Dreams

by Olive Schreiner

Overview

Dreams is a collection of beautifully written short stories based on author's dreams and life on a farm in South Africa. In Dreams depicts Olive Schreiner her fascinating looks on the world. Olive Schreiner (1855 -1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. Since the late 20th century, scholars have also credited Schreiner as an advocate for the Afrikaners, and other South African groups who were excluded from political power for decades, such as indigenous Blacks, Jews and Indians. Although she showed interest in socialism, pacifism, vegetarianism and feminism amongst other topics, her views escaped restrictive categorizations. Her published works and other surviving writings promote implicit values such as moderation, friendship, and understanding amongst all peoples, and avoid the pitfalls of political radicalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788027308101
Publisher:	E-Artnow
Publication date:	12/30/2020
Pages:	52
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.11(d)

About the Author

Barbara Black is Professor of English at Skidmore College and Graduate Faculty at The School of Letters, The University of the South. Carly Nations is an M.A. graduate at The University of the South. Anna Spydell is an M.A. candidate at The University of the South.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction 13

Olive Schreiner: A Brief Chronology 49

A Note on the Text 53

Dreams 55

Appendix A South Africa 121

1 From Charter of the British South Africa Company (1889) 122

2 From Cecil Rhodes, "What We Were Fighting," Examiner (13 November 1900) 123

3 From Sol Plaatje, Native Life in South Africa (1916) 125

4 From Women's Enfranchisement League leaflet, with Schreiner's notes (1908) 127

5 Letters from Olive Schreiner 129

a To Julia Solly (May-December 1908) 129

b To Will Schreiner (12 June 1898) 130

c To Edward Carpenter (3 April 1911) 131

Appendix B London 133

1 From Edward Carpenter, My Days and Dreams (1916) 133

2 From Constance Lytton, Prisons and Prisoners (1914) 137

3 From W.T. Stead, "The Novel of the Modern Woman," Review of Reviews (March 1896) 139

4 Letters from Olive Schreiner 140

a To Havelock Ellis (24 April 1887) 140

b To Maria Sharpe (24 November 1887) 142

c To Karl Pearson (11 November 1890) 142

Appendix C Literary and Intellectual Influences 145

1 From John Bunyan, "The Author's Apology for his Book" and "In the Similitude of a Dream," Pilgrim's Progress (1678) 146

2 "The Parable of the Wedding Feast," Luke 14:7-24 148

3 From Herbert Spencer, First Principles (1860) 149

4 From Ralph Waldo Emerson, Lecture on the Times (1841) 151

5 From W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) 153

6 Selected poems from contemporary Black South African poets 155

a I.W.W. Citashe, "Your Cattle are Gone" (written during the nineteenth century, published 1961) 155

b Sol Plaatje, "Sweet Mhudi and I" (1920) 155

c Mrs. A.C. Dube, "Africa: My Native Land" (1913) 156

d A.K. Soga, "Daughters of Africa" (1919) 156

7 From Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) 157

8 From Edward Carpenter, "The Curse of Property," Towards Democracy (1905) 157

9 Anna Kingsford, "The Armed Goddess," Dreams and Dream Stones (1883) 159

10 Letters from Olive Schreiner 160

a To Edward Carpenter (26 October 1905) 160

b To Margaret Harkness (January/February 1891) 161

Appendix D The Reception and Importance of Dreams 163

1 Letter to T. Fisher Unwin (26 September 1892) 164

2 Arthur Symons, Review of Dreams, Athenaeum (10 January 1891) 165

3 Amy Wellington, Introduction to Dreams (1915) 169

4 Advertisement for Dreams, in Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland (1897) 173

Appendix E Schreiner's Corpus 175

1 From The Story of an African Farm (1883) 176

2 From Woman and Labour (1911) 179

3 From From Man to Man (1926) 185

4 From "The Buddhist Priest's Wife," Stories, Dreams and Allegories (1891) 187

5 From "The Dawn of Civilisation," Nation and Athenaeum (1921) 187

6 From "Diamond Fields" (1872) 190

7 From "The Lingua Franca of the World," Review of Reviews (1896) 191

Works Cited and Select Bibliography 193

Editorial Reviews

The genre of the allegorical fable has long been out of fashion. In their new edition of Olive Schreiner’s Dreams, the editors have provided a wealth of judiciously chosen materials, critical and historical, to help us read these allegories with fresh eyes.” — J.M. Coetzee

“Dreams, Olive Schreiner’s book of feminist allegories, became an inspirational book for hunger-striking British suffragettes in Holloway Prison. Charlotte Perkins Gilman carried it with her when she left her marriage, and she called it the sunlight of her freedom. It is wonderful to have Schreiner’s influential book now available for students and scholars, with a splendid introduction co-written by the three editors, connecting her South African political roots, London intellectual experiences, controversial feminist ideas, and literary evolution. The editors have provided a rich selection of contextual documents illuminating Schreiner’s literary influences and her intersecting views of the relationships between feminism, race, sexuality, and labor. A welcome and timely edition for a new generation of readers.” — Elaine Showalter, Professor Emerita, Princeton University

“Congratulations to the editors on producing a wonderful new edition of Olive Schreiner’s Dreams, one of her key publications. The editors have also added to the allegories in providing well-chosen selections from across a wide range of Schreiner’s writings, together with thoughtful interpretational notes. The result will surely be an essential book in Schreiner scholarship, appealing both to those wanting an introduction and to those wanting to deepen their knowledge of Schreiner’s work. Brava!” — Liz Stanley, University of Edinburgh

“[The editors] remind us that it was this work, enormously popular and incredibly powerful in her own time, that came to define [Schreiner’s] later career. … [T]he editors strike a delicate balance, highlighting what made her politics radical and, more importantly for modern readers, the radical potential of her work.” — Justin Thompson, Women’s Writing

From the Publisher