A Very Short Introduction - Nelson Mandela

His given Xhosa name Rolihlahla signifi ed he could be a troublemaker. His clan honorifi c Madiba associated him with his aristocratic Thembu lineage. And his European name Nelson, his best-known name, given by his primary school teacher, imprinted his life with the name of one of imperial Britain’s naval heroes. Between these three nodal points of his names – signifying resistance, social stature, and heroism, respectively – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s life has played out in extraordinary, mythmaking ways. His face and his form, his raised-arm salute and walk into freedom, are among the most widely reproduced icons of the 20th century. Nelson Mandela – is it possible to say, in a phrase, who or what he is? Yes, he was one of the world’s longest-detained political prisoners; during the time of his incarceration easily its most famous. He is a universal symbol of social justice certainly, an exemplary figure connoting non-racialism and democracy, a moral giant. Once a man without a face (photographs of political prisoners in South Africa being banned), he became after his 1990 release an internationally recognizable image. For over four decades, while his country was vilified the world over for its policies of state-sanctioned racism, called apartheid, Mandela symbolically and to some extent practically led the movement of resistance to that injustice. Contents Acknowledgements xi Abbreviations xv List of illustrations xvii Map of South Africa during apartheid xix 1 Mandela: story and symbol 1 2 Scripting a life: the early years 17 3 Growth of a national icon: later years 51 4 Infl uences and interactions 82 5 Sophiatown sophisticate 110 6 Masculine performer 123 7 Spectres in the prison garden 149 8 Mandela’s ethical legacy 170 Further reading 182 Chronology 190 Index 197 حق تکثیر: این کتاب در حریم عمومی فضای اینترنت منتشر شده است.