South African literature of the first literary works of note is Olive Schreiner's 1883 "The Story of an African Farm", which can be linked to Van den Heever's "Laat Vrugte" as a "plaasroman". The novel was a revelation in Victorian literature: it is heralded by many as introducing feminism into the novel form. However, Mossman (1990: 41) argues that "The most frequently taught work of South African literature in American classrooms is "Cry, the Beloved Country" (1948) by Alan Paton". A possible reason for this is that it was made into a film starring James Earl Jones, and it depicts a typical racist
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995 film) had a revolution 50 years ago,' Paton is said to have observed). The performances by Jones and Harris have a quiet dignity, suitable to the characters if not reflecting a larger reality. But the film contains little that would have concerned the South African censors under apartheid. [...] "Cry, the Beloved Country" reflects a sentimentality that motivates many people, but it fails as a portrait of what it used to be like in South Africa, what happened and what it's like now." Cry, the Beloved Country (1995 film) Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1995 South African-American drama film directed