An analytic and historical perspective of literary texts to understand the position of domestic workers in South AfricaMore than a million black South African women are domestic workers. Precariously situated between urban and rural areas, rich and poor, white and black, these women are at once intimately connected and at a distant remove from the families they serve. Ena Jansen shows that domestic worker relations in South Africa were shaped by the institution of slavery, establishing social hierarchies and patterns of behavior that persist today. To support her argument, Jansen examines the representation of domestic workers in a diverse range of texts in English and Afrikaans. Authors include André Brink, JM Coetzee, Imraan Coovadia, Nadine Gordimer, Elsa Joubert, Antjie Krog, Sindiwe Magona, Kopano Matlwa, Es'kia Mphahlele, Sisonke Msimang, Zukiswa Wanner and Zoë Wicomb. Like Family is an updated version of the award-winning Soos familie (2015) and the highly-acclaimed 2016 Dutch translation, Bijna familie.

List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsNote to ReadersIntroduction Searching the archiveChapter 1 Domestic workers in South AfricaChapter 2 Enslaved women at the Cape - Precursors to the culture of domestic workChapter 3 Migrant women and domestic work in the cityChapter 4 Legislation governing the lives of urban womenChapter 5 Domestic workers in personal accountsChapter 6 Testimonies of domestic workers - Interviews, stories and a novelChapter 7 Domestic workers and childrenChapter 8 Domestic workers and sexualityChapter 9 Domestic workers in times of political unrest and protestChapter 10 Domestic workers in post-apartheid novels by white authorsChapter 11 Domestic workers in post-apartheid novels by black authorsChapter 12 Domestic workers on the thresholdBibliographyIndex