S4E3: The 70th Anniversary of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

In our third episode of season four, Sikhumbuzo Mngadi and Aretha Phiri assess the South African legacy of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, 70 years after it was first published.

Our chair, Sikhumbuzo Mngadi is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Johannesburg. Our guest, Aretha Phiri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Literary Studies in English at Rhodes University.

Sikhumbuzo asks Aretha about her chapter in the book Global Ralph Ellison, teaching Invisible Man in South African universities, the appeal of difficult texts, appropriating Ellison, writing Blackness, humanism, and James Baldwin. 

In this episode we stand in solidarity with Arnon Nampha, a poet and human rights lawyer from Thailand.  You can learn more about his case and read his speeches here: https://pen-international.org/news/thailand-pen-international-releases-booklets-speeches-thailand-protest-leaders

Listen to the episode here: