Overview

This book explores the profound intellectual legacy of the late Ntongela Masilela, a groundbreaking literary historian whose analytical significance surged following his death in 2020. Part biography and part scholarly dialogue, the book examines Masilela's extensive unpublished online archive alongside his published works and lectures, contextualisng his revolutionary identification of the New African Movement (1880s-1960s). The volume illuminates how Masilela documented the critical contributions of New African intellectuals and litterateurs who navigated early modernity during the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 and thereafter. By analysing Masilela's unfinished historical project and interpretive framework, the volume reveals his far-reaching multidisciplinary influence across literature, film studies, African studies, and sociology. Opening with personal reflections that showcase the extraordinary empathetic relationships Masilela cultivated with each editor, this essential work brings overdue attention to a scholar whose insights continue to reshape our understanding of South African cultural and intellectual history. It serves as an essential resource for students and researchers of African studies, literary criticism, cultural theory, and decolonial thought. Most chapters in this volume were originally published in Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies and are presented here with a new Preface and personal reflections from the editors.

Full Product Details

Author:   Keyan G. Tomaselli (University of Johannesburg, South Africa) ,  Bongani Ngqulunga ,  Busani Ngcaweni
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.530kg
ISBN:  

9781041223917

ISBN 10:   1041223919
Pages:   186
Publication Date:   18 February 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Preface Introduction: Ntongela Masilela and the New African Movement: A Critical Appreciation 1. The Legacy of Ntongela Masilela 2. Ntongela Masilela: A Tribute 3. Light the Candle, Shine the Path to Excavate Ntongela Masilela’s Legacy 4. The White South African Writer in our National Situation 5. “Memory, the Guardian of all Things”: Ntongela Masilela and the Project of Re-membering 6. Tribes Must Go: New African Intellectuals and the Contested Idea of Black Nationhood 7. Depictions of Black Defiance and Sovereign African Personhood in SEK Mqhayi’s U-Don Jadu 8. Ntongela Masilela’s Persistent Historico-Biographical Method: An Uneasy Balance Enabling the Re-reading of Memoir, Contemporary History and Popular Journalism 9. Presence africaine and the emergence of African film criticism 10. Thelma Gutsche: A great South African film scholar 11. Diasporic Identity, Intellectual Nomadism and its African Theorists 12. Come Back Africa and South African film history 13. Response to Ntongela Masilela and the New African Movement: A Critical Appreciation

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Author Information

Keyan G. Tomaselli is Founder and Co- editor of Critical Arts, and Distinguished Professor, Humanities, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is also Professor Emeritus and Fellow, University of KwaZulu- Natal, Durban, South Africa. Bongani Ngqulunga is the Senior Executive Director of University Relations, Student Affairs and UJ Sport at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is also a member of the University’s Executive Management Committee. Busani Ngcaweni became the Director of the Centre for Public Policy and African Studies at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 2025. From March 2020, he was Director- General and Principal of the National School of Government (NSG) in South Africa. Ngcaweni was previously Head of Policy and Research in The Presidency and served as Chief of Staff to multiple South African deputy presidents and the current president.

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