DOCSLIB.ORG

Die Literêre Biografie

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Die Literêre Biografie University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser DIE LITERÊRE BIOGRAFIE - ‘N TERREINVERKENNING DEUR ABRAHAM CHRISTOFFEL PELSER VERHANDELING VOORGELÊ TER VERVULLING VAN DIE VEREISTES VIR DIE GRAAD MAGISTER ARTIUM IN AFRIKAANS IN DIE FAKULTEIT GEESTESWETENSKAPPE AAN DIE UNIVERSITEIT VAN PRETORIA STUDIELEIER: PROF. P.H. ROODT JUNIE 2001 University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser Vir my pa (in memoriam) en vir my ma en vir Marié University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser Geldelike bystand van die National Research Foundation (NRF) word hiermee erken. Menings wat uitgespreek of gevolgtrekkings waartoe geraak is, is dié van die skrywer en moet in geen geval beskou word as ‘n weergawe van die menings of gevolgtrekkings van die National Research Foundation nie. Hierdie studie is verder moontlik gemaak deur die toekenning van ‘n nagraadse studiebeurs deur die Universiteit van Pretoria. Eweneens moet menings in hierdie werk uitgespreek of gevolgtrekkings waartoe geraak is, as dié van die skrywer beskou word en nie aan die Universiteit van Pretoria toegeskryf word nie. University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser BEDANKINGS Ek wil graag die volgende persone en instansies bedank vir die bydrae wat hulle gelewer het om hierdie studie moontlik te maak: My studieleier, prof. P.H. Roodt, wat my op geduldige en bekwame wyse in hierdie studie gelei het en deurgaans ‘n inspirerende gespreksgenoot was. My vrou, Marié Blomerus, wat deur die manuskrip gewerk en waardevolle hulp in verband daar- mee verleen het. Mevv. Leana Lategan en Erika Terblanche van die Nasionale Afrikaanse Letterkundige Museum en Navorsingsentrum in Bloemfontein (NALN), wat talle fotokopieë van boekresensies, artikels en ander navorsingsmateriaal gratis aan my voorsien het. Proff. V.E. d’Assonville en J.C. Steyn, mnr. Leon Rousseau en dr. J.C. Kannemeyer, met wie ek by verskeie geleenthede persoonlik, telefonies of by wyse van korrespondensie oor hul werk kon gesels het. University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man - the biography of the man himself cannot be written. MARK TWAIN University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser INHOUD HOOFSTUK EEN NAVORSINGSONTWERP 1.1_ Inleiding 1 1.2_ Probleemstelling 3 1.3_ Doelformulering en terreinafbakening 4 1.4_ Aktualiteit 6 1.5_ Hipoteses 7 1.6_ Navorsingsontplooiing 7 Aantekeninge 9 HOOFSTUK TWEE DIE TEORIE VAN BIOGRAFIESE GESKIEDSKRYWING 2.1 Inleiding en definisies 10 2.2 Kenmerke van die biografie 12 2.3 Struktuur van die biografie 15 2.4 Probleme van ‘n biograaf 28 Aantekeninge 32 HOOFSTUK DRIE DIE GESKIEDENIS VAN BIOGRAFIESE GESKIEDSKRYWING 3.1 Vroegste vorme van biografiese geskiedskrywing 33 3.2 Die Griekse en Romeinse beskawings 33 3.3 Die Middeleeue en Renaissance 38 3.4 Die sestiende eeu 39 3.5 Die sewentiende eeu 40 3.6 Die agtiende eeu 43 3.7 Die negentiende eeu 48 i University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser 3.8 Die twintigste eeu 50 3.9 Biografiese geskiedskrywing in die VSA 53 Aantekeninge 56 HOOFSTUK VIER ‘N SUID-AFRIKAANSE PERSPEKTIEF 4.1 Biografiese geskiedskrywing in Suid-Afrika 57 4.2 Literêre biografieë in Afrikaans: ‘n inleiding en Totius se Ds. S.J. du Toit in weg en werk 58 4.3 Die werk van Leon Rousseau 63 4.3.1 Die groot verlange 64 4.4 Die werk van V.E. d’Assonville 74 4.4.1 Totius - profeet van die Mooirivier 75 4.4.2 Dit is Totius 77 4.4.3 SJ du Toit van die Paarl (1847-1911) 83 4.5 Die werk van J.C. Kannemeyer 89 4.5.1 D.J. Opperman: ‘n Biografie 90 4.5.2 Die dokumente van Dertig 104 4.5.3 Die rym neem ook ‘n hele lewe in beslag 106 4.5.4 Wat het geword van Peter Blum 107 4.5.5 Langenhoven: ‘n Lewe 115 4.5.6 Leipoldt: ‘n Lewensverhaal 130 4.6 Die werk van J.C. Steyn 140 4.6.1 Van Wyk Louw: ‘n Lewensverhaal 141 Aantekeninge 167 HOOFSTUK VYF SLOTBESKOUING 5.1 Inleiding en toets van hipoteses 174 5.2 Voorstelle vir verdere navorsing 176 Aantekeninge 177 ii University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser BIBLIOGRAFIE 180 OPSOMMING 187 SUMMARY 189 iii University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser HOOFSTUK EEN NAVORSINGSONTWERP 1.1_ INLEIDING Dit is betreurenswaardig dat die literêre biografie en die oeuvrestudie oor ‘n bepaalde skrywer voor die middel-tagtigerjare van die vorige eeu nie juis in Suid-Afrika beoefen is nie. Kannemeyer (1996:6) wys daarop dat van die skrywers wat voor 1930 hul verskyning gemaak het en wie se volledige werk en dokumente dus lankal reeds tot die beskikking van navorsers is, slegs Eugène N. Marais en J. van Melle in die standaardwerke van Leon Rousseau en W.F. Jonckheere onderskeidelik studies van dié aard kon uitlok.1 Die werk en lewe van Jan F. E. Celliers, C. Louis Leipoldt,2 J.R.L. van Bruggen, G.S. Preller, D.F. Malherbe, I.D. du Plessis en C.M. van den Heever wag nog om op dié wyse bestudeer te word. Ook in Nederland is daar ‘n agterstand ten opsigte van “skrywersbiografieë”3 en lê die veld grootliks braak. Die enkele vroeë voorbeelde is hoofsaaklik beperk tot Hazeu oor Achterberg en Fontijn oor Van Eeden, hoewel die teoretisering van die afgelope jare daarop dui dat Neerlandici bekommerd is oor hierdie agterstand en dit graag wil uitwis (Kannemeyer, 1995d:1). Kannemeyer (1995d:4-9) sonder veral vier redes uit vir die biografiese agterstand in Afrikaans. In die eerste plek is daar eers sedert die vyftigerjare van die vorige eeu deur die dood van outeurs dokumente beskikbaar waaroor dit literêr die moeite werd is om navorsing te doen (Kannemeyer, 1995d:4). Van vroeë gestorwe figure, soos S.J. du Toit en Jan F.E. Celliers, was die dokumentasie ontoereikend; eers later beskikbaar, soos in die geval van C.J. Langenhoven; of van literêr minder prominente figure. Verder het die beskikbaarstelling van die eerste dokumente wat tot skrywersbiografieë kon lei, in Suid-Afrika saamgeval met die naoorlogse invloed van literêre teoretici wat hulle in ‘n hoë mate op die enkele teks gerig het, met die uitsluiting van enige aandag aan die outeur, die genese van die kunswerk en die wyse waarop dit die leser beïnvloed (Kannemeyer, 1995d:4-5). Dit is veral die Amerikaanse New Criticism, die “close readers”, die Chicago School en ‘n handleiding soos Warren & Wellek se Theory of Literature wat ‘n groot invloed op letterkundiges uitgeoefen het. Die Amerikaanse New Critics neem die standpunt in dat die leser hom slegs moet bemoei met die tekstuur en struktuur van die teks, en nie met die persoonlike agtergrond waaruit dit voortkom nie. Enige poging om die lewe van die skepper in sy werk in te lees of ‘n regstreekse verband tussen 1 University of Pretoria etd - A C Pelser biografiese besonderhede en die kunswerk te trek, lei volgens hulle tot ‘n “biographical fallacy” wat die kritikus weglei van die eintlike objek van studie. In Afrikaans het die ouer impressionistiese, historiese en biografiese benaderingswyses plek gemaak vir ‘n haas uitsluitlike teksgerigtheid. ‘n Besondere benaderingswyse in die vyftigerjare van die vorige eeu was die stilistiek op linguistiese grondslag, ontwerp deur die Amsterdamse taalkundige W. Gs. Hellinga met H. van der Merwe Scholtz as eerste Afrikaanse eksponent: ‘n metode om taalwaardes in ‘n bepaalde taalgebruiksgeval te ondersoek in hul betrokkenheid op daardie bepaalde geval, met ignorering van die maker en die leser van die beson-dere taalsituasie. Dit is, in die derde plek, egter veral die siening van N.P. van Wyk Louw wat in sy reeks artikels “Die ‘mens’ agter die boek (1952, 1956 en daarna weer in 1958 in boekvorm) tot die konklusie kom dat alles wat ‘n kritikus uit ‘n kunswerk oor die skepper aflei, op blote vermoedens en gissings berus (Kannemeyer, 1995d:5). Die mens agter ‘n werk, skryf Louw (1986:253-300), “is nie met enige mate van sekerheid uit te ken nie”; “’n kunswerk kan nie ‘verklaar’ word uit enigiets behalwe sy eie struktuur nie”; en “die biografiese feit kan nooit ‘n rol speel by die eerste groot taak van die literatuurbeskouing nie: die be- gryp van die werk as estetiese geheel”. Kannemeyer (1995d:5) meen dat die publikasie van “Die ‘mens’ agter die boek” ‘n groot invloed op die hele literêr-kritiese bedryf in Suid-Afrika gehad het. “Sedert die verskyning daarvan was bio- grafiese belangstelling in ‘n groot mate uit die bose en het die meeste kritici dit vermy om in hulle analises van werke enige lewensbesonderhede van skrywers te betrek. Ek meen Van Wyk Louw se uitsprake [...] het regstreeks daartoe gelei dat oorsigtelike studies oor oeuvres in die vyftiger- en ses- tigerjare by ons ‘n seldsame verskynsel was, ook in gevalle waar ‘n mens deur die dood van ‘n skry- wer met ‘n afgehandelde oeuvre te make het en ‘n omvattende ondersoek derhalwe ‘n ideale terrein vir navorsing was. Ek meen ook dat dié reeks artikels [...] die skuld moet dra vir die klein aantal le- wensgeskiedenisse wat ons in Afrikaans in vergelyking met die Engelse wêreld het. Biografiese ondersoeke was nou eenmaal in onguns ná ‘Die “mens” agter die boek’ en die toespitsing op die en- kele teks die enigste suiwer teoretiese instelling wat ‘n literator mag hê.” In die laaste plek was daar dikwels ‘n weerstand teen ‘n biografie by skrywers (Kannemeyer, 1995d:6-9). Hy verwys veral na C.J. Langenhoven, wat testamentêr bepaal het dat sy nasate “geen hulp of inligting hoegenaamd [...] aan biograwe [sal] verskaf [...] nie,4 en na Elisabeth Eybers wat dit in 1949 tydens ‘n radiopraatjie het oor die vir haar sinnelose bedryf om ‘n outobiografiese herkoms in ‘n gedig te probeer agterhaal.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE SHAPING of SOUTH AFRICAN THEATRE: an OVERVIEW of MAJOR TRENDS by Temple Hauptfleisch 1. INTRODUCTION: CHANGED CONCEPTS of H
    In: Arndt and Berndt. Words and Worlds. African Writing, Literature, and Society – A Commemorative Publication in Honor of Eckhard Breitinger. Africa World Press, 2007. This is an expanded version of the German article called “Sudafrikanisches Theater – Entwicklungen und Strömungenvon Vergangenehit bis Gegenwart”. In Kreatives Afrika. Schriftstellerinnen über Literatur. Theater und Gesselschaft. Einer Festschrift für Eckhard Breitinger (Hrsg. Susan Arndt und Katrin Brendt). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag, 2005 THE SHAPING OF SOUTH AFRICAN THEATRE: AN OVERVIEW OF MAJOR TRENDS By Temple Hauptfleisch University of Stellenbosch South Africa 1. INTRODUCTION: CHANGED CONCEPTS OF HISTORY The radical changes in political, social and cultural thinking in the world, and in Africa in particular, over the past twenty years have significantly affected concepts of historiography and have caused major re-evaluations of accepted histories across the world. This sense of (re)discovery has had a similar impact on the cultural history of South Africa. It has meant rediscovering lost (or discovering new) facts, redefining principles of historiography, reinterpreting the old, and ultimately seeking to write a new history. The most fundamental issue of course is to discover and learn to deal with fact and (real and potential) influence of the vast treasure-trove of events and artefacts produced before and during the colonised period, but ignored, denied or undervalued by commentators in the past. This situation, the processes involved and the causes for it all, are not unique to, or in any way limited to, South Africa of course, as the history of any former colony will testify. However the political history of Southern Africa the country has so entrenched a specific way of thinking that any wider awareness of tradition and cultural riches encompassing anything more than purely colonial values was virtually impossible till very late in the 20th century, except as a radical, oppositional, esoteric, or possibly even eccentric, area of study and contemplation.
    [Show full text]
  • 75 Jaar Van Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde Jan Stander Is ’N – ’N Voorlopige Verkenning Nagraadse Student in Die Departement Afrikaans, Universiteit Van Pretoria
    Jan Stander 75 jaar van Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Jan Stander is ’n – ’n voorlopige verkenning nagraadse student in die Departement Afrikaans, Universiteit van Pretoria. E-pos: [email protected] 75 years of Tydskrif vir Letterkunde – a provisional exploration Tydskrif vir Letterkunde was founded in 1936 as the Jaarboek van die Afrikaanse Skrywerskring (Yearbook of the Afrikaans Writers’ Circle). This article explores the history of the Skrywerskring and its journal, particularly its establishment and early history, as well as its surrounding political and literary environment. Primary research for this study was undertaken in the archives of the National Afrikaans Literary Museum and Research Centre in Bloemfontein and the documentary holdings on the Afrikaanse Skrywerskring at the Universities of Stellenbosch and South Africa. In this study, particular attention is paid to the so-called North-South divide in Afrikaans literature, the political milieu, the writers’ organisation’s attitude to censorship, its withdrawal from PEN International and lastly, a brief overview of the role of its six editors since 1936. In its initial years the Skrywerskring demonstrated a proximity to the political powers of the day, suggesting a lack of critical distance. With the demise of the Skrywerskring during the last decade of the 20th century the journal almost floundered. Since 2003 the journal was fundamentally repositioned to reflect not only Afrikaans Literature but also literatures from the rest of the African continent and African diaspora. Key words: Afrikaans Literature, Afrikaans Skrywerskring (Afrikaans Writers’ Circle), history of a literary journal, literary history, literary society. Inleiding 75 jaar gelede, in 1936, is Die Afrikaanse Boek, die lyfblad van die Afrikaanse Skrywers- vereniging wat in Johannesburg ontstaan het, opgerig.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Bronnegids by Die Studie Van Die Afrikaanse Letterkunde, Taal
    Bronnegids by die studie van die Afrikaanse letterkunde, taal en kultuur, 1987, Ena Van der Walt, T. Toerien, Nasionale Afrikaanse Letterkundige Museum en Navorsingsentrum, G. Stroebel, Naln, 1988, 0947023631, 9780947023638, . DOWNLOAD HERE Die blink uur van mooi dinge М•n huldiging van Alba Bouwer, Alba Bouwer, Thomas Van der Walt, 1995, 20th century, 212 pages. Some sestigers Chris Barnard, Breyten Breytenbach, Abraham de Vries, Jan Rabie, Bartho Smit, Dolf van Niekerk, Marianne Nicoline Van Erdelen, 1970, Literary Criticism, 57 pages. Bronnegids by die studie van die Afrikaanse taal en letterkunde ..., Volume 4 nuwe reeks, Esther Joubert, Petrus Johannes Nienaber, 1972, Literary Criticism, . LiterГЄre polemieke 1919-1959 , Merle Davies, 1966, , 62 pages. Groot trek honderd-en-vyftig , G. D. J. Duvenage, 1994, History, 220 pages. Kaapstad: Webster's Timeline History: 1804 - 2007 , , , , . Kaapse Bibliotekaris, Volume 25 , , 1981, Language Arts & Disciplines, . Issues for Nov. 1957- include section: Accessions. Aanwinste, Sept. 1957-. Afrikaans: Webster's Timeline History 1710 - 2007 , , , , . Deur: Webster's Timeline History 1547 - 2007 , , , , . Tydskrif vir volkskunde en volkstaal, Volumes 43-44 , , 1987, Fiction, . Bronnegids by die studie van die Afrikaanse taal en letterkunde , , 1947, Afrikaans philology, . Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Bibliografie , , 1985, History, . Vols. for 1959-65: "Publications received in terms of Copyright Act No. 9 of 1916 during the year ..." Vols. for 1966-76: Publications received in terms of the Copyright Act .... Afrikaanse boekweek Onder beskerming van die Pretoriase kultuurraad, en die Universiteit van Pretoria. Katalogus van boeke. Tentoongestel vanaf 17 tot 27 junie 1936 in die Pretoriussaal, Pretoria. Omhelsende 1. Afrikaanse letterkundige en ander werke, saamgestel deur P.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Sounding the Cape, Music, Identity and Politics in South Africa Denis-Constant Martin
    Sounding the Cape, Music, Identity and Politics in South Africa Denis-Constant Martin To cite this version: Denis-Constant Martin. Sounding the Cape, Music, Identity and Politics in South Africa. African Minds, Somerset West, pp.472, 2013, 9781920489823. halshs-00875502 HAL Id: halshs-00875502 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00875502 Submitted on 25 May 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Sounding the Cape Music, Identity and Politics in South Africa Denis-Constant Martin AFRICAN MINDS Published by African Minds 4 Eccleston Place, Somerset West, 7130, South Africa [email protected] www.africanminds.co.za 2013 African Minds ISBN: 978-1-920489-82-3 The text publication is available as a PDF on www.africanminds.co.za and other websites under a Creative Commons licence that allows copying and distributing the publication, as long as it is attributed to African Minds and used for noncommercial, educational or public policy purposes. The illustrations are subject to copyright as indicated below. Photograph page iv © Denis-Constant
    [Show full text]
  • A New Translation of Sewe Dae by Die Silbersteins, And
    WELGEVONDEN REVISITED: A NEW TRANSLATION OF SEWE DAE BY DIE SILBERSTEINS, AND ITS LITERARY-CRITICAL RATIONALE Gregory Quinton Penfold A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Leon de Kock December 2013 Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis consists of my own original work, and that I have not previously in its entirety, or in part, submitted it at any university for a degree. ………………………………………. ………………………………………… Signature: G.Q. Penfold Date: Copyright © 2013 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved 1 Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za ABSTRACT This thesis re-evaluates the writing of seminal Afrikaans modernist Etienne Leroux from a South African English perspective. The present author's new translation of Leroux's prize- winning novel Sewe Dae by die Silbersteins (1962) is the focal point of an enquiry into how “rewriting”, in translation theorist André Lefevere's coinage, has shaped the reception of Leroux's work outside the Afrikaans literary system. It is shown from a literary-histori- ographical viewpoint that translation played a crucial role in Leroux's rise to international prominence and subsequent eclipse. It is demonstrated that Leroux's standing within the English literary system rests predominantly on extant translations of his novels, without taking into account the cyclical quality of his fiction, especially the overarching nine-novel cycle – the basis of Leroux's renown in Afrikaans. The distortions produced by this fact are critiqued. In particular, the received idea of Leroux as an apolitical obscurantist is chal- lenged, the work of J.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Places We Belong As by the Places We Do Not—A Truth That Crystalises
    places we belong as by the places we do not—a Plessis: Hy was ’n rukkie pagter hier (Heilna du Plooy); Pieter truth that crystalises towards the end of the collection Fourie: Teatermaker (Fanie Olivier); breyten breytenbach: (66): woordenaar, woordnar (Francis Galloway); Johann de I remember that I too am not from around these parts Lange 60: ’n Huldiging (Daniel Hugo) en Reza de Wet: Die That this city, this town is not my own dramaturg as dromer (Temple Hauptfleisch en Marisa Although I cannot erase it Keuris). Die volgende publikasies in die reeks is in From my being produksie: huldigingsbundels oor Elsa Joubert, Antjie Krog, Bartho Smit, Anna M. Louw, Ina Rousseau en Ndoro finds herself, then, in the realisation that the Wilma Stockenström. kind of belonging promised by society is not the In die 21ste eeu is daar ’n merkwaardige toename belonging she seeks. Her disillusionment is also a in die belangrikheid van pryse in die letterkunde en moment of promising truth (70): die kunste. Wat die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Curse is Wetenskap en Kuns se literêre toekennings betref, het you will never fit in die dramatoekennings van meet af aan telkens swaar Blessing is gedra aan omstredenheid. you will never want to Talle polemieke en debatte rondom prys- toekennings, asook die kom en gaan van pryse deur We need to reimagine what it means to belong— die jare, dui daarop dat literêre toekennings nooit beyond the binaries, the borders, the rigidity that seeks outonoom kan funksioneer nie. Dit staan altyd in to cement belonging but in reality only displaces us and verhouding tot opvattings oor waardeoordeel, smaak alienates us from the world.
    [Show full text]
  • SUMMARY SUMMARY This Thesis Examines Works Written About
    SUMMARY SUMMARY This thesis examines works written about imprisonment by four South African political prison writers who were incarcerated for political reasons. My Introduction focuses on current research and literature available on the subject of political prison-writing and it justifies the study to be undertaken. Chapter One examines the National Party's policy pertaining to the holding of political prisoners and discusses the work of Michel Foucault on the subject of imprisonment as well as the connection he makes between knowledge and power. This chapter also considers the factors that motivate a prisoner to write. Bearing in mind Foucault's findings, Chapters Two to Five undertake detailed studies of La Guma's The Stone Country, Dennis Brutus's Letters to Martha, Hugh Lewin's Bandiet and Breyten Breytenbach's The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist, respectively. Particular emphasis is placed on the reaction of these writers against a repressive government. In addition, Chapters Two to Five reflect on the way in which imprisonment affected them from a psychological point of view, and on the manner in which they were, paradoxically, empowered by their prison experience. Chapters Four and Five also consider capital punishment and Lewin and Breytenbach's response to living in a hanging jail. I contemplate briefly the works of Frantz Fanon in the conclusion in order to elaborate on the reasons for the failure of the system of apartheid and the policy of political imprisonment and to reinforce my argument. Key terms South African political prison-writing; apartheid; political imprisonment; knowledge and power; imprisonment and political commitment; Alex La Guma; Dennis Brutus; Hugh Lewin; Breyten Breytenbach; Michel Foucault.
    [Show full text]
  • And the Predicament of Being Young in Post-Apartheid South Africa1
    Youth: “Born Frees” and the Predicament of Being Young in Post-Apartheid South Africa1 Hlonipha A. Mokoena Abstract If South Africa’s intellectual history is defined in generational terms then it is possible to speak of a “generation gap” in the history of political and social ideas. Whereas in the 1940s, the elitist and qui- escent leadership of the African National Congress was jostled into action by the “Young Lions” of the Youth League; and whereas the literary opposition to apartheid was led from within the Afrikaner/ Afrikaans community by the Sestigers—“the Generation of the Sixties”—“youth” in South Africa today is not synonymous with political and philosophical innovation. This paper will explore the problems of “youthfulness” and “rejuvenation” in South African political thought by describing the ways in which the “Born Frees” could conceive an intellectual “manifesto,” as both an alternative to the post-apartheid “death of ideas” and as a revision of the his- toriography on “youth” that has been the foundation of narratives about the young since the 1976 Soweto uprising. Even philosophers are young men for a time. They must be born somewhere, some time and begin to think and write. .it is impossible to choose one’s beginnings. (Althusser 2005, 63-64) Children scratch sores—sleep / bitten by the tsetse flies of Soweto / of June 16. (van Wyk 1986, 49) The two epigraphs above hint at the core presupposition of this paper, namely that the history of South African political thought cannot be written without considering how the country’s writers and thinkers were once young people.
    [Show full text]
  • A Close Reading and Comparison of Selected Poems by Ingrid Jonker and Sylvia Plath
    A close reading and comparison of selected poems by Ingrid Jonker and Sylvia Plath by Maria Magdalena Thomas A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Arts in Literary Theory in the Department of Afrikaans at the UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA FACULTY OF HUMANITIES SUPERVISOR: Professor C.H.F. Ohlhoff November 2013 © University of Pretoria Maria M Thomas 2013 Abstract Following a close reading strategy, the research seeks to discover what the intratextual relations of each selected poem, three by Ingrid Jonker and three by Sylvia Plath, reveal. Flowing from the thematic overlaps that exist between the selected Jonker poems and Plath poems, it explores what similarities or differences in poetic form, the use of poetic devices and content, in other words intratextual relations, can be discovered via a comparison. Given that Jonker and Plath were contemporaries and shared biographical events, and after having considered and compared the intratextual relations of the selected poems, the research seeks to show what similarities or differences can be discovered in the exploration and comparison of the intertextual and extratextual relations of the selected poems. Thus, the thesis’ critical approach includes the close investigation of the structure of each of the selected poems, in order to discover its communication first, before delving into biographical, historical, social, political, and thematic approaches and interpretations. The research reveals that exercises of close reading, with a few exceptions, have not been the main focus in the discussion of either poet’s poetry. In other words, context has, for the most part, been favoured over text and over form.
    [Show full text]
  • Meaning in Small, Snyders and Pearce: an Application of Lotman's
    University of Pretoria etd – Ernest, D S H (2005) Meaning in Small, Snyders and Pearce: an application of Lotman’s semiotics to ‘coloured’ literature by DAVID SOLOMON HAROLD ERNEST Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in English UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES PRETORIA OCTOBER 2004 SUPERVISORS: PROFESSOR R.A. GRAY MRS I. NOOMÉ University of Pretoria etd – Ernest, D S H (2005) ii To my wife Tilly, for all the love and support she has shown me throughout our marriage. I also dedicate this research document to my son Jacques Pierre Marcel Ernest, who entered God’s kingdom on 15 May 2004, in the service of his country. University of Pretoria etd – Ernest, D S H (2005) iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I thank God for providing me with the strength I needed and His blessing in allowing me to complete this research. The input and contributions of the following persons are gratefully acknowledged: Prof. Rosemary Gray, the supervisor of this study, for her knowledgeable guidance, insight, kindness and patience. I thank her for the incentive, trust and confidence she placed in me. She has my sincere and everlasting gratitude. Mrs Idette Noomé, joint supervisor of this research document, for assisting, guiding and maintaining the deadlines set for this dissertation. I also thank her for her friendship, encouragement, motivation and tolerance. Mr Robert Pearce, author of Die Laaste Supper in Marabastad, for his lifelong friendship, the motivation and the impetus to undertake this study. I thank him especially for assisting me with much of the research for this document and his permission for the use of his plays and poetry.
    [Show full text]
  • Impaired Vision. Portraits of Black Women in the Afrikaans Novel 1948-1988
    Impaired Vision. Portraits of Black Women in the Afrikaans Novel 1948-1988 Judy H. Gardner bron Judy H. Gardner, Impaired Vision. Portraits of Black Women in the Afrikaans Novel 1948-1988. VU-University Press, Amsterdam 1991 Zie voor verantwoording: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/gard010impa01_01/colofon.php © 2014 dbnl / Judy H. Gardner V Mmangoana o tshwara thipa ka fa bogaleng (The child's mother grabs the sharp end of the knife - old Setswana proverb) The word does not exist in a neutral and impersonal language ..., but rather it exists in other people's mouths, in other people's contexts, serving other people's intentions: it is from there that one must take the word, and make it one's own - MIKHAIL BAKHTIN, ‘Discourse in the Novel’. Perhaps all one can really hope, all I am entitled to, is no more than this: to write it down. To report what I know. So that it will not be possible for any man ever to say again: ‘I knew nothing about it’ - ANDRé P. BRINK, A Dry White Season. One of the major fronts in the war against colonialism is the writing of our own history - DABI NKULULEKO, ‘The right to self-determination in research’ Judy H. Gardner, Impaired Vision. Portraits of Black Women in the Afrikaans Novel 1948-1988 VII Wherever and whenever there are the oppressed and the oppressor, the sombre fact is that the oppressed are often party to their own oppression. In teaching the literature of the Afrikaners as was expected of me by the education authorities, I may have unconsciously collaborated in manipulating the minds of our children in the direction the oppressor demanded.
    [Show full text]
  • LITERATUUR EN KULTURELE KONTEKS 1. Konteks
    Prnf. D.H. Steenber^ Drpartemml Afrikaans-Nederlands LITERATUUR EN KULTURELE KONTEKS 1. Konteks Die begrip konteks in verband met die literatuur en die literêre kunswerk in die besondei het a! ’n liele geskiedenis en is lank gcassosieer met die kontekstualisme van die Amerikaanse New Critics, wat die literêre werk gesien het as ’n “self-contained artefact” (Cuddon 1977:151). Hierdie klenilegging op ’n interne konteks m op ’n romantiese en psigologistiese literatuiirbenadering verbreek en het as sodanig ’n goeie doel gedien, egter met die nadeel dat die literere werk daarná in toenemende isolasie bestudeer is. Daarom laat ek interne konteks as ’n wins wat reeds verwerf is, links. Met die oog op die sentrale tema van hierdie simposium wil ek hier ’n denkraamwerk j seek en vrae stel in verband met wat Jurij Lotman noem “tekstexterne structuren (1977:109). Hierdie verbande betrek hy met die oog op die noodsaaklikheid van ’n sisteem van kuiturele kodes vir die begrypbaarheid van die teks; “ D a a r kom m unikasie m et b eh u lp van tekens niet alleen een tekst vereist, m aar ook een taal, is een kunstwerk op zichzelf genomen zonder een bepaald ciilturele context, zonder een systeem van culturele codes, vergelijkbaar met ‘cen grafschrift in een onbe- grijplijke taal” (1977:107). Deur die erkenning wat hier aan “culturele context” gegee word, bevestig Lotman die mees wesenlike uitgangspunt van ’n Skrifgefundeerde wetenskap, naamlik dié van ge'integreerdhcid van sy objek met ander ervaringsterreine, in teenstelling met die isolasiepraktyk van die outonomisme, dualisme of kontekstualisme van n fenomenologiese literatuurbenadering.
    [Show full text]