SOUTH AFRICA, CHURCH OF THE PROVINCE OF

independent church that is part of the Anglican Communion. It developed from the work of British clergy among the British soldiers and settlers in the Cape of Good Hope in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The bishop of Calcutta, India, was at first responsible for the area, but in 1847 Robert Gray was consecrated the first bishop of Cape Town. Through his work the church grew, and additional dioceses were established. In 1853 he became metropolitan (archbishop) of South Africa. Gray had been influenced by the Oxford Movement in the Church of England, which emphasized the Roman Catholic heritage of the church. Anglicanism in South Africa reflected this influence. One result has been the establishment of branches of several Anglican religious communities in South Africa. In modern times the church has attempted to minister to the country's black population. It actively opposed the government's policy of apartheid (enforced separation for whites and blacks) until the policy was abolished. Cultural life Eleven languages (Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, North Sotho, South Sotho, Swazi , Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu) hold official status under the 1993 constitution, and a further 11 (Arabic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu) are to be promoted and developed. All South African languages are spoken to varying degrees in different regions; there are some areas where most residents speak neither Afrikaans nor English, but those two languages allow communication in most parts of the country. Early school education is available in all the official languages. English appears to predominate to an increasing extent in official, educational, and formal business spheres. The arts The many languages spoken by South Africa's people reflect the country's cultural diversity. The Africans have adopted a host of Western ways, but a core of African cultural traditions of language, music, and dance retains its vitality and has contributed to a distinctly South African fusion of cultural forms. Some of the better-known features of that fusion appear in the music of jazz, religious, and popular groups such as the African Jazz Pioneers, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and others. The various African societies have rich oral traditions, including narrative, poetic, historical, and epic forms. These oral traditions, while they remain strong in their own right, especially in rural parts of the country, have exerted a major influence on the written literatures of the African cultures, which also have been influenced by literary traditions of other parts of Africa, of the Caribbean and the Americas, and of Europe. Such writers as Guybon Sinxo (Xhosa), B.W. Vilakazi (Zulu), Oliver Kgadime Matsepe (North Sotho), and Thomas Mofolo (South Sotho) have been more heavily influenced in their written work by the oral traditions of their cultures than by European forms. Works composed in the indigenous languages have been largely ignored or dismissed as works written for the schools or as works with limited audiences, yet these novels and poems have for years been a primary means of expression for African intellectuals. No matter the size and composition of the audiences, the works are a significant part of the intellectual history of South Africa. During the 1970s there emerged in the arts powerful themes of national and multiracial, multilingual cultural patterns, as writers and artists from all backgrounds concentrated on exploring and portraying the turmoil affecting South African society. Reaction to apartheid engendered a sense of black culture and history that both anticipated and drew upon Negritude as it was manifested in West African, Caribbean, and American movements. The themes of Black Consciousness evident in the poetry and prose of urban writers such as Mothobi Mutloatse and Miriam Tlali and published in such periodicals as Staffrider are derived from the literary and oral traditions of African languages in South Africa and in literature by Africans in European languages. For many decades works with strong political themes or explicit sexual scenes were banned. A large segment of Afrikaner writers became alienated from the government; authors such as Breyten Breytenbach, Dan Roodt, Andr Brink, and tienne Leroux had their works banned. The authors Adam Small and Alex La Guma have written vividly in Afrikaans and English, respectively, of the effects of racial discrimination and of the complex and frequently violent nature of life in South Africa. Many black and white writers addressing these and other themes have received international recognition. Newly recognized writers such as J.M. Coetzee, Sipho Sepamla, and Mongane Wally Serote have joined such established figures as Es'kia (Ezekiel) Mphahlele, Alan Paton, Brink, and Leroux in bringing South African literary life to the wider world. In 1991 Nadine Gordimer, a short-story writer and novelist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. South African playwrights responded to the new cultural and political milieu with such innovations as multilingual plays. Support for the newer indigenous theatre came from independent and nonracial theatrical organizations, such as the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. Plays by Athol Fugard, Mbongeni Ngema, Fatima Dike, and Pieter-Dirk Uys have been performed worldwide. The major institutional support for culture during the apartheid years came from the provincial councils for the performing arts. These councils helped fund plays, operas, ballets, symphonies, and other cultural events. The postapartheid period brought change in such institutional matters, though under the 1993 constitution the new provinces retained control over cultural affairs.