Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

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M.A. (English) / This study approaches a much neglected area, not only of English literary research in South Africa generally, but also more specifically of Nadine Gordimer's writing career. Over the last fifty-one years Gordimer has produced approximately 126 short stories. These have variously been taken up in twelve collections, ranging from Face to Face in 1949 to Jump in 1991.However, most of the recognition she has received pertains to her novels which are frequently praised for their historical awareness and their commitment to the disfranchised in South Africa. Yet the short stories are a significant part of Gordimer's output - altogether eight original collections of short stories exist, as compared to ten novels. Nor are the short stories of any less historical significance.Even a cursory glance at the periodization of the stories as reflected in this dissertation unquestionably reveals a developing historical perspective in Gordimer's short fiction. What is most remarkable about this unfolding perspective is Gordimer's ability from time to time in the stories to break out of the limitations imposed on her consciousness by her position in South African society as a white, upper middle-class woman. The most important reason for the dearth of research on the historical consciousness in Gordimer's short fiction seems to be the choice of literary-critical approaches adopted in previous works. Broadly these may be classified as either formalist or new critical. Given the importance to these approaches of the autonomy of the text vis-a-vis the life history of the authoress or the wider socio-political environment within which the work exists, it is not surprising that these works have rather limited their focus to such aspects as theme, structure, short story development and imagery. By examining the interaction of race, gender and class in Gordimer's short stories this dissertation pins its exploration of the developing historical consciousness of these texts not only to specific issues, but to issues with which Gordimer clearly concerns herself. This dissertation therefore asserts that the structures of race, gender and class are indeed pertinently explored in the short stories, not only individually but often with an understanding of their intertwined aspect, and that using this approach a more subtle and appropriate reading of the stories and of their development may emerge.