A literary geography of Soweto

Humanist inspired literary geography offers one avenue of enquiry into the study of place. Its prime intention is to untangle the subjective, personalised construction and connotations of place meaning. African literature offers a rich source of information into the black urban experience. The presentation focuses upon the literary interpretation of Soweto, South Africa's largest black township. The Sowetan environment emerges as a landscape of placelessness in which the overwhelming emphasis by white and black writers alike is upon relating appalling conditions in an austere and hostile environment.