Souls in Civilization – Why Do We Struggle to Read Olive Schreiner’s Short Fiction and Allegories?

Abstract

Olive Schreiner’s short fiction, published in Dreams (1890), Dream Life and Real Life (1893) and Stories, Dreams and Allegories (published posthumously in 1923), were very popular on their publication and were praised for their aestheticism and political thought. This paper attempts to explore why these stories and allegories have not been taken up as much as Schreiner’s other work in the present day by reading them in the context of various perspectives on allegory.