A performance of great power

Alan Paton remains a major South African writer and political figure, with Cry, the beloved country still the best-known literary work to come out of South Africa. In the past, his novels, short stories, aspects of his poetry and some of his prose writings have attracted critical attention, but little has been paid to his work for the theatre and none to the many addresses he gave, often to distinguished and influential audiences. His speeches, published for the first time in English in this book, are a most significant part of his work that has remained almost unknown until now. In this book we intend to remedy this gap by including and discussing some of Paton's most powerful speeches related to socio-political and religious issues. The volume is designed to be accessible both to specialists and to the general informed reader. Hence it is not particularly technical in approach, and explains the background fully while reproducing significant primary texts for future researchers in history, linguistics, literature, politics, South African studies, theology and related fields.