Complicities

"A deeply satisfying book. The range and depth of research is assimilated into a style of writing that is neither tedious nor pompous, and the author shows himself in full command of his sources." - Rustum Kozain , H-SAfrica, H-Net Reviews

"[A]n accessible and very subtle reflection on the responsibility of the intellectual in the face of oppression. . . . [A] stimulating and deeply rewarding read." - Paul Muldoon, Australian Journal of Politics and History

"[C]reative. . . . Complicities raises critically important ethical questions that all intellectuals must face and that are especially relevant and poignant in our troubled times."
- Jackie Vieceli , Perspectives on Political Science

"[T]he richness of informed, detailed analysis on offer here deserves the close attention of anyone trying to understand the history of protest, collusion or submission by some of South Africa's most significant thinkers." - Dennis Walder , Journal of Southern African Studies

"Mark Saunders has written an extraordinarily powerful book. His focus on ‘complicity’ in the context of South African letters serves to breathe air and life into what have become stale modes of enquiry and exegesis in this context. . . . his book is an important beacon in the project of desegregating theory itself in South Africa: the project, that is, of attempting to understand the interconnections that define and inscribe the multi-valencies of South Africa now in ways that open us to potential futures. It is a sterling contribution to the debate." - Sarah Nuttall, Interventions

"This combination of European and African philosophy and literature challenges the role and place of the intellectual and artist in society. South Africans have long seen complicity as contamination and resisted any association either with the word or people to whom it has been applicable. This book offers an alternative perspective whereby we can look at these discourses differently, with less anxiety. It has been one of the most challenging and stimulating books I have read in the past year." - Yvette Hutchison, African Studies Bulletin

“Complicities is an invaluable inquiry into the social, political, moral, and philosophical functioning of the intellectual, not just in the context of apartheid, but within every society blighted by racism, sexism, or the myriad of other forms of oppression and intolerance which mark our time.” - André Brink

“Philosophically informed and linguistically sophisticated, Complicities is an important contribution to the intellectual history of modern South Africa.” - J.M. Coetzee