December 31, 1997
Contact:
Lori Corso, Assistant Director, Public Relations, Lewis & Clark College
(503) 768-7964, [email protected]
Jean Kempe-Ware, Director, Public Relations, Lewis & Clark College
(503) 768-7963, [email protected]
Richard Peck, professor of international affairs, Lewis & Clark College
(503) 768-7634, [email protected]
Viewing white South African politics through literature
PORTLAND, Ore.--In "A Morbid Fascination: White Prose and Politics in Apartheid South Africa" (Greenwood Press), Richard Peck, professor of international affairs, uses the lens of literature to examine South Africa's political culture.
He finds a dislike of politics at the same time he finds a preoccupation with political issues.
"I am most interested in asking what the literature has to teach outsiders like myself about South African society and the patterns of thought about politics there," Peck says.
He makes use of a broad range of literature to examine the political culture of white South Africa during the apartheid years, 1948 to 1990: South African propaganda; best-sellers, including adventure stories and mystery novels; and the literary works of the canonical white South African authors such as Alan Paton, Andre Brink and Nadine Gordimer.
This "morbid fascination" with politics found across the spectrum of South African literature reflects the circumstances in which writers found themselves. But it is still a worrisome feature of the white South African political culture, Peck contends.
Peck, a specialist in international organizations and African and other Third World politics, joined Lewis & Clark's faculty in 1974. Peck received a doctorate in political science, a master's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in international relations from Yale University. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of California at Berkeley.
While writing "A Morbid Fascination: White Prose and Politics in Apartheid South Africa," Peck received a research fellowship from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University in Grahmstown, South Africa.
Peck has published numerous articles on African literature and politics. He is a member of African Studies Association, African Literature Association, United Nations Association, Amnesty International, American Civil Liberties Union and American Association of University Professors.
ISBN: 0-313-30091-7 216 pages $57.95 (hardcover) ###
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