Regional and current problems in South Africa and their impact on literature with remarks on the evaluation of the Afrikaans Novel

J Van Der Elst

doi:10.4102/lit.v6i1.893

Abstract

My paper centres round a specific situation and its impact on literature in South Africa with special reference to the modern novel in the Afrikaans language and the literary evaluation of the novel. This does not mean that I exclude references to the other genres, poetry and dram a and to literatures in other languages within the South African context. Many of you might know but to clarify I would like to point out that I refer to Afrikaans as the Germanic language originating from the 17th century Dutch mother tongue of approximately 3 ½ million South Africans.

Highlights

Mypaper centres ro u n d a specific silualion am i its im pact on lileraline in South Africa with special reference to tlie m odern novel in the Alrikaans language an d the literary evaluation ol the novel
It is o b v io usthat in SouthA fric a, as in manyothercoun tr ie s, a d e lln ite actual and political situation has an eliect on its literature
N ational circum stances are closely related to the developm ent ol the so-called “ litterature engagee”

Summary

IN TRODUCT IO N

Mypaper centres ro u n d a specific silualion am i its im pact on lileraline in South Africa with special reference to tlie m odern novel in the Alrikaans language an d the literary evaluation ol the novel. This does not m ean that I exclude references to the other genres, poetry and d ram a and to literatures in other languages w ithin the South African t:ontexl. M any of you might know but to clarify I would like to point out that I refer to Ah ikaans as the G erm anic language originating from the 17th century D utch m other longueofappi ’o x im a te l y 3 V 2 m illio nSouth Africans

L ITER A TU R E

LITER A TU R E IN SO U TH AFRICA

S o u th A fr ic anEng lis h L ite r a tu r e

T H E A FRIK AANS N O V EL FR OMTHE BEG INNING

Findings

Thegreatexp lo sio n