''A Seventh Man'' is a book, in the form of photography and text by
John Berger
John Peter Berger (; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism ''Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to the ...
and
Jean Mohr, on
migrant worker
A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant worker ...
s in Europe. It was first published in 1975.
In 1972, Berger's novel
''G.'', a romantic
picaresque
The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for " rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...
set in the Europe of 1898, won both the
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...
and the
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
in 1972. When accepting the Booker award Berger made a point of donating half his cash prize to the
British Black Panthers
The British Black Panthers (BBP) or the British Black Panther movement (BPM) was a Black Power organisation in the United Kingdom that fought for the rights of black people and racial minorities in the country. The BBP were inspired by the US ...
(inspired by but unaffiliated with the American organization), and retaining half to support his work on the study of migrant workers that became ''A Seventh Man'', insisting on both as necessary parts of his political struggle.
The book has been cited by
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n musician
Johnny Clegg
Jonathan Paul Clegg, (7 June 195316 July 2019) was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work was in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African people ...
as a key influence on his debut album ''
Universal Men
''Universal Men'' is the debut album from Juluka, a South African band led by Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu. It was first released in 1979 and has acquired the status of a classic album in the history of South African music.
The album explores t ...
''.
External links
Extract from 'A Seventh Man'published in ''
Race & Class
''Race & Class'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal on contemporary racism and imperialism. It is published quarterly by Sage Publications on behalf of the Institute of Race Relations and is interdisciplinary, publishing material across the human ...
'', 1975
Footnotes
1975 non-fiction books
Photographic collections and books
Sociology books
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