Introduction -- 1. Becoming Literate -- 2. Reading, Writing, Debating, Reciting -- 3. Dickens on the Page, the Podium, and the Stage -- 4. The Fiction charlie Immelman Read and the Films He Watched -- 5. The Cape's Global Ilsamic Printing Networks -- Conclusion.
Summary:
Voluntary societies and government initiatives stimulated the growth of reading communities in South Africa in the second half of the nineteenth century. A system of Parliamentary grants to establish public libraries in country towns and villages nurtured a lively reading culture. A condition was that the library should be open free-of-charge to the general public. This became one more reading space, and others included book societies, reading societies, literary societies, debating societies, mechanics institutes, and mutual improvement societies. This Element explains how reading communities used these spaces to promote cultural and literary development in a unique ethos of improvement, and to raise political awareness in South Africa's colonial transition to a Union government and racial segregation.--Provided by publisher.
Series:
Elements in publishing and book culture, 2514-8516
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.