Welcome to the University of Texas at Austin, to our Symposium on Contemporary South African Literature and the Inaugural Conference of the African Literature Association. It is my pleasant duty to welcome you on behalf of our Working Committee and our numerous sponsoring bodies, particularly the African and Afro-American Studies and Research Center. I hope you will have a pleasant stay, and that you will forgive any defects in the arrangements.

I would especially welcome our Speakers and Respondents; many of them agreed to come here at considerable sacrifice, and we are deeply grateful to them.