Leon de Kock is Senior Research Associate in the Department of English at the University of Johannesburg. He is a poet, translator, essayist, and occasional writer of fiction. His writing includes the novel, Bad Sex (2011); three volumes of poetry: Bloodsong (1997), Gone to the Edges (2006), Bodyhood (2010); several works of literary translation, and academic books.

• Introduction: 1 From the Subject of Evil to the Evil Subject: 'Cultural Difference' in Postapartheid South African Crime Fiction; 2 Freedom on a Frontier? The Double Bind of (White) Postapartheid South African Literature; 3 The 'Transitional' Calm Before the Postapartheid Storm; 4 Biopsies on the Body of the 'New' South Africa; 5 Referred Pain, Wound Culture and Pathology in Postapartheid South African Writing; 6 Fiction's Retort; Endnotes; Works Cited.

"De Kock has a strong story to tell about writing in the postapartheid era and, more especially, the 'post-postapartheid' era, the period in which the high expectations of 1994 and the golden era of the Mandela presidency turned sour. It is detailed, lively, and full of sharp observation." - Derek Attrridge, professor of English, University of York and co-editor of the Cambridge History of South African Literature. "De Kock is concerned both with drawing lines of continuity and mapping trajectories of difference between apartheid and postapartheid fiction ... the intervention Losing the Plot makes in the field of South African literary and cultural studies is substantial." - Harry Garuba, author, poet and associate professor at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town.

Leon de Kock is Senior Research Associate in the Department of English at the University of Johannesburg. He is a poet, translator, essayist, and occasional writer of fiction. His writing includes the novel, Bad Sex (2011); three volumes of poetry: Bloodsong (1997), Gone to the Edges (2006), Bodyhood (2010); several works of literary translation, and academic books.

• Introduction: 1 From the Subject of Evil to the Evil Subject: 'Cultural Difference' in Postapartheid South African Crime Fiction; 2 Freedom on a Frontier? The Double Bind of (White) Postapartheid South African Literature; 3 The 'Transitional' Calm Before the Postapartheid Storm; 4 Biopsies on the Body of the 'New' South Africa; 5 Referred Pain, Wound Culture and Pathology in Postapartheid South African Writing; 6 Fiction's Retort; Endnotes; Works Cited.

"De Kock has a strong story to tell about writing in the postapartheid era and, more especially, the 'post-postapartheid' era, the period in which the high expectations of 1994 and the golden era of the Mandela presidency turned sour. It is detailed, lively, and full of sharp observation." - Derek Attrridge, professor of English, University of York and co-editor of the Cambridge History of South African Literature. "De Kock is concerned both with drawing lines of continuity and mapping trajectories of difference between apartheid and postapartheid fiction ... the intervention Losing the Plot makes in the field of South African literary and cultural studies is substantial." - Harry Garuba, author, poet and associate professor at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town.

Leon de Kock is Senior Research Associate in the Department of English at the University of Johannesburg. He is a poet, translator, essayist, and occasional writer of fiction. His writing includes the novel, Bad Sex (2011); three volumes of poetry: Bloodsong (1997), Gone to the Edges (2006), Bodyhood (2010); several works of literary translation, and academic books.

• Introduction: 1 From the Subject of Evil to the Evil Subject: 'Cultural Difference' in Postapartheid South African Crime Fiction; 2 Freedom on a Frontier? The Double Bind of (White) Postapartheid South African Literature; 3 The 'Transitional' Calm Before the Postapartheid Storm; 4 Biopsies on the Body of the 'New' South Africa; 5 Referred Pain, Wound Culture and Pathology in Postapartheid South African Writing; 6 Fiction's Retort; Endnotes; Works Cited.

"De Kock has a strong story to tell about writing in the postapartheid era and, more especially, the 'post-postapartheid' era, the period in which the high expectations of 1994 and the golden era of the Mandela presidency turned sour. It is detailed, lively, and full of sharp observation." - Derek Attrridge, professor of English, University of York and co-editor of the Cambridge History of South African Literature. "De Kock is concerned both with drawing lines of continuity and mapping trajectories of difference between apartheid and postapartheid fiction ... the intervention Losing the Plot makes in the field of South African literary and cultural studies is substantial." - Harry Garuba, author, poet and associate professor at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town.