1. J. M. Coetzee Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1940 Naturalized as an Australian citizen in 2002 Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003

2. In what ways—and for what reasons—does it make sense to think of Coetzee as a South African writer? (After all, he is a naturalized citizen of Australia, where he has lived for decades.) In what ways, and for what reasons, does it make sense to think of Waiting for the Barbarians as a South African novel?

3. -> What is South Africa, anyway?

4. Like many African nations that were colonized by Europeans during the 16 th -19 th centuries, South Africa has a history marked by violent takeovers. Before 1652 South Africa is settled by indigenous San and Khoikhoi people. Nomadic hunters begin to settle farms.. 1652-1852The Dutch and the British take turns governing South Africa; both nations build colonial infrastructures. 1852The British grant limited self-control to the Transvaal (the northern region of South Africa). 1867 Diamonds are discovered! Everyone wants them. 1877-79The British annex Transvaal, fight off Zulus and Dutch. 1880-81The Dutch and British begin a war that lasts until 1902. 1885Gold is discovered! Everybody wants it.

5. During the first half of the 20 th century, Afrikaners (South Africans descended from the British and Dutch) dominate black South Africans with increasingly repressive legislation. 1910Formation of the Union of South Africa joins British and Dutch. 1912African National Congress is founded to represent black citizens. 1914, 1918 National Party and Secret Broederbond are founded to fight for Afrikaner causes. 1940: Coetzee was born in Cape Town to Afrikaner Parents 1948National Party rises to power and institutes policy of apartheid (separateness). 1950All citizens are classified by race, and the Group Areas Act formalizes segregation.

6. 1951:The Bantu Authorities Act makes makes black South Africans citizens of their “homelands” or districts rather than of the nation, so they can no longer vote in national elections. They also become obligated to carry “passbooks” that indicate their race and homeland, and their travel is restricted.

7. Apartheid created inequity that deepened over the twentieth century. Black South Africans were kept out of the nation’s economic prosperity and political power.

8. Apartheid was abolished in 1989, but it created a nation that was deeply unequal in every way. Efforts to rebalance the economic and educational systems have been complex and only partially successful.

9. When Coetzee won the Jerusalem Prize in 1987, he accepted it by distancing himself from his nation, its politics, and its literary traditions: “South African literature is a literature in bondage. It is a less than fully human literature. It is exactly the kind of literature you would expect people to write from prison.”