Decolonizing the reading landscape: A conversation with Kgauhelo Dube

Abstract

Reading and literacy projects in South Africa have a long and fascinating history. In this conversation, Kgauhelo Dube talks about a contemporary Pretoria-based initiative which seeks to promote reading and literacy through the showcasing of African authors and texts. The discussion explores some of the social and material dynamics which inform the post-apartheid reading project, including the lack of reading and library facilities in township settings and the ongoing alienation experienced by black students and scholars in white-dominated institutions. It points to the importance of the contemporary revival of the discourse of decoloniality as a means of framing the project, and as a route to understanding the broader contexts in which African literature is produced and consumed. The discussion also engages with the importance of the short story form for the public reading event and considers some of the ways in which the written text is subsequently reshaped as a dynamic and mobile digital product.

The short story in South Africa post-2000: Critical reflections on a genre in transition

“…Another interview, with Kgauhelo Dube, the director of a Pretoria-based arts consultancy Kajeno Media, reflects on the broader material and institutional contexts of reading and literacy in South Africa through an account of a reading and literature project called “LongStorySHORT” (Sandwith et al, 2020). Inaugurated in 2015, the project is aimed at promoting a vibrant reading culture among black people, in particular, school children, from underprivileged areas.…”