« Robben Island » Un espace, Une Histoire, Une Littérature

Abstract

A Space, A History, A Literature

Talking about the struggle for freedom in South Africa during the Apartheid era, inevitably leads to a historically renowned place that has been classified as world heritage by the UNESCO. “Robben Island” can justly be considered as the cradle and symbol of the literature of exile as well as prison literature, both of which generated the autobiographical genre, a fundamental reassessment of detainees’ existence. This article shows how the context secretes the text, which justifies the recourse to autobiographical writings by most South African authors who sojourned in the prison of “Robben Island”.