Uys Krige

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Uys Krige
BornMattheus Uys Krige
(1910-02-04)4 February 1910
Bontebokskloof, Cape Province, Union of South Africa
Died10 August 1987(1987-08-10) (aged 77)
Hermanus, Cape Province, South Africa
Occupation
  • author
  • poet
LanguageAfrikaans and English

Mattheus Uys Krige (4 February 1910 – 10 August 1987) was a South African writer of novels, short stories, poems and plays in

censorship in South Africa
.

Life

Uys Krige was born in Bontebokskloof (near Swellendam) in the Cape Province.

Even though the Krige family believed in Afrikaner nationalism, "the home atmosphere was broadminded and creative, his mother was a talented writer and his younger brother a leading painter."[1]

Uys Krige was educated at the

Broederbond, "But on discovering its rule of secrecy and the somewhat medieval rites, Krige beat a hasty retreat."[2]

At the age of 21, Krige left for Europe, where he lived, "on a kind of cheerful vagabondage."

Côte d'Azur, wrote poems and penned freelance articles for the Afrikaans press.[3]

From 1931 to 1933, Krige lived at

Anglo-African poet Roy Campbell and his English aristocrat-turned-bohemian wife, Mary Garman Campbell. The Campbells' oldest daughter, Anna Campbell, later recalled that Uys Krige replaced a French governess named Anne-Marie, who, "never taught us anything, but drove every night to the casino at Foss to dance". Anna later recalled, however, that she and her sister Tess, "enjoyed doing our lessons", with Uys Krige and that, thanks to him, "we made rapid progress. He stayed with us almost two years."[4]

By the end of 1932, the

Saint Theresa of Avila when she was six and had a preconceived idea of everything Spanish", recommended moving to Spain.[6]

According to Anna Campbell Lyle, in 1933, the Barcelona pension where the Campbell family stayed was flooded with

German Jews and other anti-Nazi political refugees, who held a traditional German Christmas celebration. At the same party, Uys Krige attended with a Catalan girlfriend and Anna Campbell Lyle danced a paso-doble on the table.[7]

Krige returned to South Africa in 1935 and began a writing career as a reporter for the

Rand Daily Mail.[8]

The Campbells had converted to

Altea, Spain and, due to their new faith and to their first hand experiences of the Red Terror by forces loyal to the Second Spanish Republic in Toledo, the Campbells vocally supported the Nationalist faction during the ensuing Spanish Civil War. Meanwhile, Krige campaigned just as passionately for the Republican faction.[9] Despite their views being at variance over the Spanish Civil War, Roy Campbell and Uys Krige remained friends and, in Campbell's 1952 memoir, Light on a Dark Horse, he explains Krige's Republican sympathies by the latter being, "an incurable Calvinist."[10]

In 1937, Krige married the actor

Roman Catholicism.[13]

According to Jack Cope, "The poem starts on a note of military pride – the eyes of the Fascist pilots fixed on themselves in their joyful and triumphant, their holy task. The tone of bitter irony rises as the pace becomes faster, climbing to height after height of savagery and contempt. The lines of the

The Bible itself is rolled in the blood. The lovely place-names of Spain rise in gleams above the dust and smoke. In the end the hymn becomes an insane scream of violence and bloody destruction mocking even the Crucifixion."[12]

As no Afrikaans journal dared to publish it, Uys Krige's Lied van die fascistiese bomwerpers appeared in the Forum, a Left-leaning literary journal published in English. Krige's poem elicited vehement condemnations from both extreme

sacrilegious. Krige responded by asking whether South African Catholics approved of the Nationalist's dismantling of what he considered the lawful Spanish Government or in the ongoing White Terror.[14]

During

Italian Resistance. Krige returned to South Africa able to speak fluent Italian.[15] Krige subsequently wrote and published the English language war memoir, The Way Out, as well as war poetry and short stories.[13]

After the

Coloured voters.[16]

In May 1952, Krige had lunch in London with fellow South African

Coloured voters. The letter was subsequently published by several South African newspapers.[17]

In 1958, Krige, in spite of or because of his opposition to the National Party-dominated Government, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Natal.[10]

Beginning during the late 1950s and '60s, Krige served as a mentor to many fellow members of

Die Sestigers ("The Writers of the Sixties") became synonymous with public opposition to both the National Party and Apartheid
.

The most famous of Krige's proteges was Ingrid Jonker and Krige played a major role in Jonker's transformation from the dutiful daughter of a National Party MP into a vocal critic of the National Party's policies of censorship and apartheid. When Jonker committed suicide by drowning in 1965, Krige spoke at her secular funeral.

Uys Krige also co-edited The Penguin Book of South African Verse (1968) with Jack Cope.[18]

In an interview later in life, Krige told Jack Cope, "One of the biggest mistakes is to identify the Afrikaans language with the Nationalist Party."[19]

Uys Krige died near Hermanus in the Cape Province in 1987, aged 77.[15]

Poetry

According to Uys Krige's friend

Dada, Surrealism and other schools remained traditional, helped along with homely anecdotes and plentiful rhyme. He enjoyed the resonance and timbre of words and liked to exploit the nuances of his language as against the precision of French and Spanish with its darker more sensuous tones."[12]

Literary translations

According to Jack Cope, Krige's linguistic and literary talent combined with his passion for French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese literature made him the principal translator from Romance languages into Afrikaans during the 20th century.[20]

Uys Krige translated many of the works of

Baudelaire, François Villon, Jacques Prévert, Arthur Rimbaud, and Paul Éluard from French, and "scores of poems" by anti-Mussolini Italian poets Salvatore Quasimodo and Giuseppe Ungaretti, with whom Krige struck up a friendship.[21]

Krige's encounter with Latin American poetry while stationed in Cairo during World War II also led him to translate the poetry of Jacinto Fombona-Pachano, Jose Ramon Heredia, Vicente Huidobro, Jorge Carrera Andrade, Nicolas Guillen, Cesar Vallejo, Jorge de Lima and Manuel Bandeira into Afrikaans from both Spanish and Portuguese.[20]

Jack Cope has written of Krige's translations of Latin American verse, "This important body of modern poetry, steeped in humanist tradition, non-racial to the extent that much of it was written by poets of Black, Indian, and mixed races, has had a considerable influence on South African writing, both in Afrikaans and English. English-language poets of the country such as Dan Jacobson and Charles Eglington have agreed that Krige's versions are in nearly every instance closer in spirit and tone to the originals than those yet achieved in English either in Britain or the United States. This says much for the translator/poet but also for the language he is using, which is able to capture more unaffectedly the warmth, softness, and resonance of Latin tongues."[19]

Legacy

In 1994, Uys Krige's granddaughter, Lida Orffer was murdered with her family at their home in Stellenbosch. The murderer was found to be a Black South African drifter whom the Orffer family had given his first real job. The murder of the Orffer family, which came within weeks of the free elections that toppled the ruling National Party and ended apartheid, horrified the town of Stellenbosch and made many local residents question whether Nelson Mandela's promise of a "rainbow nation" was truly possible.[22]

In 2010, a collection of Uys Krige's letters from France and Spain was published by Hemel & See Boeke under the title Briewe van Uys Krige uit Frankryk en Spanje.

In celebration of the centenary of Krige's birth in 2010, South African composer Hendrik Hofmeyr was commissioned to compose a song cycle based on his poetry. The cycle Ek maak 'n hek oop in my hart was first performed in that year.[23]

In popular culture

Bibliography

All publications are in Afrikaans unless otherwise noted. The English translation is given in brackets.[20]

  • Collected poems:
    • Kentering (Change), 1935
    • Rooidag (Red day), 1940
    • Oorlogsgedigte (War poems), 1942
    • Hart sonder hawe (Heart without harbour), 1949
    • Ballade van die groot begeer (Ballad of the great desire), 1960
    • Vooraand (The evening before), 1964
  • Novels:
    • Die palmboom (The palm tree), 1940
    • The dream and the desert (in English), 1953
  • Travelogues and war correspondence:
    • The way out (in English), 1946
    • Sol y sombra, 1948 (Sun and Shade), with illustrations by his brother François
    • Ver in die wêreld (Far in the world), 1951
    • Sout van die aarde (Salt of the earth), 1961
  • Plays:
    • Magdalena Retief, 1938
    • Die goue kring (The golden circle), 1956
  • One-act plays:
    • Die wit muur (The white wall), 1940
    • Alle paaie gaan na Rome (All roads lead to Rome), 1949
    • Die sluipskutter, 1951 (translated by the author as "The sniper" in 1962)

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Cope (1983), page 32.
  2. ^ Cope (1983), page 31.
  3. ^ Cope (1982), page 32
  4. ^ Coullie, Lyle & Campbell (2011), page 38.
  5. ^ Coullie, Lyle & Campbell (2011), page 40.
  6. ^ Coullie, Lyle & Campbell (2011), page 41.
  7. ^ Judith Lütge Coullie (2011), Remembering Roy Campbell: The Memoirs of his Daughters Anna and Tess, Winged Lion Press. Page 43.
  8. ^ Uys Krige, 1910–1987 at stellenboschwriters.com
  9. ^ Nasson, Bill, South Africa at War 1939–1945, Jacana Media, Auckland Park 2012, p.17
  10. ^ a b Coullie, Lyle & Campbell (2011), page 38, footnote 76.
  11. ^ Botha (2006), page 245
  12. ^ a b c Cope (1983), page 33.
  13. ^ a b Cope (1983), page 36.
  14. ^ Cope (1982), pages 33–36
  15. ^ a b Uys Krige monograph at Encyclopædia Britannica online
  16. ^ Cope (1982), pages 36–37
  17. ^ Joseph Pearce: Unafraid of Virginia Woolf (ISI Books, Wilmington, Delaware: 2004), p. 402.
  18. ^ Loader, Catharina Bitter-sweet entrapment: A bird’s eye view of some prominent themes in South African literature at University of Vienna
  19. ^ a b Cope (1983), page 38.
  20. ^ a b c Cope (1982), page 38
  21. ^ Cope (1982), pages 37–38
  22. ^ A small town in South Africa The Independent, 31 March 1995. Retrieved 26 June 2020
  23. ^ Hendrik Hofmeyr composer profile

Sources

  • Botha, Danie (2006). Voetligte en applous!: Die beginjare van die Afrikaanse beroepstoneel (in Afrikaans). Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis.
    ISBN 978-1-86919-090-3-
    .
  • Cope, Jack (1982). The Adversary Within, Dissident Writers in Afrikaans. Cape Town: David Philip.
    ISBN 978-0-90839-659-7
    .
  • Coullie, Judith Lütge; Lyle, Anna Campbell; Campbell, Teresa (2011). Remembering Roy Campbell: The Memoirs of his Daughters Anna and Tess. Hamden, CT: Winged Lion Press.
    ISBN 978-1-93629-404-6
    .

External links
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