Resistance and Writing Space in Apartheid South Africa: The Story of the Weekly Mail and The New Nation

FAIN: FT-55977-08

Bryan Trabold
Suffolk University (Boston, MA 02108-2770)

My project focuses on two South African antiapartheid newspapers circulating in the late 1980's and early 1990's, the Weekly Mail and The New Nation, and how they sought to circumvent the formidable system of censorship that existed at that time. Rather than defy or conform completely to the censorship restrictions, those working for these two newspapers chose a third way: They developed various strategies to obey the letter of the law while simultaneously violating its spirit. This project contributes to the scholarship in the field of composition and rhetoric on collective resistance by focusing on the writing and rhetorical strategies groups develop when operating within contexts of formidable constraints. Moreover, the international orientation of my project also contributes to the scholarship on antiapartheid writing, as well as scholarship focusing on censorship more broadly.