The Lion on the Freeway is a thematic introduction to post-1950 South African English literature. After examining the nation's political history and four earlier landmark works, the study examines the oppressed peoples' «moods», ranging from loving to attacking, the oppressors' «attitudes», ranging from ignorance to action, and the contradictory forecasts the literature offers for South Africa. The study scrutinizes works in numerous genres by thirty-one authors (8 white, 23 non-white). Among them are J.M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Dennis Brutus, Bessie Head, Mazisi Kunene, Oswald Mtshali, and Mongane Wally Serote.