Burger's Daughter
Updated: 12/11/2025, 3:33:48 PM Wikipedia source
Burger's Daughter is a political and historical novel by South African Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Nadine Gordimer, first published in June 1979 by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom. The book was expected to be banned in South Africa, and a month after publication in London the import and sale of the book in South Africa was prohibited by the Publications Control Board. Three months later, the Publications Appeal Board overturned the banning and the restrictions were lifted. Burger's Daughter details a group of white anti-apartheid activists in South Africa seeking to overthrow the South African government. It is set in the mid-1970s, and follows the life of Rosa Burger, the title character, as she comes to terms with her father Lionel Burger's legacy as an activist in the South African Communist Party (SACP). The perspective shifts between Rosa's internal monologue (often directed towards her father or her lover Conrad), and the omniscient narrator. The novel is rooted in the history of the anti-apartheid struggle and references actual events and people from that period, including Nelson Mandela and the 1976 Soweto uprising. Gordimer herself was involved in South African struggle politics, and she knew many of the activists, including Bram Fischer, Mandela's treason trial defence lawyer. She modelled the Burger family in the novel loosely on Fischer's family, and described Burger's Daughter as "a coded homage" to Fischer. While banned in South Africa, a copy of the book was smuggled into Mandela's prison cell on Robben Island, and he reported that he "thought well of it". The novel was generally well received by critics. A reviewer for The New York Times said that Burger's Daughter is Gordimer's "most political and most moving novel", and a review in The New York Review of Books described the style of writing as "elegant", "fastidious" and belonging to a "cultivated upper class". A critic in The Hudson Review had mixed feelings about the book, saying that it "gives scarcely any pleasure in the reading but which one is pleased to have read nonetheless". Burger's Daughter won the Central News Agency Literary Award in 1980.
Infobox
Author
Nadine Gordimer
Cover artist
Craig Dodd
Language
English
Genres
Historical novel, political novel
Publisher
Jonathan Cape (UK)Viking (US)
Publication date
June 1979 (UK)October 1979 (US)
Publication place
United Kingdom
Media type
Print, ebook and audio
Pages
364 (hardcover)
Award
Central News Agency Literary Award
ISBN
mw- body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) } }978-0-224-01690-2
OCLC
5834280
Tables
· Publication history
1979
1979
Year first published
1979
Language
Danish
Title
Burgers datter
Translator(s)
Finn Holten Hansen
Publisher
Gyldendal (Copenhagen)
1979
1979
Year first published
1979
Language
German
Title
Burgers Tochter
Translator(s)
Margaret Carroux
Publisher
S. Fischer Verlag (Frankfurt)
1979
1979
Year first published
1979
Language
Hebrew
Title
Bito shel burger
Publisher
Am Oved (Tel-Aviv)
1979
1979
Year first published
1979
Language
Italian
Title
La figlia di Burger
Translator(s)
Ettore Capriolo
Publisher
Mondadori (Milan)
1979
1979
Year first published
1979
Language
Norwegian
Title
Burgers datter
Translator(s)
Ingebjørg Nesheim
Publisher
Gyldendal Norsk Forlag (Oslo)
1980
1980
Year first published
1980
Language
Finnish
Title
Burgerin tytär
Translator(s)
Seppo Loponen; Juha Vakkuri
Publisher
Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö (Helsinki)
1980
1980
Year first published
1980
Language
Swedish
Title
Burgers dotter
Translator(s)
Annika Preis
Publisher
Bonnier (Stockholm)
1982
1982
Year first published
1982
Language
Dutch
Title
Burger's dochter
Translator(s)
Dorinde van Oort
Publisher
Arbeiderspers (Amsterdam)
1982
1982
Year first published
1982
Language
French
Title
La fille de Burger
Translator(s)
Guy Durand
Publisher
Albin Michel (Paris)
1985
1985
Year first published
1985
Language
Greek
Title
Hē korē tou Mpertzer
Translator(s)
A Dēmētriadēs; B Trapalēs; Soula Papaïōannou
Publisher
Ekdoseis Odysseas (Athens)
1986
1986
Year first published
1986
Language
Catalan
Title
La filla de Burger
Translator(s)
Mercè López Arnabat
Publisher
Edicions 62 (Barcelona)
1986
1986
Year first published
1986
Language
Spanish
Title
La hija de Burger
Translator(s)
Iris Menéndez
Publisher
Tusquets (Barcelona)
1987
1987
Year first published
1987
Language
Slovenian
Title
Burgerjeva hči
Translator(s)
Janko Moder
Publisher
Založba Orzorja (Maribor)
1992
1992
Year first published
1992
Language
Arabic
Title
Ibnat Bīrgir
Publisher
Dār al-Hilāl (Cairo)
1992
1992
Year first published
1992
Language
Portuguese
Title
A filha de Burger
Translator(s)
J Teixeira de Aguilar
Publisher
Edições ASA (Lisbon)
1996
1996
Year first published
1996
Language
Japanese
Title
Bāgā no musume
Translator(s)
Fujio Fukushima
Publisher
Misuzushobō (Tokyo)
2008
2008
Year first published
2008
Language
Polish
Title
Córka Burgera
Translator(s)
Paweł Cichawa
Publisher
Wydawnictwo Sonia Draga (Katowice)
| Year first published | Language | Title | Translator(s) | Publisher |
| 1979 | Danish | Burgers datter | Finn Holten Hansen | Gyldendal (Copenhagen) |
| 1979 | German | Burgers Tochter | Margaret Carroux | S. Fischer Verlag (Frankfurt) |
| 1979 | Hebrew | Bito shel burger | Am Oved (Tel-Aviv) | |
| 1979 | Italian | La figlia di Burger | Ettore Capriolo | Mondadori (Milan) |
| 1979 | Norwegian | Burgers datter | Ingebjørg Nesheim | Gyldendal Norsk Forlag (Oslo) |
| 1980 | Finnish | Burgerin tytär | Seppo Loponen; Juha Vakkuri | Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö (Helsinki) |
| 1980 | Swedish | Burgers dotter | Annika Preis | Bonnier (Stockholm) |
| 1982 | Dutch | Burger's dochter | Dorinde van Oort | Arbeiderspers (Amsterdam) |
| 1982 | French | La fille de Burger | Guy Durand | Albin Michel (Paris) |
| 1985 | Greek | Hē korē tou Mpertzer | A Dēmētriadēs; B Trapalēs; Soula Papaïōannou | Ekdoseis Odysseas (Athens) |
| 1986 | Catalan | La filla de Burger | Mercè López Arnabat | Edicions 62 (Barcelona) |
| 1986 | Spanish | La hija de Burger | Iris Menéndez | Tusquets (Barcelona) |
| 1987 | Slovenian | Burgerjeva hči | Janko Moder | Založba Orzorja (Maribor) |
| 1992 | Arabic | Ibnat Bīrgir | Dār al-Hilāl (Cairo) | |
| 1992 | Portuguese | A filha de Burger | J Teixeira de Aguilar | Edições ASA (Lisbon) |
| 1996 | Japanese | Bāgā no musume | Fujio Fukushima | Misuzushobō (Tokyo) |
| 2008 | Polish | Córka Burgera | Paweł Cichawa | Wydawnictwo Sonia Draga (Katowice) |
References
- Rosa's full name is Rosa Marie Burger, which comes from Rosa Luxemburg, the revolutionary socialist, and Rosa's grandmot
- In South Africa, as a sign of respect and affection, Nelson Mandela is referred to by many as the "Father of the Nation"
- FantasticFictionhttps://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/nadine-gordimer/burgers-daughter.htm
- nobelprize.orghttps://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1991/gordimer-article.html
- Novel Rightshttps://web.archive.org/web/20140309021145/http://novelrights.com/2011/07/12/nadine-gordimers-key-note-speech-amnesty-international-ambassador-of-conscience-award-nelson-mandela/
- The New York Timeshttps://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/01/home/gordimer-daughter.html?_r=1
- The New York Review of Bookshttp://www.nybooks.com/articles/1979/10/25/waiting-for-revolution/
- The Hudson Reviewhttps://doi.org/10.2307%2F3850722
- Colloquia Humanisticahttps://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=739975
- World Literature and Its Times: Profiles of Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influenced Themhttps://archive.org/details/isbn_9780787637293
- Gardner 1990, p. 161.
- Marsh-Lockett 2012, p. 193.
- University of the Witwatersrand School of Lawhttps://web.archive.org/web/20120603231321/http://www.wits.ac.za/academic/clm/law/bramfischervisitingscholarsprogramme/10981/background%3A_bram_fischer.html
- Academy of Achievementhttps://web.archive.org/web/20161109104825/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/gor1int-1
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/oct/27/fiction.artsandhumanities
- De Lange 1997, p. 82.
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- Mail & Guardianhttps://mg.co.za/article/2014-07-17-at-home-with-nadine-gordimer-a-very-private-individual
- De Lange 1997, p. 83.
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- Gordimer 1979, pp. 346–347.
- Academy of Achievementhttps://web.archive.org/web/20161013121924/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/gor1int-5
- Gordimer 1979, p. 9.
- Cooke 2003, p. 84.
- The Paris Reviewhttps://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3060/nadine-gordimer-the-art-of-fiction-no-77-nadine-gordimer
- Indiana Gazettehttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/11460381/nadine_gordimer/
- Gray 1990, p. 182.
- Gardner 1990, p. 168.
- The New York Timeshttps://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/01/home/gordimer-authoress.html
- Karolides 2006, p. 72.
- BBC Newshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22052593
- Research in African Literatureshttps://www.jstor.org/stable/3818653
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/books/review/Kirsch-t.html
- Academy of Achievementhttps://web.archive.org/web/20161113013031/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/gor1bio-1
- Nelson Mandela Archiveshttps://artsandculture.google.com/asset/inscription-burger-s-daughter/JgFQFzOUZXUJTQ?childAssetId=EAFlJV4lDbgd2g
- Gray 1990, p. 177.
- World Literature Todayhttps://doi.org/10.2307%2F40135909
- All editions for Burger's Daughterhttps://search.worldcat.org/oclc/5834280
- Gordimer 1979, p. 16.
- Gray 1990, p. 178.
- Emory Universityhttp://news.emory.edu/stories/2012/12/er_new_english_dept_hires/campus.html
- JanMohamed 1983, p. 128.
- Journal of Modern Literaturehttps://www.jstor.org/stable/3831565
- JanMohamed 1983, pp. 127–128.
- Gardner 1990, pp. 170–171.
- Visel 1987, p. 182.
- Kacandes 2001, p. 103.
- Kacandes 2001, p. 97.
- Kacandes 2001, p. 104.
- Gordimer 1979, p. 41.
- Visel 1987, pp. 180–181.
- Juraga & Booker 2002, p. 18.
- Boyers 1984, p. 65.
- Boyers 1984, p. 67.
- Yelin 1998, pp. 126–127.
- Visel 1987, pp. 200–201.
- Head 1994, p. 15.
- Visel 1987, p. 179.
- Marsh-Lockett 2012, p. 192.
- Gardner 2003, p. 177.
- Gardner 2003, p. 173.
- Gardner 2003, p. 181.
- Gordimer 1979, p. 12.
- Yelin 1991, p. 222.
- Gardner 1990, p. 170.
- The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in Englishhttps://www.credoreference.com/entry/camgwwie/burger_s_daughter_1979
- JanMohamed 1983, pp. 126–127.
- Gordimer 1979, p. 135.
- JanMohamed 1983, p. 132.
- Gordimer 1979, p. 264.
- Visel 1987, p. 186.
- Cooke 2003, p. 91.
- The Nationhttps://web.archive.org/web/20170422035053/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9159070.html
- Yelin 1998, p. 111.
- Clingman 1993, pp. 7, 170.
- Gordimer 1980, p. 20.
- Boyers 1984, p. 66.
- Chambers Dictionary of Literary Charactershttps://www.credoreference.com/entry/chamblc/burger_rosa
- New Internationalisthttps://newint.org/features/1989/11/05/reviews/
- The New York Times Book Review
- Burger's Daughterhttps://doi.org/10.2307%2F40137154
- The Sewanee Reviewhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/27543883
- Marsh-Lockett 2012, p. 197.
- nobelprize.orghttps://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1991/press.html
- nobelprize.orghttps://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1991/presentation-speech.html
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/jan/12/bestbooks.fiction
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/15/nadine-gordimer-five-must-read-books-nobel-laureate-death-90
- Timehttps://time.com/2981753/nadine-gordimer-5-essential-reads-from-the-award-winning-author/
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/14/neel-mukherjee-top-10-books-about-revolutionaries