Suchergebnisse

In Afrikaans life writing the most influential factors determining an individual's life are of a social and political nature. Recently five autobiographical texts by Afrikaans authors have appeared, namely Sonkyker: Afrikaner in die verkeerde eeu (2008) by J.C. Steyn, Reisiger: Die Limietberge oor (2009) by Elsa Joubert, 'n Vurk in die pad: 'n Memoir (2009) by André P. Brink, A Veil of Footsteps: Memoir of a Nomadic Fictional Character (2008) by Breyten Breytenbach and Begging to Be Black (2009) by Antjie Krog. They differ substantially in style, content and approach. Steyn, Breytenbach, Joubert, Brink, and Krog tell their own individual stories, which document the close relationship between their lives, their values and literary works. Begging to Be Black by Antjie Krog is the most challenging in its recommendations and the most controversial in its argumentation. One of three main narratives in this patchwork book recounts a murder case in the early nineties into which Krog got unwittingly drawn and about which she published Relaas van 'n moord (1995). Although Krog's account of her involvement in the murder case remains basically the same, there are, however, a number of crucial differences. Krog describes the murder case from an altogether different perspective. While in Relaas van 'n moord she unequivocally states that murder is in all circumstances morally wrong, she now concludes, on the basis of her acceptance of the African 'interconnectedness-towards-wholeness' world view, that murder is permissible if it is to the benefit of society. This new interpretation is very problematic and raises a number of fundamental questions. Moreover, the fact that Krog provides a new version of the murder of the Wheetie turns the account of what happened into a product of the writer's imagination, which also undermines the credibility of the other narrative threads in Begging to Be Black. Begging to Be Black, in spite of its serious shortcomings, clearly demonstrates, along with the four other autobiographical texts, that the identity of Afrikaans authors is largely determined by their commitment to the society in which they have been living.

In 2004 werd in Zuid-Afrika met de nodige luister het tienjarige bestaan van een democratische regering gevierd. Terwijl in 1994 Zuid-Afrikaanse schrijvers van alle kleuren van de regenboog zich verheugden over de beëindiging van de apartheid, de verkiezing van een meerderheidsregering en de eedaflegging van Nelson Mandela als de eerste zwarte president, lieten ze in 2004 opvallend weinig van zich horen. Zij waren in elk geval niet te bekennen te midden van het feestgewoel. Misschien hielden ze zich doelbewust op de achtergrond omdat ze de feeststemming niet wilden bederven. In de Zuid-Afrikaanse en de Afrikaanse literatuur is de euforie die rond 1994 heerste inderdaad volledig verdwenen. De prille democratie heeft de verwachtingen van blank en zwart absoluut niet kunnen inlossen waardoor nu ontnuchtering en pessimisme de overhand hebben. Het toekomstperspectief ziet er evenmin rooskleurig uit.

This book presents the first anthology of Flemish prose on the Congo, the former colony of Belgium, in English translation (translation by Grady Tarplee).0Because of the Dutch language barrier, Flemish literature on the Congo has traditionally remained inaccessible to and thus neglected by international scholarship, as opposed to French or English prose on this part of the African continent. That this particular perspective has thus far remained underexposed, or even disregarded, is all the more regrettable in light of the fact that the vast majority of Belgians who went to work in the African colony came from Flanders. 'The Congo in Flemish Literature' now represents a key step towards filling this lacuna by providing an overview of the different societal attitudes towards the colonial undertaking prevailing in Belgium during and after the colonial era, the way the relationship between Belgium and the Congo changed over time, subject to the zeitgeist and sociopolitical and economic developments, and the individual authors' varying points of view with regard to the colonisation. Flemish Congo prose offers a fascinating glimpse into Belgium?s colonial past and legacy, primarily during the colonial era, but also at the time of its violent aftermath following Congolese independence on 30 June 1960, and well into the following decades