South African literature
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South African literature is the literature of South Africa, which has 11 national languages:
.Overview
Elleke Boehmer (cf. Cullhed, 2006: 79) writes: "Nationalism, like patriarchy, favours singleness—one identity, one growth pattern, one birth and blood for all ... [and] will promote specifically unitary or 'one-eyed' forms of consciousness". The first problem any student of South African literature is confronted with, is the diversity of the literary systems. Gerrit Olivier notes, "While it is not unusual to hear academics and politicians talk about a 'South African literature', the situation at ground level is characterised by diversity and even fragmentation". Robert Mossman adds that "One of the enduring and saddest legacies of the apartheid system may be that no one – White, Black, Coloured (meaning of mixed-race in South Africa), or Asian – can ever speak as a "South African." The problem, however, pre-dates Apartheid significantly, as South Africa is a country made up of communities that have always been linguistically and culturally diverse. These cultures have all retained autonomy to some extent, making a compilation such as the controversial Southern African Literatures by Michael Chapman, difficult. Chapman raises the question:
[W]hose language, culture, or story can be said to have authority in South Africa when the end of apartheid has raised challenging questions as to what it is to be a South African, what it is to live in, whether South Africa is mlg, and, if so, what its mythos is, what requires to be forgotten and what remembered as we scour the past in order to understand the present and seek a path forward into an unknown future.
South Africa has 11 national languages:
The second problem with the African languages is accessibility, because since the African languages are regional languages, none of them can claim the readership on a national scale comparable to Afrikaans and English. Sotho, for instance, while transgressing the national borders of the RSA, is on the other hand mainly spoken in the
Olivier argues that "There is no obvious reason why it should be unhealthy or abnormal for different literatures to co-exist in one country, each possessing its own infrastructure and allowing theoreticians to develop impressive theories about polysystems". Yet political idealism proposing a unified "South Africa" (a remnant of the colonial British approach) has seeped into literary discourse and demands a unified national literature, which does not exist and has to be fabricated. It is unrealistic to ever think of South Africa and South African literature as homogenous, now or in the near or distant future, since the only reason it is a country at all is the interference of European colonial powers. This is not a racial issue, but rather has to do with culture, heritage and tradition (and indeed the constitution celebrates diversity). Rather, it seems more sensible to discuss South African literature as literature produced within the national borders by the different cultures and language groups inhabiting these borders. Otherwise the danger is emphasising one literary system at the expense of another, and more often than not, the beneficiary is English, with the African languages being ignored. The distinction "black" and "white" literature is further a remnant of colonialism that should be replaced by drawing distinctions between literary systems based on language affiliation rather than race.
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a
Poetry
Some of the early names include
The next major paradigm shift came in the 1960s, with T. T. Cloete and Ingrid Jonker, who, after her death, attained cult status. Cloete et al. discuss this literary watershed in Rondom Sestig. Cloete is further noteworthy for his compilation, Literêre Terme en Teorieë (1992), which is one of the most encompassing works on literary theory available on the global market, although written in Afrikaans. Some modern poets of note include Joan Hambidge, Hennie Aucamp, Ernst van Heerden, Antjie Krog and Gert Vlok Nel. Breyten Breytenbach is regarded by many as one of the best, if not the best, Afrikaans poet. He spent a number of years in prison for his political beliefs during apartheid and later lived in France. Breytenbach's latest work, "Die windvanger" was published in 2007. The major poetry anthologies are DJ Opperman's Groot Verseboek, Foster and Viljoen's Poskaarte, Gerrit Komrij's controversial Die Afrikaanse poësie in 1000 en enkele gedigte, and André P. Brink's Groot Verseboek, a remake or reworking of Opperman's anthology.
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
Afrikaans writing tends to be critical of conservative culture, and during the
With the war in
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
English literature
Prose
One of the first literary works of note is
Other prominent texts include Mine Boy by
Drama
Athol Fugard's Master Harold and the boys is a drama about race relations, and Boesman and Lena depicts the hardships suffered by South Africa's poor. Athol Fugard's plays have been regularly premiered in fringe theatres in South Africa, London (The Royal Court Theatre) and New York. Another noteworthy drama is Zakes Mda's We shall sing for the fatherland.
Recent plays have addressed the high levels of violent crime, such as Lara Foot Newton's Tshepang, Athol Fugard's Victory and Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom's Relativity.
Poetry
Tony Ullyatt's The Lonely Art: An Anthology includes South African English poetry. English poetry in South Africa is often considered "good" by whether or not it criticises
Professor Chris Mann[2] is a poet presently associated with Rhodes University and has compiled a number of anthologies of poetry.
African languages
Although there are nine official African languages in South Africa, most speakers are fluent in Afrikaans and English. Coupled with the small market for writing in African languages, this has led many African writers to write in English and Afrikaans. The first texts produced by black authors were often inspired by missionaries and frequently deal with African history, in particular the history of kings such as Chaka. Modern South African writing in the African languages tends to play at writing realistically, at providing a mirror to society, and depicts the conflicts between rural and urban settings, between traditional and modern norms, racial conflicts and most recently, the problem of AIDS.
In the first half of the 20th century, epics largely dominated black male writing: historical novels, such as
Zulu
Some of the most prominent Zulu authors are
.Xhosa
Other prominent Xhosa authors are
Sesotho
Some of the most prominent Sesotho authors are MKPD Maphala, BM Khaketla, N.S. Puleng, Thomas Mofolo, and Makali Isabella Mokitimi.
Pedi
Some of the most prominent Pedi authors are OK Matsepe, HDN Bopape, HP Maredi, SR Machaka, MS Nchabeleng and Ramaila.
Tswana
Some of the most prominent Tswana authors are Sol Plaatje, DB Moloto, DPS Monyaise, SA Moroke, Gilbert Modise, MJ Ntsime, Leetile Disang Raditladi (who had a crater on Mercury named after him), MD Mothoagae, JHK Molao.
Literary festivals
The Franschhoek Literary Festival was launched in 2007[3] and has been taking place once a year since then. Its focus is on English-speaking South African literature[3] that includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Every year a few distinguished international authors are also invited.[3] The Knysna Literary Festival first took place in 2009 with similar objectives.[4] In contrast, the Open Book Festival in Cape Town wants to be international with authors and audience from around the world.[5] It also sees itself as a place where South African writers can promote themselves.[5] The Open Book Festival was first launched in 2011.[5] All three festivals also aim to draw children and young adults into reading by organizing special events for these audiences and funding projects such as school libraries.[6]
See also
- List of South African writers
- List of South African poets
- South African poetry
- List of literary awards, South African section
- Media of South Africa
References
- ^ Van Coller, 1998, p. 26.
- ISBN 978-1-919930-15-2.
- ^ a b c "about : FRANSCHHOEK LITERARY FESTIVAL". www.flf.co.za. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ "Knysna Literary Festival". www.knysnaliteraryfestival.co.za. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ a b c "About - Open Book Festival". Open Book Festival. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
- ^ http://www.flf.co.za/about/, http://www.knysnaliteraryfestival.co.za/, http://openbookfestival.co.za/about/
Further reading
- Attridge, Derek and Rosemary Jolly, eds. 1998. Writing South Africa: Literature, Apartheid, and Democracy, 1970–1995. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- OCLC 1479270.
- Boehmer, Elleke. 1998. Endings and New Beginning: South African Fiction in Transition. Attridge and Jolly 43–56.
- Brink, André, and J. M. Coetzee, eds. 1986. A Land Apart: A South African Reader. London: Faber and Faber.
- Chapman, Michael. The Politics of Identity: South Africa, Story-telling, and Literary History.
- Chapman, Michael. 1996. Southern African Literatures. London: Longman.
- Coetzee, J. M. 1988. White Writing: On the Culture of Letters in South Africa. New Haven: Yale UP.
- Cullhed, C. 2006. Grappling with Patriarchies. Narrative Strategies of Resistance in Miriam Tlali's Writings. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Anglistica Upsaliensia 131. 233 pp. Uppsala.
- Dekker, G. 1961. Afrikaanse literatuurgeskiedenis. Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel Bpk.
- Fullerton, Ian. 1980, Politics and the South African Novel in English, in Bold, Christine (ed.), Cencrastus No. 3, Summer 1980, pp. 22–23.
- Jenkins, Elwyn. National Character in South African Children’s Literature. Routledge, 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-97676-3.
- Kannemeyer, J.C. 1978. Die geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse literatuur, Band I. Pretoria: Academica.
- Kannemeyer, J.C. 1983. Die geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse literatuur, Band 2. Pretoria: Academica.
- Koch, Jerzy, 2015. A History of South African Literature: Afrikaans Literature 17th - 19th Centuries, Pretoria: Van Schaik.
- Mossman, Robert. South African Literature: A Global Lesson in One Country. The English Journal, Vol. 79, No. 8 (December 1990), pp. 41–43.
- Olivier, Gerrit. Afrikaans and South African literature.
- Van Coller, H.P. (red.) 1998. Perspektief en profiel. 'n Afrikaanse literatuurgeskiedenis I. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik.
- Van Coller, H.P. (red.) 1998. Perspektief en profiel. 'n Afrikaanse literatuurgeskiedenis II. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik.
- Van Coller, H.P. (red.) 2006. Perspektief en profiel. 'n Afrikaanse literatuurgeskiedenis III. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik.