The construction of Eugène Marais as an Afrikaner hero*

Abstract

Eugène Marais (1871–1936) is remembered as an Afrikaner hero. There are, however, competing claims as to the meaning of this ‘heroic’ status. Some remember him as the ‘father of Afrikaans poetry’, one of the most lionised writers in Afrikaans, and part of the Afrikaner nationalist movement. Yet a second intellectual tradition remembers him as a dissident iconoclast, an Afrikaner rebel. This article seeks to show, first, how these two very different understandings of Marais came to exist, and, secondly, that the course of this rivalry of legends was inextricably bound up with the socio‐economic and political history of South Africa. We look at his portrayal at particular historical moments and analyse the changes that have occurred with reference to broader developments in South Africa. This is in order to understand the making of cultural identity as part of nationalism, and opens a window onto the contested process of re‐imagining the Afrikaner nation. The article demonstrates how Marais's changing image was a result of material changes within the socio‐economic milieu, and the mutable needs of the Afrikaner establishment. The hagio‐graphy of Marais by the Nationalist press, both during his life and after his death, is explored, showing how the socio‐political context of the Afrikaans language struggle was influential in shaping his image. The chronology of his representation is traced in terms of the changing self‐image of the Afrikaner over the ensuing seven decades. Finally, in order to understand the fractured meaning of Marais today, the need for alternative heroes in the ‘New South Africa’ is considered.