About our Researchers

Coplen Rose

J. Coplen Rose teaches at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. He holds a Ph.D. In English and Film Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University. Dr. Rose’s research interests focus on postcolonial South African drama, science fiction, humour, and geography. His projects predominantly focus on how post-apartheid drama explores crises in the new South African state, particularly in works from playwrights Ashwin Singh, Pieter-Dirk Uys, and Fatima Dike. His current research project explores the impact of apartheid-era policies and infrastructure on contemporary urban and rural landscapes in South Africa. Dr. Rose is interested in mapping how apartheid-era policies governing mining and civil infrastructure projects in the past continue to impact people’s livelihoods and everyday experiences in the present. Focusing on recent playwrights’ works that foreground and critique the crises extending from this historical violence, this project explores ways that contemporary South African theatre continues to operate as a tool for resisting colonialism in the decolonial moment. Dr. Rose also serves as the Early Career Representative on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies. 

Publications

Chapters
“From Rockets to Robots: The Function of Science Fiction Icons in Ashwin Singh’s Duped.” Durban Dialogues Dissected. Ed. Felicity Hand. Durban: African Sun Media, pp. 57-73, 2021.
https://www.academia.edu/45080187/DURBAN_DIALOGUES_DISSECTED

“The Limits of Unity in Ashwin Singh’s To House: Food, South African Indian Ethnicity, and Drama from Durban.” Relations and Networks in South African Indian Writing. Ed. Felicity Hand & Esther Pujolràs-Noguer. Amsterdam: Rodopi, pp. 153-177, 2018. https://brill.com/display/title/36510?language=en

Refereed Journal Articles
“Humour and Healing in Lara Foot Newton’s Reach.” Postcolonial Literatures and Arts, Vol. 4, No. 1, np, 2026. https://journals.openedition.org/pla/4709
“Kaleidoscopic Visions of South Africa: A Study of State and Station in Imraan Coovadia’s Tales of the Metric System.” Kritika Kultura, Vol. 41, pp. 229-250. 2023. https://ajol.ateneo.edu/kk/articles/577/7550
“Uncovering a Love of Self: Individuality and Coloured Identity in Ntokozo Madlala and Mandisa Haarhoff’s Crush-hopper.” Postcolonial Text, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 1-21, 2018. https://www.postcolonial.org/index.php/pct/article/view/2197
“Acting Out of Discontent: Satire, Shakespeare, and South African Politics in Pieter-Dirk Uys’s MacBeki: A Farce to be Reckoned With and The Merry Wives of Zuma.” Shakespeare en devenir – Anniversary Issue on Shakespeare and Africa. Vol. 12, np, 2017. https://shakespeare.edel.univ-poitiers.fr/index.php?id=1105
“Rethinking Motherhood Beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Anger and Healing in Fatima Dike’s The Return.” The International Journal of Diverse Identities. Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 11-24, 2017. DOI:10.18848/2327-7866/CGP/v17i02/11-24