A short history of "The World" (and other Black South African newspapers)

Abstract

This paper developed out of my interest in black literature. It soon became apparent that an understanding of early black written literature was dependent on a knowledge of the history of the black press. It also soon became apparent that the history of the black newspapers is a grossly neglected field: and it is furthermore a very complex one which I doubt I can do full justice to. My aim will be to give an outline idea of some of the problems and crucial events and to make familiar some of the names of the prominent block journalists of the past. (Thereafter, I shall briefly outline the implications for early black literature.)