In a Zimbabwean literary landscape which, until recently, seemed strictly bifurcated – with “white” novels to one side and “black” novels on the other – the work of Angus Shaw has played a role in allowing consideration of a truly national canon. Many of the early “white” novels dating from the days of Rhodesia during the years of UDI (the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Ian Smith’s white minority government) had plot structures and characterisations borrowed from metropolitan adventure novels. Action and an unswervingly unidirectional sense of triumph based upon moral superiority were hallmarks. After majority rule was finally won, a generation of black novelists used exactly the same mode of writing about the war, eulogising the black guerrillas in the moral…

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Citation: Primorac, Ranka. "Angus Shaw". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 January 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5406, accessed 28 March 2024.]

5406 Angus Shaw 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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