SOURCE: Huggan, Graham. “Echoes from Elsewhere: Gordimer's Short Fiction as Social Critique.” Research in African Literatures 25, no. 1 (spring 1994): 61-73.

In the following essay, Huggan applies Gordimer's theoretical writings regarding the short story form to four of her short fictions: “Six Feet of the Country,” “A Company of Laughing Faces,” “Livingstone's Companions,” and “Keeping Fit.”

Nadine Gordimer's novels have done much toward “articulating the consciousness” of contemporary South Africa.¹ What is not often realized, or not realized often enough, is that her short stories also contribute to this articulation, and that the short story is just as well-equipped as the novel to attempt it. Gordimer has proved herself over time to be one of the foremost exponents in the world of the modern short story. Yet her critics have tended, almost exclusively, to focus on her novels. Why should this be so? The main reason for the critical imbalance...