Burger's Daughter

Burger's Daughter · published 1979 · ISBN 9780140055931

Nadine Gordimer — Nadine Gordimer (1923 – 2014) — South Africa, writing in English. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991.

“who through her magnificent epic writing has—in the words of Alfred Nobel—been of very great benefit to humanity” — The Nobel Committee citation

About Nadine Gordimer

South African writer who treated apartheid not as political background but as a system entering families, love affairs, homes and everyday speech. Her exact short fiction and complex political novels expose the blind spots within both privilege and idealism.

How it came to be

Published in 1979, the novel was banned by the South African government and then unbanned after an international outcry. Gordimer shaped Lionel Burger from several real anti-apartheid activists, but placed the burden on the generation of children living beneath their parents’ moral authority and public mythology.

Summary of Burger's Daughter

Rosa Burger grows up as the daughter of Lionel Burger, a white doctor and emblem of the banned anti-apartheid movement who dies in prison. After his death she must decide whether her life will remain an extension of his political legacy. Moving from Johannesburg to Paris and back to South Africa, Rosa tries to distinguish personal freedom from flight out of history.

Analysis & legacy

The title turns Rosa into a possessive relationship: before she is treated as a person, she is Burger’s daughter. Gordimer gives her no easy choice between politics and private life, because even the wish to live privately has been formed by white privilege and state violence. The novel’s contested conversations show that liberation movements can also demand conformity from those closest to them. Rosa matures not by escaping history but by choosing responsibility in a voice that is finally her own.

Themes: Apartheid · Family legacy · Personal freedom · Political responsibility · Identity

Rating: 5/5 from 1 ratings (Open Library).

What critics say

• Burger’s Daughter belongs to the central sequence of novels in which Gordimer examined life under apartheid. — NobelPrize.org, Thư mục tác phẩm Nadine Gordimer

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Frequently asked questions

What is Burger's Daughter about?

Rosa Burger grows up as the daughter of Lionel Burger, a white doctor and emblem of the banned anti-apartheid movement who dies in prison. After his death she must decide whether her life will remain an extension of his political legacy. Moving from Johannesburg to Paris and back to South Africa,…

Is Burger's Daughter worth reading?

On booknest, Burger's Daughter is rated 5/5 from 1 ratings on Open Library. The title turns Rosa into a possessive relationship: before she is treated as a person, she is Burger’s daughter. Gordimer gives her no easy choice between politics and private life, because even the wish to live privately…

When did Nadine Gordimer win the Nobel Prize, and why?

Nadine Gordimer won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991: “who through her magnificent epic writing has—in the words of Alfred Nobel—been of very great benefit to humanity”

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