South African Literature - Afrikaans - Prose

Prose

Being a predominantly agricultural society, the plaasroman (farm novel) plays a prominent role in early as well as later novels. One of the archetypes is C. M. Van den Heever's Laat Vrugte, which lay the foundations for parodies in the 1960s and later such as Etienne Leroux's Sewe dae by die Silbersteins, André P. Brink's Houd-den-bek and Eben Venter's Ek stamel ek sterwe. Even some English novels, such as J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace, remind one of the plaasroman. As urbanisation became more prominent during the time of the two World Wars, other forms emerged, notably the dorpsroman (town novel) such as Lettie Viljoen's Karolina Ferreira, Etienne van Heerden's Die Swye van Mario Salviati, or Alexander Strachan's Die Werfbobbejaan. Afrikaans writing tends to be critical of conservative culture, and during the Apartheid regime, critical of politics as well. André P. Brink and Etienne Leroux deserve special mention, Brink not only because he is accessible to English readers (he writes in English and Afrikaans, e.g. Duiwelskloof is available as Devil's Valley), but also because the vast oeuvre he produced (prose and drama) sets him apart as arguably the greatest South African writer. Leroux produced less, but had a profound influence on the literary scene. His characters are often outsiders, and his satirical view on South African issues embodies alchemistic, Jungian and Cabbalistic theories and philosophies, with the novel reading like a palimpsest with different levels of meaning. This style had a profound influence on writers such as Ingrid Winterbach (Lettie Viljoen), Alexander Strachan, and Etienne van Heerden's magical realist novels. With the war in Angola, grensliteratuur (border literature) started playing an important role, such as Dine van Zyl's Slagoffers, Christiaan Bakkes's Skuilplek and Alexander Strachan's 'n Wêreld sonder grense. After political changes in 1994, an emphasis on the past has become an important feature as South Africans attempted to make sense of their past, of which Dan Sleigh's Eilande and André P. Brink's Duiwelskloof are examples. Triomf by Marlene van Niekerk deals with poor Afrikaners in a legendary suburb of Johannesburg, where the Apartheid regime demolished the old black township Sophiatown, in order to build houses for the white lower-class. Triomf has been translated into English by Leon de Kock. Another writer who often regresses to earlier times is André P. Brink, e.g. Anderkant die Stilte (in English available as The Other Side of Silence) which is set during the German occupation of Namibia. Andre Brink was the first Afrikaner writer to be banned by the government after he released the novel A Dry White Season about a white South African who discovers the truth about a black friend who dies in police custody. In recent years, gay and lesbian writing has also begun to feature, e.g. Johann de Lange, and Eben Venter's Ek stamel ek sterwe. Political turmoil and the opening of South Africa's borders after the 1994 elections have resulted in many writers moving abroad, or writing about their time spent overseas, e.g. Jaco Fouché's Ryk van die Rawe. Other contemporary issues include crime (Jaco Fouché's Die avonture van Pieter Francken, Etienne van Heerden's In stede van die liefde and others) and other government issues such as corruption. In short, Afrikaans prose tends to be critical of the dominant ideologies and the government of the time, the society inhabiting this space and the people living within this society. From a European perspective, Afrikaans prose produces works of a high standard and is artistically and intellectually capable of engaging with the best European and American writers.