Nadine Gordimer | Biography, Works & Anti-Apartheid Movement

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Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. </div> <div class="label mt-20 mb-10">Select Citation Style</div> <select class="js-citation-format-select form-select"> <option selected value="mla">MLA</option> <option value="apa">APA</option> <option value="chicago">Chicago Manual of Style</option> </select> <div class="citation font-serif border rounded p-15 mt-20" data-authors="The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica" data-title="Nadine Gordimer" data-published-date="16 Nov. 2024" data-url="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nadine-Gordimer" > <div class="citation-text"></div> </div> <button class="js-copy-citation-button mt-20 btn btn-xs btn-outline-blue border shadow-sm pr-10" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="file_copy"></em> <span class="js-citation-status-text">Copy Citation</span> </button> </div> </div> </div> <div> <button class="js-share-modal-button js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=239064] .md-share-modal"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="share"></em> Share </button> <div class="md-share-modal size-lg d-none qa-share-modal"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10" data-icon="share"></em> Share </div> <div class="label my-20">Share to social media</div> <div class="md-social-toolbar-circle d-flex align-items-start inverted" data-value="share" title="Nadine Gordimer" data-url="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nadine-Gordimer" > <a class="social-icon facebook justify-content-center d-flex align-items-center align-self-center" data-provider="facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/BRITANNICA/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>Facebook</span></a> <a class="social-icon x justify-content-center d-flex align-items-center align-self-center" data-provider="x" href="https://x.com/britannica" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>X</span></a> </div> <div class="label pt-20 mt-20 mb-5 border-top">URL</div> <a class="font-serif text-truncate d-inline-block" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nadine-Gordimer">https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nadine-Gordimer</a> </div> </div> </div> <div> <button class="js-feedback-modal-button js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal=".md-feedback-modal"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="message"></em> Feedback </button> </div> <div> <button class="qa-external-website-modal-button js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=239064] .md-websites-modal"> <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 mr-5" data-icon="link"></em> External Websites </button> </div> </div> <div class="md-feedback-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif pb-15 border-bottom"> Feedback </div> <form method="post" action="/submission/feedback/239064"> <div class="my-20"> Corrections? 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-16T00:00:00CST" >Nov 16, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nadine-Gordimer/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Born: </dt> <dd>November 20, 1923, <a href="/place/Springs">Springs</a>, <a href="/place/Transvaal">Transvaal</a> [now in Gauteng], <a href="/place/South-Africa">South Africa</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Died: </dt> <dd>July 13, 2014, <a href="/place/Johannesburg-South-Africa">Johannesburg</a> (aged 90)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Awards And Honors: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/Nobel-Prize">Nobel Prize (1991)</a></dd> <dd><a href="/art/Booker-Prize">Booker Prize (1974)</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Notable Works: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/Burgers-Daughter">“Burger’s Daughter”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Face-to-Face-by-Gordimer">“Face to Face”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Get-a-Life-novel-by-Gordimer">“Get a Life”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Julys-People">“July’s People”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/No-Time-Like-the-Present">“No Time like the Present”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/The-Conservationist">“The Conservationist”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/The-Lying-Days">“The Lying Days”</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Nadine-Gordimer"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref115383"></span>Nadine Gordimer</strong> (born November 20, 1923, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Springs" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Springs</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Transvaal" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Transvaal</a> [now in Gauteng], South Africa—died July 13, 2014, Johannesburg) was a South African novelist and short-story writer whose major theme was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/exile-law" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">exile</a> and alienation. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Gordimer was born into a privileged white middle-class family and began reading at an early age. By the age of 9 she was writing, and she published her first story in a magazine when she was 15. Her wide reading informed her about the world on the other side of <span id="ref115384"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">apartheid</a>—the official South African policy of racial segregation—and that discovery in time developed into strong political opposition to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="apartheid" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apartheid" data-type="MW">apartheid</a>. Never an outstanding scholar, she attended the University of the Witwatersrand for one year. In addition to writing, she lectured and taught at various schools in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> during the 1960s and ’70s.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Gordimer’s first book was <em><span id="ref1231773"></span>Face to Face</em> (1949), a collection of short stories. In 1953 a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/novel" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">novel</a>, <em><span id="ref115386"></span>The Lying Days</em>, was published. Both exhibit the clear, controlled, and unsentimental style that became her hallmark. Her stories concern the devastating effects of apartheid on the lives of South Africans—the constant tension between personal isolation and the commitment to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-justice" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">social justice</a>, the numbness caused by the unwillingness to accept apartheid, the inability to change it, and the refusal of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="exile" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/exile" data-type="EB">exile</a>.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="17937" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/70/21070-004-3BA370BB/Nadine-Gordimer-1991.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/239064/17937"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/70/21070-004-3BA370BB/Nadine-Gordimer-1991.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/70/21070-004-3BA370BB/Nadine-Gordimer-1991.jpg?w=300" alt="Nadine Gordimer, 1991." data-width="163" data-height="250" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/70/21070-004-3BA370BB/Nadine-Gordimer-1991.jpg" data-href="/media/1/239064/17937">Nadine Gordimer, 1991.</a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1974 Gordimer’s novel <em><span id="ref1202946"></span>The Conservationist</em> (1974) was a joint winner of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Booker-Prize" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Booker Prize</a>. Later novels included <em>Burger’s Daughter</em> (1979), <em>July’s People</em> (1981), <em>A Sport of Nature</em> (1987), <em>My Son’s Story</em> (1990), <em>The House Gun</em> (1998), and <em>The Pickup</em> (2001). Gordimer addressed environmental issues in <em><span id="ref1202947"></span>Get a Life</em> (2005), the story of a South African ecologist who, after receiving thyroid treatment, becomes radioactive and hence dangerous to others. Her final novel, <em><span id="ref1163094"></span>No Time like the Present</em> (2012), follows veterans of the battle against apartheid as they deal with the issues facing modern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">South Africa</a>.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Gordimer wrote a number of short-story collections, including <em>A Soldier’s Embrace</em> (1980), <em>Crimes of Conscience</em> (1991), and <em>Loot, and Other Stories</em> (2003). <em>Living in Hope and History: Notes from Our Century</em> (1999) is a collection of essays, correspondence, and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="reminiscences" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/reminiscences" data-type="EB">reminiscences</a>. In addition to writing, she lectured and taught at various universities in the United States during the 1960s and ’70s. In 2007 Gordimer was awarded the French <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Legion-of-Honour" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Legion of Honour</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/contributor/encyclopaedia-britannica/12989892">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":239064,"pageLength":372,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Nadine Gordimer | Biography, Works & Anti-Apartheid Movement | Britannica