Abstract:This article begins by scrutinizing divergent critical views of Gordimer's subject position and authorial agency, which locate her variously on a spectrum ranging from liberalhumanist autonomy to historical-materialist determinism. It then considers how Gordimer's nonfiction articulates a parallel ambivalence about the reach of the writer's imagination (and its dependence on "the potential of his own experience"), particularly regarding the ethics and feasibility of creating racially "other" characters. Its ma… Show more
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