How beloved is Alan Paton's Beloved Country? A historical appraisal

Abstract

This research focuses on Alan Paton’s 1948 novel Cry the Beloved Country. As one of South Africa’s most renowned writers, Paton had the courage to write a novel about the plight of South Africans during a critical period of the country’s history on the eve of Apartheid. Through the tale of the two main protagonists, Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis, the reader is drawn into a mid-twentieth century South Africa in which Paton illustrates (albeit through a paternalistic perspective) the racial tensions, ethnic conflicts and socio-economic situations that impacted both white and black people on the eve of Apartheid. When Cry, the Beloved Country was originally published in 1948 there was an immediate hype surrounding the novel in the United States of America, Britain and South Africa, as seen in international and local newspapers. This study therefore aims to analyse the various receptions of the book in each country. It will also provide evidence that Paton can be described as a literary activist, despite being a fictional novelist. His novel formed part of the arsenal of the ‘war of words’ against South Africa’s segregationist policies.