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A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HERMAN CHARLES BOSMAN’S JUVENILIA By MARK KRETSCHMANN Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS (ENGLISH) in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg. Supervisor: Prof. Craig MacKenzie Date: May 2013 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby declare that “A Critical Analysis of Herman Charles Bosman’s Juvenilia” is my own original work, that all the sources I have used or quoted have been properly referenced and that I have not previously submitted this dissertation, in its entirety or in part, at any other university for a degree. ................................................. .................................... Mark Kretschmann Date Student Number: 920306246 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv Acknowledgments v Introduction 1 A Brief Account of Herman Charles Bosman’s Early Life 3 Early Life 4 Bosman’s Character 7 The Sunday Times Stories 8 Historical Value 10 Chapter 1: Juvenilia 12 The Problem of Juvenilia 18 Herman Charles Bosman’s Juvenilia 25 Chapter 2: Textual Criticism 27 The Theory of Textual Criticism 27 Bosman’s Juvenilia – The Production of a Critical Edition 35 Textual History 36 Recension 37 Emendations 38 Critical Apparatus 47 Conclusion 47 Chapter 3: Critical Analysis of Bosman’s Juvenilia 49 Overview 49 Analysis 51 Narrative Form and Style 51 Narrative Point-of-View 58 Themes 63 • War 64 • Accumulation of Wealth, and Fate 66 • Writing 68 • Deception 69 Language 70 Conclusion 72 Appendix: Typescript 76 Works Cited Primary Sources 127 Secondary Sources 128 iii ABSTRACT The broad scope of this dissertation is the collection, editing and publishing of Herman Charles Bosman’s juvenilia with the purpose of re-introducing these stories into the public domain. The project involves creating a critical edition of Bosman’s juvenilia through careful and diplomatic editorial processes. The resultant typescript is the first presentation of what is now posited as the entire collection of Herman Charles Bosman’s juvenilia. The project adds a total of seven previously un-credited stories to the already published collections of Bosman’s juvenilia. The dissertation extends into an in-depth analysis of what juvenilia is, and focuses on the problems relating to the delineation of works as juvenilia. Additionally, there is a discussion on the theory and practice of textual criticism, where a general background and overview of the history and practice of textual criticism is presented, including the textual history of Bosman’s juvenilia and the processes involved in the production of the critical edition. Beyond this, there is also a general analysis of Bosman’s juvenilia, focusing on themes, narrative modes and point of view, imagery and language. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this MA dissertation would not have been possible without the intellectual, financial and personal support received from various people. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Craig MacKenzie, for his patience and guidance throughout this project. I would also like to thank him for bringing this topic to my attention and for facilitating my access to the archive materials at the University of Johannesburg Library. My gratitude extends to the staff at the Rare Books Collection of the UJ Library who kindly arranged for the archived newspapers to be transported, on many occasions, from the basement to the Rare Books Collection floor where I could access them with greater ease. I would like to thank Prof. David Scott- Macnab for his advice in the area of textual criticism and with the production of the typescript. I would also like to thank Prof. Karen Scherzinger and her colleagues in the Department of English at the University of Johannesburg for their encouragement and support throughout the duration of this study. Special thanks must go to the various institutions that made archive material available to me: the UJ library archives, NELM and the Sunday Times archives. I would also like to acknowledge Colleen Mill and Marion Serfontein, previous scholars at the Department of English who worked on The Sunday Times stories as part of their honours programme. Regardless of the financial, intellectual and personal assistance that I have received during the writing of this dissertation, all views and opinions articulated are my own, unless otherwise stated. v INTRODUCTION Herman Charles Bosman may be best known for his satirical depictions of life in a small Marico town, immortalized in the images of Oom Schalk Lourens and other characters from his Voorkamer and Schalk Lourens stories. These stories need no introduction, as Bosman stands at the forefront of pre-Apartheid writers in South Africa and most scholars of South African literature are well aware of his remarkable literary talents, especially with the short story format. But how did Bosman’s distinctive style originally develop? Relatively little has been written on his early writing and in particular on his juvenilia period. Indeed, until this point, many of his amateur writings have been forgotten and have not been seen since their original publications in the early 1920s. But these early creations have not yet been lost. In this study the stories that Bosman wrote as an amateur and juvenile are collected and analysed, with the ultimate aim of creating a critical edition of these texts for publication. The purpose of this edition would be to consider his juvenilia in its entirety and to preserve a collection of writing that has particular significance in its representation of the development of Bosman’s distinctive talent in short story writing. Bosman’s writing career began at a young age: when he was just sixteen years old he was frequently submitting pieces to The Sunday Times newspaper in Johannesburg. Many of these stories have not been republished since the time of their original appearance between 1921 and 1923, and, indeed, many Bosman scholars may not be fully aware of the quantity of stories that he contributed to the newspaper. Other academics, notably Craig MacKenzie and Mitzi Anderson, earlier recognised the majority of these and reprinted many of the stories, but it is only in this dissertation, and in the corresponding publication, that the full array of stories from The Sunday Times will finally be recognised. The dissertation extends into an analysis of all of Bosman’s juvenile writings, which include pieces that appeared in the Jeppe High School Magazine and The University of the Witwatersrand Student Magazine: The Umpa. However, the primary focus will be on the stories uncovered in The Sunday Times archives. 1 In addition to the collection and analysis of the stories, the dissertation also presents an overview of critical editing theories and practices, as the project is concerned with the collection, editing and publication of previously published works. This is done in order to highlight certain editorial concerns and decisions that had to be made in the preparation of a typescript for publication, and foregrounds the academic rigour of the editorial process. Along with this there will also be an in-depth discussion of how to conceive of and define writings as belonging to a period of ‘juvenilia’ in a writer’s career. Additionally, the process of collecting and editing the stories from The Sunday Times for the purposes of publication uncovered certain contentious issues that demand critical reflection. These include, first and foremost, the issue of accurately attributing the authorship of the stories to Herman Charles Bosman, as most were written under inconspicuous pseudonyms. The dissertation is thus separated into three parts, each dealing with a different, yet interlinked, topic relevant to the collection, analysis and presentation of Herman Charles Bosman’s juvenilia. Chapter one presents a detailed consideration of what juvenilia are and considers particular problems in allocating works to a juvenilia period. Chapter two looks into the central tenets of textual criticism and situates the project within its parameters. The third chapter involves literary criticism and offers a general critical analysis of the collected stories. In addition to this there will be an appendix constituting the largest portion of the dissertation, presenting the entirety of the critically edited typescript of Herman Charles Bosman’s juvenilia. Included in this typescript are all known amateur writings published in the Johannesburg issue of The Sunday Times newspaper – a total of 30 stories, seven of which have never been republished. Two pieces are taken from The Jeppe High School Magazine, and five from The University of the Witwatersrand Student Magazine: The Umpa, all of which have been republished but