Description
Notes from the Middle World by Breyten Breytenbach is a collection of essays exploring politics, exile, identity, borders and the role of the artist and writer in a changing world. Drawing on voices both living and dead, Breytenbach reflects on subjects including Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, as well as the political and social realities of post-apartheid South Africa.
The essays move between political observation, existential reflection and explorations of language and belonging. At the centre is Breytenbach’s idea of the “Middle World” — an imagined space beyond national borders and exile, where questions of identity, citizenship, justice and human freedom can be considered from outside conventional boundaries.
A good choice for readers interested in South African literature, essays, politics, exile, identity and Breytenbach’s distinctive literary and philosophical writing.
