Fiela's Child
LC Class | PR9369.3.M376 F5 1986 |
Fiela's Child is a South African drama written by Dalene Matthee and published in 1985. The book was originally written in Afrikaans under the name Fiela se Kind, and was later translated into English, German, French, Hebrew, Dutch, Slovene and Swedish.[1]
Plot
The story is set in the forests of
Themes
Matthee tackles environmental concerns, themes of racism and sexism as well as discrimination of class. The blue-buck is over hunted and elephants are freely killed. The relations between whites and Coloureds are tense. Although this plays off before Apartheid at a time when technically there was equality before the law, the legal system was biased and in favour of whites. The marine industry is suffering from the introduction of steam-powered ships.
The aspect of liminality
In the novel by Dalene Matthee the aspect of liminality, in which a person is able to decide who and what to be, plays a major role. In the novel, Benjamin is in the liminal stage and is unaware of his true identity. Also, the setting is described to be in the liminal stage hence it takes place on both sides of a mountain. [ambiguous].
Movie
The book was made into a film in 1988 and starred Shaleen Surtie-Richards as Fiela.[2] The film in 2019 starred Zenobia Kloppers as Fiela.[3]
Education
In South Africa the drama, published by Tafelberg Publishers, is used as a grade 12 setwork book for Afrikaans First Additional Language (FAL) learners in matric.
References
- ^ "Fiela's Child". Dalene Matthee. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ Fiela se Kind (1988)
- ^ "Fiela se Kind (2019)". IMDb. Retrieved 14 May 2021.