Literature for the rainbow nation: The case of sol Plaatje's <i>Mhudi</i>

The rise in critical status of Sol Plaatje's Mhudi is traced, with the connections between the changing political conditions and the (increasingly generous) receptions of the novel sketched. Brief comparisons to canon construction in Roman, English, and United States literatures provide a basis for the argument that a conservative aesthetic is likely to prevail in the new South Africa, with writing “too angry”, “not literary enough”, and “not truly South African” marginalised. Brief suggestions are given as to how such an aesthetic might be resisted