Afrikaans literature

Afrikaans can claim the same literary roots as contemporary Dutch, as both languages stem from 17th-century Dutch. One of the oldest examples of written Cape Dutch is the poem Lied ter eere van de Swellendamsche en diverse andere helden bij de bloedige actie aan Muizenberg in dato 7 Aug. 1795 (English: Song in Honour of the Swellendam and various others Heroes at the Bloody Action at Muizenberg)[3] while the earliest Afrikaans publications are generally believed to be Zamenspraak tusschen Klaas Waarzegger en Jan Twyfelaar (English: Conversations between Klaas Waarzegger and Jan Twyfelaar) by L.H. Meurant in 1861 and Uiteensetting van die godsdiens (English: Exposition of the Religion) by Abu Bakr Effendi in Arabic Afrikaans in 1877.[4]

Even though the roots of the Afrikaans language movement date from 1875, the movement did not spread in a major way until after the Treaty of Vereeniging in 1902.

In the aftermath of the British victory in the Second Boer War, Sir Alfred Milner, the Royal Governor of the newly formed Union of South Africa, launched an effort to use both the government and the educational system to force the Afrikaners to learn to speak English. In response, Afrikaans was standardized as a language and was first used in a standard form in memoirs written by Boers about their experiences in the war. Furthermore, Milner's efforts to culturally assimilate them mobilized the Afrikaners to take back control of both the government and the educational system.

During the 1948-1994 rule of the National Party, however, the Afrikaner intelligentsia formed one of the strongest forces in opposition to the ruling Party, and the most acclaimed Afrikaans authors openly criticized the government's domestic and foreign policies.[2]

One of the first Afrikaner intellectuals to oppose the National Party was Uys Krige, who first became known as one of the Dertigers ("The Writers of the Thirties"). Krige's opposition to the National Party went back to the Spanish Civil War, when he campaigned passionately for the Republican side.[5] He wrote the Hymn of the Fascist Bombers in 1937, which elicited vehement condemnations from both extreme Afrikaner nationalists and from the Catholic Church in South Africa, which opposed the Republican side due to the anti-Catholic religious persecution being perpetrated by the Republican forces (see Red Terror (Spain).[6]

According to Jack Cope, Krige's linguistic and literary talent combined with his passion for modern French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese literature made him the principal translator from Romance languages into Afrikaans during the 20th century. Krige has therefore had a considerable influence on all subsequent Afrikaans literature.[7]

Uys Krige translated many of the works of William Shakespeare from Elizabethan English into Afrikaans. He also translated works by Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda, Lope de Vega and Juan Ramón Jiménez from Spanish, works by Baudelaire, François Villon, Jacques Prévert, Arthur Rimbaud, and Paul Éluard from French, and the poems of Salvatore Quasimodo and Giuseppe Ungaretti from Italian.[8]

Krige's electrifying encounter with Latin American poetry whilst stationed with the South African Army 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.[9]

The Sestigers movement was an important collective of South African authors, who opposed the National Party and who attempted to bring the literature of the world to South Africa. Authors involved in the movement established a publishing house, Taurus, which printed writings that were controversial and which the government attempted to censor.[2]

In her biography of Afrikaner poet Ingrid Jonker, Louise Viljoen has described the Sestigers as nothing less than "a cultural revolt in the heart of Afrikanerdom."

In 1970, at the height of John Vorster's leadership, a teenaged Antije Krog penned an anti-racist poem for her school magazine: Gee vir my 'n land waar swart en wit hand aan hand, vrede en liefde kan bring in my mooi land[10] (Give me a land where black and white hand in hand, Can bring peace and love to my beautiful land) scandalising her rural, Afrikaans-speaking, and Pro-National Party community and bringing the national media to her parents' doorstep.

Described by her contemporary Joan Hambidge "as the Pablo Neruda of Afrikaans", Krog published her first book of verse, Dogter van Jefta (Daughter of Jephta) at the age of seventeen. Within the next two years she published a second collection titled: Januarie-suite (January Suite). Since then she has published several further volumes, one in English. Much of her poetry deals with love, apartheid, the role of women, and the politics of gender. Her poetry has been translated into English, Dutch, and several other languages.

During his imprisonment by the National Party regime between 1975 and 1982, Afrikaner poet and political dissident Breyten Breytenbach wrote the poem, Ballade van ontroue bemindes ("Ballade of Unfaithful Lovers"). Inspired by François Villon's Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis, Breytenbach compared Afrikaner dissident poets Peter Blum, Ingrid Jonker, and himself to unfaithful lovers, who had betrayed Afrikaans poetry by taking leave of it.[11]

Ever since free elections toppled the National Party and ended Apartheid in 1994, the status of Afrikaans within South Africa has been much reduced. Afrikaans went from having equal status with English to being just one of 11 official languages, leading to a renewed dominance of English in the public sphere. Attempts to reverse the marginalisation of Afrikaans have been described as a third Afrikaans language movement.[12]

Notable authors writing or who wrote in Afrikaans include André Brink and Breyten Breytenbach, Reza de Wet, Etienne Leroux, Jan Rabie, Ingrid Jonker, Adam Small, Bartho Smit, and Chris Barnard.[13]

The Hertzog Prize is the highest award for South African literature generally, as well as for literature written in Afrikaans.[14]

• Dutch literature
• Languages of South Africa
• Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal
• South African literature

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Afrikaans literature.

• Afdeling Zuid-Afrikaanse literatuur in DBNL - Department Afrikaans literature on DBNL
• Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging - Afrikaans Language and Culture Society
• Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal - Dictionary of the Afrikaans language