Document Type
Book Review
Journal/Book Title/Conference
MFS: Modern Fiction Studies
Volume
58
Issue
2
Publisher
The John Hopkins University Press
Publication Date
Summer 2012
First Page
389
Last Page
391
Abstract
Censorship has, of course, been much discussed in South African literary studies. But Peter McDonald's The Literature Police is a groundbreaking book in two ways: first, it is to my knowledge the first book to attempt a comprehensive historical overview of censorship in apartheid South Africa and its effects, not just on writers, but on publishers, literary journals, writers' organizations, and other key institutions. Second, it is the first text to look closely and methodically at the paper trail left behind by the Board of Censors to analyze precisely which texts were banned and the reasons given. The Literature Police is densely packed with important and original findings, and will surely be a study that scholars of South African literature will have to acquaint themselves with for years to come.
Recommended Citation
Shane Graham. "The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences (review)." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 58.2 (2012): 389-391.
