":"2023-06-12T09:50:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T04:20:53","slug":"nadine-gordimer-1923-2014-african-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/nadine-gordimer-1923-2014-african-writer\/","title":{"rendered":"Life and works of Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014):  African writer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table of Contents<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#nadine-gordimer\">Nadine Gordimer<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#novels\">Novels<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#a-guest-of-honour-1970\">\u2022 A Guest of Honour (1970)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#some-more-novels\">Some More Novels<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter is-resized is-style-rectangular\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?resize=384%2C512&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Nadine Gordimer\" class=\"wp-image-351\" width=\"384\" height=\"512\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?w=1104&amp;ssl=1 1104w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nadine Gordimer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"nadine-gordimer\"><strong>Nadine Gordimer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nadine Gordimer<\/strong>&nbsp;(20 November 1923&nbsp;\u2013 13 July 2014) was a South African writer and&nbsp;political activist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She received the&nbsp;Nobel Prize in Literature&nbsp;in 1991, recognized as a writer &#8220;who through her magnificent epic writing has &#8230; been of very great benefit to humanity&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 South African writer, political activist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature<br>\u2022 Born into a well-off family in Springs, a mining town outside Johannesburg in 1923<br>\u2022 Her father was a Jew originally from Latvia and her mother of British descent<br>\u2022 Witnessed the oppression of the black majority by the white minority from her early childhood<br>\u2022 First collection of short stories, Face to Face (1949)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days<br>when the organization was banned<br>\u2022 Also helped Mandela edit his famous speech I Am Prepared To Die, given from the defendant&#8217;s dock at the trial; one of the first people Mandela wanted to see when released from prison in 1990<br>\u2022 Many of Gordimer\u2019s books, including July\u2019s People, were banned by the Apartheid regime in South Africa.<br>\u2022 Never considered going into exile; but in the 1960s and 1970s lectured at universities in the USA<br>\u2022 Her books and short stories have been published in forty languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"novels\"><strong>Novels<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><br><\/strong>\u2022 The Lying Days (1953) \u2013 First published novel; set in her hometown Springs; a semi-autobiographical<br>work; a Bildungsroman depicting the growing political awareness of a young white woman, Helen,<br>toward small-town life and South African racial division.<br>\u2022 Occasion for Loving (1963) \u2013 Puts apartheid and love together; protagonist, Ann Davis (white), is<br>married to Boaz Davis, but in love with Gideon Shibalo (black) at a time when South Africa&#8217;s<br>government criminalized such relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a-guest-of-honour-1970\"><strong>\u2022 A Guest of Honour (1970)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"216\" height=\"287\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-24.png?resize=216%2C287&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><strong>A Guest of Honour<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>A Guest of Honour<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;is a 1970 fictional novel by&nbsp;Nobel winning&nbsp;South African writer&nbsp;Nadine Gordimer. Published four years after her novel&nbsp;The Late Bourgeois World, the novel is a political novel that explores the role of revolutionary ideas in&nbsp;new African states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Conservationist (1974)<br><\/strong>\u2022 Joint winner of the Booker Prize in 1974 \u2013 The other winner was the British novelist Stanley<br>Middleton\u2019s Holiday<br>\u2022 Explores Zulu culture and the world of wealthy white industrialists through the eyes of<br>Mehring, the antihero, a conservative capitalist<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Burger\u2019s Daughter (1979)<br><\/strong>\u2022 Historical and political novel rooted in the antiapartheid struggle<br>\u2022 Refers to actual events and people from that period, including Nelson Mandela and the<br>1976 Soweto uprising <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 Details a group of white anti-apartheid activists in South Africa seeking to overthrow the<br>government<br>\u2022 Setting in the mid-1970s, and follows the life of Rosa Burger<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>July\u2019s People (1981)<br>\u2022 Set during a fictional civil war in which black South Africans have violently overturned the<br>system of apartheid<br>\u2022 The story follows the Smales, a liberal White South African family who were forced to flee<br>Johannesburg to the native village of their black servant, July<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"some-more-novels\">Some More Novels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 A Sport of Nature (1987)<br>\u2013 Follows the story of Hillela, a white South African woman, from her self-absorbed adolescence in Johannesburg to her years as the wife of the black president of South Africa.<br>\u2022 The House Gun (1998)<br>\u2013 Follows the story of a couple, Claudia and Harald Lingard, dealing with their son Duncan&#8217;s murder of one of his housemates; the novel treats the rising crime rate in South Africa and the guns that virtually all<br>households have<br>\u2022 The Pickup (2001)<br>\u2013 Tells the story of a couple: Julie Summers, a white woman from a financially secure family, and Abdu, an illegal Arab immigrant in South Africa<br>\u2022 Get a Life (2005)<br>\u2013 Narrates the story of environmental activist Paul Bannerman and his family<br>\u2022 No Time Like the Present (2012)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/ngugi-wa-thiongo-nigerian-writer\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"361\">Ngugi wa Thiong\u2019o : Nigerian Writer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/shakespeare-history\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1\">Shakespeare history : Part one<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>noble prize : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/literature\/1991\/gordimer\/facts\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/literature\/1991\/gordimer\/facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/literature\/1991\/gordimer\/facts\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer&nbsp;(20 November 1923&nbsp;\u2013 13 July 2014) was a South African writer and&nbsp;political activist. She received the&nbsp;Nobel Prize [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow3MbQCw:productID":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[334,331,330,336,329,333,335,332],"class_list":["post-350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-literature","tag-a-guest-of-honour","tag-african-national-congress","tag-apartheid-movement","tag-burgers-daughter","tag-nadine-gordimer","tag-occasion-for-loving","tag-the-conservationist","tag-the-lying-days"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?fit=1104%2C1472&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":461,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/african-literature-an-overview\/","url_meta":{"origin":350,"position":0},"title":"African English Literature &#8211; An overview of Great Tradition","author":"witcritic","date":"May 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"African English literature African English literature refers to the body of literary works written by authors from Africa or of African descent, who use the English language as a medium of expression. African literature is rich and diverse, reflecting the continent's vast cultural, linguistic, and historical heritage. It encompasses a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"African Literature\"","block_context":{"text":"African Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/tag\/african-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"African","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/images28329.jpeg?fit=500%2C604&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":316,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/african-and-caribbean-literatures\/","url_meta":{"origin":350,"position":1},"title":"Postcolonial Literature: African and Caribbean","author":"witcritic","date":"August 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Postcolonial Literature: African and Caribbean \u00a0 African Literature and Caribbean Literature \u00a0 African Literature \u00a0 Africa Birthplace of the human species between 8 million and 5 million years ago Vast continent Rich and diverse in its culture \u2013 Many languages and religions \u2013 Changing from one country to another as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;World Literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"World Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/world-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Modern African Literature and Colonialism","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":347,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/chinua-achebe-1930-2013-nigerian-novelist\/","url_meta":{"origin":350,"position":2},"title":"Life and Works of Chinua Achebe (1930-2013): Nigerian Novelist","author":"witcritic","date":"August 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Chinua AchebeAchebe\u2019s WorksAfrican Trilogy Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe, in full\u00a0Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, (born November 16, 1930, Ogidi, Nigeria\u2014died March 21, 2013,\u00a0Boston,\u00a0Massachusetts, U.S.), Nigerian novelist acclaimed for his unsentimental depictions of the social and psychological disorientation accompanying the imposition of Western customs and values upon traditional African society. His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;World Literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"World Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/world-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"chinua achebe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Achebe2.jpg?fit=432%2C585&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1290,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/life-history-and-major-works-of-toni-morrison\/","url_meta":{"origin":350,"position":3},"title":"Life history and famous works of Toni morrison (1931-2019)","author":"witcritic","date":"June 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Toni Morrison- the great American African novelist Toni Morrison- the great American African novelistToni Morrison- Early lifeToni morrison Interview Morrison shared:Toni morrison worksThe Bluest EyeSong of SolomonBelovedSong of SolomonJazzParadise, Love, MercyLove Toni Morrison- Early life Toni Morrison, born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, was an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Toni Morrison","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toni-morrison-news-photo-533137304-1551212596.jpg?fit=1024%2C811&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toni-morrison-news-photo-533137304-1551212596.jpg?fit=1024%2C811&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toni-morrison-news-photo-533137304-1551212596.jpg?fit=1024%2C811&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/toni-morrison-news-photo-533137304-1551212596.jpg?fit=1024%2C811&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":361,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/ngugi-wa-thiongo-nigerian-writer\/","url_meta":{"origin":350,"position":4},"title":"Ngugi wa Thiong&#8217;o : Nigerian Writer","author":"witcritic","date":"August 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Ngugi wa Thiong'o Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o (b. 1938) \u2022 Born in 1938 in Kamiriithu, Kenya\u2022 Formerly wrote in English and now in Gikuyu; founder editor of the Gikuyu-language journal M\u0169t\u0129iri\u2022 Has written novels, plays, short stories, critical essays and children's books\u2022 Embraced Fanonist Marxism and subsequently renounced English, Christianity, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;World Literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"World Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/world-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ngugi wa Thiong'o","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-26.png?fit=855%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-26.png?fit=855%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-26.png?fit=855%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-26.png?fit=855%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1465,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/the-help-by-kathryn-stockett\/","url_meta":{"origin":350,"position":5},"title":"The Help by Kathryn Stockett","author":"witcritic","date":"June 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Help by Kathryn Stockett \"The Help\" is a novel written by Kathryn Stockett, published in 2009. Set in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, the story revolves around the lives of African-American maids working in white households during the era of segregation.The novel primarily follows the perspectives of three\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Novels&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novels","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/novels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Help-by-Kathryn-Stockett.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Help-by-Kathryn-Stockett.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Help-by-Kathryn-Stockett.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Help-by-Kathryn-Stockett.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Help-by-Kathryn-Stockett.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/The-Help-by-Kathryn-Stockett.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1249,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions\/1249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}