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Herman Charles Bosman's Treatment of Race Relations in Mafeking Road

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Herman Charles Bosman's Treatment of Race Relations in Mafeking Road liERitfinIM CHARLES 1303W- M 93 VIREanfillERTY OF RaCE IRIELaTOONS IM HAG EKfinge ROAD RHORTaa RIMMLWHIER90 Wing-OMB& RA Gkr_D) n[Fma AA IMZ URNIWEERZITIFY Zusbunfigged fin parefiall ganfigfififineng og gThe regenfirenvengs gOF Ove degree a Has car ofd Allls fin Me sadojecg og Engfifth .Ei Me Rand Agrfikaans UnfiVISFSilgy 2000 STRACT This mini-dissertation deals with Herman Charles Bosman's depiction of racial prejudice among the different racial groups in South Africa in the period of the 1930s and 40s. The overarching issue of the narrator's racism forms the focus of discussion. Oom Schalk Lourens's storytelling techniques are a matter of cardinal importance that colours the entire interpretation of Mafeking Road. The introductory section of this study provides some biographical details about the author himself. This is followed by an exploration of Bosman's treatment of race and racial issues in three stories. Bosman's exploration of race relations involving blacks, Indians, whites as well as other minority groups is a reflection of his genuine concern for South Africa's future society as a whole. In the course of this study a brief analysis is also made of the author's portrayal of female characters. In the conclusion Bosman's overall achievement in terms of the major theme, race relations, is assessed. It is argued that the overt racism of Bosman's narrator Oom Schalk Lourens cannot be ascribed to the author himself; that it is the case, rather, that the author manipulates his narrator to achieve an ironic effect. In the final analysis, Bosman is critical of the racist attitudes his characters display, but his method is to satirise and debunk these attitudes gently and obliquely. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 CHAPTER TWO: Relations between Boer and Briton: "The Rooinek" 7 CHAPTER THREE: Relations between Blacks and Boers: "The Prophet" 19 C , APTER FOUR: Representations of Minorities and Women: "Splendours from Ramoutsa" and "Veld Maiden" 33 CH PTER FIVE: Conclusion 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY 54 ORM OntoducUon Race and racial consciousness is an issue of supreme importance in Bosman's first collection of short stories, Mafeking Road. Although relatively few of Bosman's stories focus directly and exclusively on race relations, several of his famous stories do focus explicitly on racial interaction and racial attitudes. Others whose major focus is on some other aspects of the Marico experience nevertheless fulfil the function of confirming that the race issue is of cardinal importance to the Marico's white inhabitants. In Mafeking Road, Bosman's success in portraying racial interaction can mainly be attributed to his skilful manipulation of his narrator, Oom Schalk Lourens. So seamless is Bosman's creation that although Schalk's personality can be distinguished from the stories he tells, it cannot be separated from them. His characterisation is achieved by his own narrative, resulting from his speech pattern and views he expresses. The reader is given a variety of signals, "phraseological and psychological" (Mondry 1989: 59) from which he or she is able to extrapolate the narrator's character and attitude to racial issues. 1 Another feature of the Marico stories is the fidelity with which they mirror not only the platteland itself but also the Afrikaner of the platteland. The narrator is the embodiment of the spirit of the bushveld, his perception of people, places and things remaining rural and Afrikaner. The author also uses the narrator as a buffer between the characters in the stories and the reader. Stories tend to focus on an incident which is treated two- dimensionally. More often than not characters participating in an event give a one-sided view of the situation, while the narrator is left to comment on the realities behind their illusions. Schalk Lourens softens the satire partly by his mellow humanity, partly by his pretended failure to discern foolishness and folly. This view of Schalk Lourens's character is shared by L.H. Hugo (1985: 159) who describes him as someone who has ". a vast inability to discern his own shortcomings and prejudices." When there is indirect narration the reader has to contend with images of the author as well as those of the narrator. Their non-concurrence and counterpoint give the stories a heightened dynamism and tension. The creation of a narrator who responds to all situations by being "unfailingly himself" (Hugo 1985: 159) makes it necessary to comment briefly on Bosman's own views regarding race, racism and ethnicity. 2 Bosman's life coincides with a turbulent period of South African history — namely the rise of Afrikaner nationalism. He was born shortly after the Second Anglo-Boer War and died three years after the National Party's 1948 election victory. Although he had his share of youthful exuberance, it can be argued that his attitudes remained much the same during the last twenty years of his life. Nowhere is this consistency more noticeable than in the issue of race relations. Bosman's paternal and maternal families (Bosman and Malan respectively) had different views on their Afrikaner status. They supported the South African Party which favoured reconciliation between the Boers and the English over Afrikaner nationalism. Bosman himself came to reject the nationalism of the Boer, seeing it as "a destructive, life-denying force" (Dickson 1975: 124). Although Bosman ultimately allied himself with the English in accepting a more liberal creed, he never lost sight of the fact that he was by birth and blood an Afrikaner. It is partly for this reason that reconciliation becomes the major theme of "The Rooinek." 3 Bosman's sustained depiction of Afrikaner life and custom does not mean that he identified with the ideals of an exclusive Afrikaner nationalism. His attempt to embrace the two official languages of the time indicates a shift in how he conceived of his role as a writer, and testifies to an expanded awareness on his part of his own South Africanness. His rejection of any identity prescribed by language is obvious. Bosman's rediscovery of Afrikaans meant that he wished to be associated with an identity which went beyond the artificial barriers imposed by the government of the day. Publishing in both Afrikaans and English, obviously, meant double royalties for him but it is another confirmation that he saw himself as a South African, as opposed to an English or Afrikaans writer. Bosman's attitudes towards other races seem to originate less from a political ideology than from his humanitarianism. According to William Plomer, Bosman was not unduly concerned about black—white relations in South Africa. The stories in Mafeking Road, however, do not corroborate this view. With the exception of stories in which racial prejudice is a central consideration, almost all the stories in this collection contain a reference to or some incident involving a "kaffir." The reason for this is that Bosman wishes to drive home the point that blacks are being denied the right to exist as fellow human beings. The narrator in this context is crucial. A dedicated `kaffir-hater' on the one hand and a scrupulously honest story- 4 teller, on the other, Oom Schalk is "the incarnation of the ironic paradoxes" (Chapman et al. 1992: 162) that inform white racial attitudes. In most of the stories that deal with or comment in some way on white— black relations, blacks are portrayed humorously and sometimes farcically. However, when Bosman treats a subject humorously it is "a sure indication of Bosman's seriousness" (Chapman et al 1992: 162). As a writer, Bosman saw English and Afrikaans as being rival but equal languages, but he also saw a role for the African languages. Proof of Bosman's interest in the indigenous literatures of South Africa is contained in his article entitled "Aspects of South African Literature" (1948). In this article Bosman takes the view that for a white writer to attempt to represent black experience, particularly from within, would be "tantamount to another form of colonialism" (Schopen 1991: 34). In his view, different strands of South African literature should co-exist and not entrench separation. They should promote literary representation on an equal basis. Although criticism has been levelled at Bosman for advocating different strands of the South African literary experience, a careful analysis of "The Prophet" renders such criticism invalid. While in most of Bosman's stories blacks are peripheral and vaguely drawn, in "The Prophet" the black man, iViosiko, is depicted as a round character or human being and not as a racial stereotype. The inclusion of characters from almost all racial groups in South Africa is further evidence of Bosman's impartiality in matters pertaining to race and ethnicity. Bernard Sachs's declaration that "Herman had no colour prejudice" (Dickson 1975: 131) is therefore not an exaggeration. Mafeking Road contains several portrayals of Africans, Coloureds and Indians. The Africans in particular are usually seen in relation to whites, but this should not be construed as a denial of agency or full humanity to Africans, but seen as an indirect way of critiquing their social and economic dependence on whites in this place and time in South African history. In all of the three stories selected for detailed discussion in this dissertation, Bosman seems to be urging all racial groups to pursue the ideal of a unified South African culture that transcends the confines of both language and race. The goal that Bosman sets out to achieve in Mafeking Road is perhaps best described by Joseph Sachs: "There is all of South Africa in that little book" (Gray 1986: 57). 6 CHAPTER TWO Relations between oer and riton: "The Rooinek" In his foreword to Bosman's posthumous collection of short stories, Unto Dust, Iliam Plomer (1963: 10) appropriately sums up the role assigned to the English in the following terms, "Englishmen are merely the perennial enemy." Of the twenty-one short stories of Mafeking Road almost half refer directly or indirectly to the hostile relations between Boer and Briton.
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