Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala

Regina Gelana Twala was a Black South African woman who died in 1968 in Swaziland (now Eswatini) and was an extraordinarily prolific writer of books, columns, articles, and letters. However, her name is now largely unknown, and her literary achievements are forgotten. Joel Cabrita argues that prejudices around race and gender blocked Black African women like Twala from establishing themselves as successful writers, and that an entire cast of characters conspired to erase Twala's legacy. Through her unique documentary output, Twala marked herself as a radical voice on issues of gender, race, and class.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 24 January 2023
Publisher: Ohio University Press

Regina Gelana Twala, a Black South African woman who passed away in 1968 in Swaziland (now Eswatini), was a remarkably prolific writer of books, columns, articles, and letters. However, her name is now mostly forgotten. Her literary accomplishments are disregarded. Her books are unpublished. Her letters are languishing in the dusty study of a deceased South African academic. Her articles are buried in discontinued publications. Joel Cabrita contends that Twala's posthumous obscurity has not arisen accidentally, as she exposes the ways prejudices around race and gender blocked Black African women like Twala from establishing themselves as successful writers. Drawing upon Twala's family papers, interviews, newspapers, and archival records from Pretoria, Uppsala, and Los Angeles, Cabrita argues that an entire cast of characters—censorious editors, territorial White academics, apartheid officials, and male African politicians whose politics were at odds with her own—conspired to erase Twala's legacy. Through her unique documentary output, Twala marked herself as a radical voice on issues of gender, race, and class. The literary gatekeepers of the racist and sexist society of twentieth-century southern Africa clamped down by literally writing her out of the region's history.

Written Out also scrutinizes the troubled racial politics of African history as a discipline that has been historically dominated by White academics, a situation that many people within the field are now examining critically. Inspired by this recent movement, Cabrita interrogates what it means for her—a White historian based in the Northern Hemisphere.

Weight: 504g
Dimension: 215 x 137 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780821425077