Nelson Mandela: A Very Short Introduction
ISBN13: 9780192803016ISBN10: 0192803018
Paperback,
144 pages
Jul 2008,
In Stock
Price:
$11.95 (03)See more from the series
Description
Nelson Mandela--is it possible to say who or what he is? Yes, he was one of the world's longest-detained political prisoners. He is a universal symbol of social justice certainly; an exemplary figure connoting non-racialism and democracy; a moral giant. For years a man cut off from the world, Mandela became after his 1990 release an internationally recognizable icon. But why should his story be important to us in the world at large today? What do his achievements signify not only nationally in South Africa but also internationally? This book is about the different, interconnected stories, histories, values and symbols that Nelson Mandela embodies. Across his life Mandela has filled a rich range of roles: handsome city-slicker, dashing guerrilla, the millennial saviour figure. By examining these different roles as well as the principles which lie behind and motivate them, this Very Short Introduction presents an analytical portrait of a shape-shifting life. Set within a biographical frame, the book offers a more deeply personal analysis of Mandela than biographies centred on the towering public figure have been able provide.Features
- The essential Mandela--his life, political thought, and significance as a transnational icon.
- Explores the effects of political myth--how different narratives of Mandela's life have arisen
- Includes an extended analysis of the evolution of Mandela's political thought
- Explores Mandela's personal as well as public development
- An ideal starting point for general readers and students interested in contemporary South Africa, but also in the creation of historical icons.
- Up-to-date interpretive and evaluative account of Mandela's life with a special concern for the political effects of his charismatic leadership
Reviews
"An insightful and eminently engaging analysis from one of postcolonialism's leading scholars. This book sheds a fascinating new light on Mandela's compelling 'magic.'"--Naomi Wolf
Product Details
144 pages; 15 b/w line illus.; 4-1/4 x 6-3/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-280301-6ISBN10: 0-19-280301-8About the Author(s)
Elleke Boehmer is Professor in World Literatures in English at the University of Oxford. She is the author of the widely acclaimed Colonial and Postcolonial Literature: Migrant Metaphors (1995), Empire, the National and the Postcolonial (2002), Stories of Women: Gender and Narrative in the Postcolonial Nation (2005), as well as of three novels set in South Africa.
