Shear, Keith2011-05-202011-05-201988-05http://hdl.handle.net/10539/9863African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented May 1988If we wish to gain a better understanding of a particular period in South Africa's history, it is not sufficient merely to study that period, and the people who lived through it, in isolation; we also need to know what that period has made of these people. In other words, we should not neglect to ascertain what these people have become. If we accept this, then autobiography presents itself as a fruitful area of study.enAutobiographyBiography as a literary formChildren in literatureSouth Africa. Biography. History and criticismWorking Paper