Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918–2013) A Tribute to His Contribution to Literature

Abstract

This tribute to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela acknowledges his achievement through a focus on his writings and sayings. Touching on his speeches, letters, conversations, extracts from his previously unpublished writings and his insights on the occasion, the tribute turns to the life that is portrayed in the autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. This is an autobiography which, in structure and intent, has parallels with a long tradition of South African literature, particularly in the motif of the rural-urban journey, as most famously encapsulated in Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country (1948). My contention is that Mandela's salient ‘literary’ strength is to be found in a style that embodies the powerful idea.