Durban Dialogues Dissected : An Analysis of Ashwin Singh's Plays

This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the work of Indian South African playwright Ashwin Singh, which, through the diversity of characters from all ethnic backgrounds, forges an inclusive South African identity. The essays in this volume show how Singh’s plays bring South Africa’s blatant prejudices and social ills to the forefront as only by confronting unpleasant realities can any far-reaching changes actually take place. The academics and cultural practitioners who have contributed to this volume approach Singh’s work from a variety of angles, ranging from history, psychology and experimental literary forms to the performance of the plays, the relevance of the stage directions and the symbiotic relationship between the playwright and the director. The contrast between the climate of optimistic political protest and the complacency and disillusion of the new democratic era is seen to reassess the actions of the past in the light of present outcomes.

Felicity Hand is senior lecturer in the English Department of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She teaches post-colonial literature and history and culture of Britain and the U.S. She has published articles on various Indian Ocean writers including M.G.Vassanji, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Lindsey Collen. She is the co-director of the research group Ratnakara http: //grupsderecerca.uab.cat/ratnakara which explores the literatures and cultures of the South West Indian Ocean. The group's current project is: Rhizomatic Communities: Myths of Belonging in the Indian Ocean World (PGC2018-095648-B-I00). Felicity is also the editor of the electronic journal Indi@logs. Spanish Journal of India Studies http: //revistes.uab.cat/indialogs