bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Die psigologiese identiteit van die bose: Lacan, aggressie en Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz
Authors: Barnard L.
Published: August 2012

The psychological identity of evil: Lacan, aggression and Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz The title of Christoffel Coetzee’s novel Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz introduces a wordplay on Mentz/mens and begs the question: What is man (die “mens”)? Evil as portrayed in this novel can partly be explained by referring to the violent war circumstances, or it can be attributed to the philosophical idea of the “second nature” that Mentz develops in the course of the narrative. I use Lacan’s theory of the formation of identity to explain irrational violence and evil in man. Evil – as seen in this novel – is the result of the following: the pain of a fragmented, suffering body; the identification with an ideal image or leader; the lack of self-reflection; the opposition between “us” and “them”; the Oedipal violence against the parent and the inherent violence of the law.
Die agtergrond en ontstaansgeskiedenis van Hubert du Plessis se Duitse en Franse liedere
Authors: Van der Mescht H.
Published: August 2012

The background and genesis of Hubert du Plessis’s German and French songs On 7 June 2002 the South African composer Hubert du Plessis turned 80. Among his 77 art songs there are (apart from songs in Afrikaans, Dutch and English) eleven on German texts and one on a French text. The aim of this article is to investigate the genesis of these German and French songs. Du Plessis was influenced by his second cousin, the Afrikaans poet Barend J. Toerien, who lived in the same residence as Du Plessis at the University of Stellenbosch where they studied in the early 1940s. Toerien introduced Du Plessis to the work of Rilke, of whose poetry Du Plessis later set to music “Herbst”. Du Plessis’s ten Morgenstern songs were inspired by a chance gift of a Morgenstern volume from Susanne Stark-Schwietering, a student in Grahamstown where Du Plessis taught at Rhodes University College (1944-1951). During his studies in London (1951-1954) Du Plessis also received a volume of Morgenstern poetry from Howard Ferguson in 1951. The choice of French verses from Solomon’s Song of Songs was influenced by the advice of Hilda de Wet (Stellenbosch, 1966). It is notable that Du Plessis’s main composition teachers, William Bell, Friedrich Hartmann and Alan Bush, had practically no influence on the choice of the texts of his German and French songs.
The top, the bottom and the middle: Space, class and gender in Metropolis
Authors: Byrne D.C.
Published: August 2012

My article explores the images and metaphors relating to space in Fritz Lang’s 1926 film, Metropolis (remade in 1984 by Georgio Moroder). Using a primarily Marxist interpretive framework, I analyse the spatial layout of the filmic city of Metropolis, divided into three levels, one above ground and two underground, as metonymic of the class divisions in the urban society that are represented in the film. The article also examines the architecture of Metropolis as representing social values and conflicts. It then proceeds to investigate the film’s gender dynamics as revealed in the two figures of the robot Maria and the real Maria, and concludes that the film’s gender and class ideology is remarkably conservative.
'Living in a place called exile': The universals of the alienation caused by isolation
Authors: Claassen J-M
Published: August 2012

Although various aspects of Ovid’s emotional reactions to exile have been researched, there has so far been no extended practical study that places the emotional content of his works into a new political context. In this respect Ovid’s voicing of his experiences can serve to illuminate the experiences of latter-day exiles. This article attempts to establish, by literary means, a picture of the alienation attendant upon exile and its sublimation. For this purpose the poetry of Ovid, as well as that of certain modern authors, is used as illustration. There are many parallels between the Rome of the turn of our era and the South Africa of previous decades: exile was a political weapon in both. Themes reflecting alienation in Ovid’s poems are universal, and still valid in situations of exile today. Ovid’s portrayal of his own exiled persona is used to draw a psychological profile of the experiences of alienation during such exile. This profile may be termed the “universals of alienation”, which is applied to the exile or imprisonment of the victims of contemporary political upheaval. The extent to which the verbalisation of such alienation serves to heal such a wounded soul is explored.
Poësie en popkultuur: oor enkele gedigte van Joan Hambidge
Authors: Nel A.
Published: August 2012

Poetry and pop culture: Some poems by Joan Hambidge The influence of pop culture as a general movement, as well as pop art as a specific art movement, can be seen in the work of Joan Hambidge. In a number of her poems Hambidge enters into conversation with Andy Warhol as the most prominent pop artist. She comments through poetry on Warhol’s life and work method and also presents her poems in the idiom of Warhol. This entails, inter alia, a repetition or duplication of the content, a deliberate intertextual conversation with verbal and visual artists and a reuse of existing material. Hambidge follows Warhol’s representation of popular cult figures from the pop era by creating a number of word portraits of famous people such as Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. This “gallery” of word portraits becomes part of the (well-known) literary conversation which Hambidge conducts with other poets and artists, and at the same time communicates her own poetics as well as her own view on the construction of identity and death. Ultimately this pre-occupation with cult figures becomes a mask for the self.
Translating traces: Deconstruction and the practice of translation
Authors: Kruger J.L.
Published: August 2012

In this article I attempt to show that deconstruction and its practices should not be read as intimations towards plurality or relativism in translation, but should rather be utilised as a powerful analytical tool, a way of reading and writing with heightened awareness. In order to arrive at this conclusion, I discuss différance and the play of the trace in the context of the cont(r)act between two texts that are in a relationship of translation. I further argue that plurality as contained in Derrida’s différance is not a directive, but that the translator has to be aware of the existence of plurality and to take into account that the reader also participates in and contributes to this plurality. The key to an application of Derrida’s theory is shown to be situated in the process rather than in the product of translation, and this process has to move beyond a hierarchical opposition of “original” and translation. I conclude that différance becomes not an obstacle or barrier to translation, but specifically that which, in making something untranslatable, creates the need for translation.
'Whither am I wandering?' A journey into the Self – Mary Wollstonecraft’s travels in Scandinavia, 1795
Authors: Beard M.
Published: August 2012

To place the letters written by Mary Wollstonecraft from Scandinavia to her lover, Gilbert Imlay, besides the journal in epistolary form that she published on her return to England, is to discern something of the complexity of Wollstonecraft’s personality. The two sets of documents, each of distinctive interest, reveal by their juxtaposition the struggle of an intelligent woman to reconcile her feelings and her reason as she strives to pursue a trajectory towards the emotional and financial independence that she had claimed for women in her polemical work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The comparison between the two sets of documents also demonstrates the ways in which the characteristics of the letter – its potentiality for immediacy, for the expression of the self and the emotions – are consciously shaped in the published Letters. Such strategies are designed for the perceived reader in each case: on the one hand, Imlay himself and, on the other, all those readers likely to purchase a work from the imprint of Joseph Johnson.
Waterslangverhale in Afrikaans: die relevansie van mitisiteit
Authors: Lombard J.
Published: August 2012

Watersnake stories in Afrikaans: The relevance of mythicity This article focuses on the reworking of the mythological motif of the water snake in Afrikaans literature. Water snake stories form part of the very first examples of Afrikaans texts in written form, whereas since the end of the twentieth century water snake symbolism has received renewed attention. The analyses of a selection of Afrikaans narratives are performed by utilising the concept of mythicity – a concept which can be defined as the conscious intention to probe the numinous dimensions of human existence by means of literature. The delicate balance between numinosity and narrativity is used as basis for the analysis and evaluation of the texts. The mythic potential of a narrative is not always fully realised, owing either to either restricting ideological and moralistic intentions or excessive association regarding the mythological symbol. The following texts are discussed: Jakob Platjie by G.R. von Wielligh (1917), Die eerste lewe van Adamastor by André P. Brink (1988), Meraai van Rolbos by Charlotte de Beer (1989) and Die donker melk van daeraad by George Weideman (1994). The texts are not, however, discussed in chronological order. The relevance of mythicity is specifically illustrated in the Weideman anthology with its positioning of water snake symbolism in a specific historical context whilst simultaneously exploring universal dimensions.
Revisiting reviewing: The need for a debate on the role of arts journalism in South Africa
Authors: Wasserman H.
Published: August 2012

The assault on the editor of a publication at a South African arts festival by an artist who disliked a review of his concert again highlighted an age-old rift between artists and critics. However, the response that this incident elicited among readers of this and other publications, showed surprising support for the artist rather than for the journalist. If this is read as an indication of a disillusionment among readers with regard to the standards of arts journalism in South Africa, the relationship between arts journalists and society should be re-examined. Ethical journalism rests upon a relationship between journalist and audience, and a sensitivity for the context in which journalism is practised. This article examines arts journalism within changing societal contexts, with a specific focus on the South African situation, where artistic production still bears witness to cultural and ethnic divisions of the past. Against the background of the changes that have occurred in society on a local and global level, it is argued that a re-evaluation of the roles and responsibilities of arts journalists is needed – especially in the light of the formation of new cultural identities after apartheid. In conclusion, an ongoing and indepth debate about the ethical responsibility of arts journalism is suggested in order to ensure its continued relevance within an increasingly commercialised cultural context on the one hand, and within a changing South African society on the other.
Reclaiming lost ground – the history play in Zulu
Authors: Groenewald H.C.
Published: August 2012

This article briefly sketches the history of African-language literatures as initiated by missionaries and formed by Bantu education. Against this background the aim of this article is to establish what the objectives of Zulu dramatists were when they presented historical fact, flawed history, as well as ideological sentiment in their historical plays. Are history plays in Zulu simply the products of writers whose objective was to meet a publisher’s requirements, namely to extend the dramatic genre by writing history plays? Did authors perhaps only have an educational objective, that is, to provide learners with setwork material? If, on the other hand, the history play is the creation of a memory for a specific purpose, as post-colonial theorists suggest, the next objective of this article is to establish what kind of memory Zulu dramatists have created and for what purpose. The history plays will be discussed under the following topics: UNodumehlezi kaMenzi – He who is famous as he sits, son of Menzi (King Shaka). In exploring aspects of Shaka’s rule, it becomes clear that writers express their pain about the great loss the Zulu nation suffered when the Shakan era passed. The second topic treats Izwe lidungekile – The land is in turmoil. The dramas dealt with here vividly depict the pitiful state of the Zulu after their subjugation by the British empire, leading eventually to an inevitable option – armed resistance. The third and last topic, Izwe ngelethu – The land is ours – treats the issue of land.
Bury my bones but keep my words: The interface between oral tradition and contemporary African writing
Authors: Cloete M.J.
Published: August 2012

The contention in this article is that African oral tradition should be reexamined in view of its perceived new importance in the work of African novelists. This article investigates the nature and definition of oral tradition, as well as the use of oral tradition as a cultural tool. The increasing inclusion of oral literature as part of the African literature component within university and school curricula is discussed. Finally, the pronounced role of oral tradition in fiction is examined, using as exemplars some seminal works of Bessie Head (1978, 1990 and 1995 ) and Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1965, 1977, 1981, and 1982).
Beyond the walls of the lunatic asylum: Christopher Hope’s early fiction
Authors: Wood F.
Published: August 2012

This article examines an under-explored aspect of Christopher Hope’s early fiction: its capacity to suggest the potential for imaginative and psychological freedom through its comic, carnivalesque qualities. Hope produced various novels and stories set in South Africa during the 1950s and 1960s, including A Separate Development (1981), Black Swan (1987) and the short story collection Learning to Fly (1990). It is argued that Hope’s vision in these works tends to be perceived as essentially satirical, ultimately limited by bleakness and pessimism; while the carnivalesque, potentially liberatory aspects of his writing tend to be overlooked. By utilising comic and carnivalesque features Hope’s work indeed offers creative, liberated ways of apprehending reality. Mikhail Bakhtin’s discussion of the ability of the carnivalesque to open up new ways of seeing, through the “nonofficial” versions of reality that it proffers, is particularly relevant in this regard. It is argued that this latter aspect of Hope’s work is especially significant, bearing in mind the sense of constraint and confinement that seemed to dominate much of South African fiction during the apartheid era and that still remains a key concern in many postapartheid novels.
Die waarde van kognitiewe semantiek in die analisefase van vertaling
Authors: Pienaar M.
Published: August 2012

The value of cognitive semantics in the analysis phase of translation One of the most challenging tasks facing the trainee translator relates to the analysis phase of translation. If the analysis is inadequate it is unlikely that the subsequent translation will be acceptable. This article takes Cognitive Semantics as point of departure and focuses on the theoretical aspects of force dynamics (Talmy, 1985 and 2000) by indicating that the understanding of schematic categories and schematic meaning does not only contribute to the pre-translation analysis phase in the translation process but could also enhance the understanding of the process per se. Force dynamics is discussed in relation to subjectification, perspective and grounding. It is argued that the principles of force dynamics are applicable to the way in which the translator should approach a text in the analysis phase. The principles of force dynamics are illustrated by making use of the short story “Voorgevoel” by John Miles. The text is in the first instance analysed by placing the focus on the role of the narrator as conceptualiser. Subsequently, the working of force dynamics in the texts is discussed. Finally it is indicated how the principles of force dynamics also act as metaphor for the process of translation as such.
Some aspects of imagery in the poetry of S.M. Burns-Ncamashe
Authors: Mtumane Z.
Published: August 2012

This article investigates the use of imagery in the poetry of S.M. Burns-Ncamashe, as it is apparent that his poetry is rich in imagery. The aspects of imagery to be discussed are simile, metaphor and personification. The discussion then aims at revealing the nature of the imagery the poet uses and the domains of reality that he explores with his images. The poetry of Burns-Ncamashe that will be considered includes the already published poems in Masibaliselane (1961), Izibongo zakwa- Sesile (1979), the unpublished poem titled “Aa! Dalubuhle!” and the one in the volume compiled by Tonjeni (1959). Certain poems on tapes [T(XH/96)5, T(XH/90)317, T(XH/93)28 and T(XH/94)84] will also be considered for this discussion. Prior to the discussion of the elements of imagery Burns-Ncamashe will be introduced and the concepts “imagery” defined. A concluding section briefly summarises the discussion and highlights some of the findings.
Wie skryf wat vir wie? ’n Outeursprofiel van die Afrikaanse kinder- en jeugprosa (fiksie) 1990-2001
Authors: Snyman M.
Published: August 2012

Who writes what for whom? An authors’ profile of Afrikaans children’s and youth prose (fiction) 1990-2001 In this article a profile of authors in the production category Afrikaans children’s and youth prose (fiction) for the period 1990-2001 is compiled according to selected categories. The profile attempts to determine whether trends can be identified and statements and opinions of researchers with regard to this production category be corroborated by inferences drawn from this profile. Among others, the article addresses issues such as the age and gender of authors, the relation between authors and publishers and the influences of prices and awards on the publishing and writing patterns in this production category. It was found that a statistical analysis of authors involved in this publication category corroborated perceptions and findings of researchers in the field and can also identify and predict trends and problems.
M.E.R. – 'Reg op ereplek' as kinderboekskrywer
Authors: Wybenga G.
Published: August 2012

M.E.R. – 'The right to a place of honour' as the author of children’s books A recognition of M.E.R.’s writing developed late in her career. One of the reasons for this was most probably that she was almost exclusively involved in writing for children in the 1920s and early 1930s. Her many publications for children included not only “Kinders van die Voortrek” and the well-known “Karlien en Kandas”, but many more. It was only in the late 1940s after she had published books for adults that she received recognition for her work – which did not happen in the case of her earlier children’s books. Although she is at present regarded as a pioneer of children’s literature, these books have still not been accepted as part of the canon. This article attempts to indicate why she is considered a pioneer by situating her work in the literary context of the time. By analysing the individual books for children as texts in their own right, the article demonstates that dichotomising her work into literature for children and literature for adults is not justified. From the onset till the end of her career M.E.R.’s publications form one continuous oeuvre. The same trends observable in her early work for children are present in the later work for adults.
Kinder- en jeugtoneel in Afrikaans: oorsig en tendense
Authors: Coetser J.L.
Published: August 2012

Children’s and youth theatre in Afrikaans: Overview and trends This article consists of two main parts. The first part provides a historical overview of children’s and youth theatre in Afrikaans, followed by the identification of some trends associated with this form of theatre. The initial aim of the article is to supplement current brief overviews of children’s and youth theatre and then to postulate that the same social, political and economic influences are present in children’s and youth theatre as in theatre intended for adult audiences. The discussion concludes that children’s and youth plays in Afrikaans, notably those published after 1922, offer indications of realities that playwrights, audiences and readers of these plays were confronted with.
English South African children’s literature and the environment
Authors: Jenkins E.R.
Published: August 2012

Historical studies of nature conservation and literary criticism of fiction concerned with the natural environment provide some pointers for the study of South African children’s literature in English. This kind of literature, in turn, has a contribution to make to studies of South African social history and literature. There are English-language stories, poems and picture books for children which reflect human interaction with nature in South Africa since early in the nineteenth century: from hunting, through domestication of the wilds, the development of scientific agriculture, and the changing roles of nature reserves, to modern ecological concern for the entire environment. Until late in the twentieth century the literature usually endorsed the assumption held by whites that they had exclusive ownership of the land and wildlife. In recent years English-language children’s writers and translators of indigenous folktales for children have begun to explore traditional beliefs about and practices in conservation.
Humor in kinderverhale in die tersiêre en intermediêre fases van taalonderwys
Authors: Van Niekerk J. , Van der Westhuizen B.
Published: August 2012

Humour in children’s literature in the tertiary and intermediate phases of language education Humour is essential in the development of an individual and in the development of a healthy society in general, and research on humour is currently regarded as important in a variety of disciplines in the humanities. There are various ways in which an individual may be exposed to humour, and one of these is children’s stories. An instrument or model for studying humour in children’s stories is necessary and very useful: an instrument that takes into account developmental psychology, literary theory and the nature of humour. When these are combined, the nature, scope and effect of humour in children’s stories can be determined. This article explores ways in which such a model can be used at tertiary level in undergraduate and graduate studies, in teacher training and at the intermediate level when facilitating reading as one of the learning aims in language teaching to children from eight to twelve years (roughly Grades 4 to 6). Humour can be an instrument in the hands of authors and of adults as mediator or facilitator to sensitise young readers to humour in stories. As a consequence of this process of sensitising, readers’ reading and life skills are developed and their horizon of experience is broadened.
Realistic teenage fiction with a sexrelated theme: Readers’ responses to Slinger-slinger by Francois Bloemhof
Authors: Wiggill M.N. , De Wet G.F.
Published: August 2012

Francois Bloemhof submitted his novel for teenagers, “Slinger-slinger” for the Sanlam competition for youth fiction in 1996. Eventually this prizewinner in the beginners’ category was published in 1997. The main theme of “Slinger-slinger” is the sexual awakening and identity of teenagers. A study was undertaken to obtain the opinions of teenage readers about the success of “Slinger-slinger” as a whole, as well as to gauge the success of integrating sexual aspects in this novel. The study also served to obtain information about the reading needs of teenage readers with regard to realistic teenage fiction and teenage fiction with a sex-related theme. The findings of the study underlying this article indicated that the participating teenage readers regarded “Slinger-slinger” as successful and interesting, and that they would like to read more realistic Afrikaans teenage fiction such as “Slinger-slinger”.
’n Konstruktiwistiese benadering tot die fasilitering van die jeugverhaal Dans op die rand van ’n krans (Elkarien Fourie)
Authors: De Beer E.
Published: August 2012

A constructivist approach to the facilitation of the youth novel Dans op die rand van ’n krans (Elkarien Fourie) In this article the facilitation of a youth novel, “Dans op die rand van ’n krans” (Elkarien Fourie), is discussed from a constructivist point of view. The integration of biblically-related material in the grounding of a Christian approach to language, literacy and communication is focused on in the introductory part of the article. Furthermore an adolescent’s vision of reality is highlighted as in this respect the mentioned novel can appropriately be facilitataed to Grade 11 learners. As it is imperative that facilitators should study the narratological foundation of a novel, relevant narrative aspects such as characterisation, plot, time and space are discussed. In addition an interpretation and an evaluation of Fourie’s youth novel are included as well as an overview of constructivist theories. Relevant learner assignments on narrative aspects and their assessment of the mentioned youth novel are treated in conclusion. The attempted aim and focus of the article, however, remains to outline how the facilitation of Fourie’s novel can be applied to ensure maximum reader satisfaction and simultaneoulsy achieve certain educational outcomes.
Promoting children’s literature: The challenges and possibilities of using the Internet in a developing society
Authors: Greyling F.
Published: August 2012

This article explores the possibilities and practicalities of using the Internet in a multicultural society such as South Africa to the benefit of language and cultural identity, media literacy and children’s literature. Stories create opportunities for worlds to meet and for cultural and language identities to be formed – especially in the minds of children. It is thus of crucial importance that children’s literature should be available and advanced in all indigenous languages. The Internet, the information and communication technology of the future, can play a significant role in the creation and transference of cultural identity, including the advancement of indigenous languages in general, and literature and literacy in particular. The vast technical possibilities of the Internet, its cost-efficiency and interactive and inviting character make it an important option to consider for the advancement of children’s literature. Although access to the Internet in South Africa is still relatively limited, the importance of new communication technologies is recognised by various policies, the implementation of which could result in the accessibility of electronic media and the literacy of its users. With “Storiewerf”, an existing website for Afrikaans children’s literature as a working example, new websites can be developed to provide content and services for other target groups as well.
Identity, difference and healing: Reading Beloved within the context of John Caputo’s theory of hermeneutics
Authors: Du Plooy B. , Ryan P.
Published: August 2012

John Caputo’s interest in the human struggle towards healing/wholing is obvious in his contribution on the work of Foucault: “On not knowing who we are: Madness, hermeneutics, and the night of truth in Foucault” (Caputo, 1993:233-262). While basing his reading of madness as a form of human suffering on the work of Foucault, Caputo moves beyond Foucaultian theory – “in a direction that, while it was not taken by Foucault, is perhaps suggested by him” (Caputo, 1993:234) – by envisioning a hermeneutics of response and redress and a therapeutics of “healing gestures” (Caputo, 1993:234). In this article we investigate the applicability of Caputo’s theory of progressive Foucaultian hermeneutics to Toni Morrison’s “Beloved”, a work of historical fiction. (Morrison is an African-American author and Nobel laureate.) We do this investigation by reading the novel’s three major characters (Sethe, Beloved and Denver) as symbolic representations of Caputo’s three kinds of hermeneutics, of which the third, represented by the character Denver, is constitutive of a therapeutics of healing.
The crucial role of literature in the generation of knowledge and critical thinking
Authors: Wenzel M.
Published: August 2012

This article addresses two major issues in education today: the generation and processing of knowledge and the crucial role of the humanities, literature in particular, in the development of students with individual world views and unique senses of identity. The article presents an argument for a holistic and open-ended (as opposed to prescriptive) approach to knowledge generation and proposes the acknowledgement of differences and choices that should be considered in the construction of future scenarios for educational practices. The argument is less concerned with content (that is, the syllabus as such) or the practicalities of education, than with the basic approach to and facilitation of the process of education and knowledge acquisition within specific cultural and social contexts and the role of literature in that process.
Who killed Kesentseng? Cultural knowledge and narratological analysis in the interpretation of the Setswana short story 'Ga le a ka la tswa' ('Doomed to die before dawn') by B.D. Magoleng
Authors: Letsie M. , Du Plooy H.
Published: August 2012

In this article the argument is put forward that although the criterial force in narrative texts is the fact that these texts are intrinsically narrative, there is a range of extra-narrative components which should also be taken into consideration in processes of interpretation. The article explores the cultural dimension of a short story in Setswana and illustrates how cultural knowledge is essential to reach a more comprehensive understanding of the text.
Skinder as gespreksgenre
Authors: Van der Merwe G.S.
Published: August 2012

Gossip as a discourse genre Gossip is one of the wide range of sub-categories of discourse genres in story-telling. It is one of the most common interactive forms of discourse in informal conversation, because it has its origin in the general inclination of man to show an intense interest in other people’s activities. Although the development of gossip differs with regard to the subject of discussion, the context and situation in which it is produced as well as the persons participating, it is possible to distinguish definite universal features of gossip. This article deals with the most prominent characteristics of gossip. The focus falls on the structure, the gossiping process, the content, the pejorative, evaluating nature of it and the social aspects involved in gossiping. Special attention is paid to non-verbal elements, which are frequently used when people gossip. In spite of the negative connotations gossip has, it is very important in the establishment of social identities and relations. It should therefore not be neglected in the study of language.
Sterke vrouwen! De institutionele positie van de eerste Afrikaanse schrijfsters
Authors: Glorie I.
Published: August 2012

Strong women! The institutional position of the first women writers in Afrikaans In the early 1990s several Afrikaans literary scholars suggested that the work of the first Afrikaans women writers had been marginalised, because it supposedly went against the hegemonic Afrikaner-nationalist discourse. Since then research in the field of social history has indicated that during the first half of the 20th century, Afrikaner women were not as powerless as has often been assumed. In this article, the biographical details of women writers from 1902-1930 are provided, with special reference to their involvement in Afrikaans women’s organisations. The short story “Prente” (“Pictures”) by Mabel Jansen is used to illustrate the interrelatedness of literature and social work within the framework of this type of organisations. In the concluding paragraph an attempt is made to explain the marginalisation of these women writers’ work from an international perspective, with special reference to the interference between the Dutch and the Afrikaans literary systems.
Symbolism in the poetry of S.M. Burns-Ncamashe
Authors: Mtumane Z.
Published: August 2012

In the introductory part of this article it is attempted to define the concept “symbolism”. This article examines the use of symbols and the symbolism embedded in the poetry of S.M. Burns- Ncamase. The symbols to be investigated include those alluding to authority, grief, witchcraft, good motherhood and strength. The aim of the discussion is to reveal the nature of the specific symbols the poet uses and the domains of reality that he explores and represents by means of certain symbols. The poetry of Burns-Ncamashe to be considered in the ensuing discussion includes poems in the following volumes: Masibaliselane (1961), Izibongo zakwaSesile (1979) and those found in Tonjeni (1959). Poems on tapes (see T(XH/93)28, T(XH/90)317, T(XH/90)322 and T(XH/96)5) will also be considered for this discussion, as well as the unpublished poem “Aa! Dalubuhle”. In the concluding section a brief summary of the discussion and some findings are highlighted.
Jong lesers se identifisering met karakters: skryfteorie en -praktyk
Authors: Greyling F.
Published: August 2012

Young readers’ identification with characters: the theory and practice of creative writing It is generally acknowledged that reader identification with characters contributes to readers’ involvement in the text and the subsequent pleasure derived from reading stories. It seems that establishing a relationship with the implied reader of the text comes naturally for successful authors. There is, however, a lack of coherent theory on reader identification with characters which can be used in the teaching of creative writing. This article combines insights gained from various disciplines in order to develop a coherent theory of the phenomenon of reader identification. Of special interest are the results of reader-response research regarding the relation between individuals’ development phase and identification with characters. Some of the possibilities which the writer can utilise to establish a relationship with the reader and influence the nature of reader identification with characters are the choice of characters and their depiction in the text, the narrative strategy and the use of viewpoint.
Breyten Breytenbach se Boek: die taal (poësie) as voelinstrument om bewussyn te verken
Authors: Burger W.
Published: August 2012

Breyten Breytenbach’s Boek: language (poetry) as feelinginstrument to explore consciousness One of the big questions of science is the mystery of consciousness. How is it possible that a state of consciousness, an awareness of your own being and actions, can originate from matter, from the movement of neurons in nerve tissue? While neuroscience does not have answers to these questions (yet), the subjective exploration of consciousness by means of works of art, could make a valuable contribution. Breyten Breytenbach explicitly views his art (writing and painting) as ways to investigate consciousness. In “Boek” (1987) Breytenbach explains his views on art. In this complex work, he focusses, among other aspects, on the idea that the work of art, at a specific moment, produces an “other”, a meaning that has not hitherto existed somewhere, waiting to be discovered. This hitherto unknown meaning comes into existence in the moment of creation. The creative moment in which the hitherto unknown is wrestled from the known, cannot be produced by following a recipe. The unknown, the other, virtually invades the world of the artist, as if the work of art happens to the artist, instead of him creating it. This experience has a changing effect on the artist and in the process he learns more about his own consciousness. The changing effect is not restricted to the artist, as the reader of the poem shares this experience. Because the reader is also writer, according to Breytenbach, the work of art is recreated by the reader and the reader has the same experience of a virtual invasion of the “other” on his/her own life and in the process also discovers more about his/her own consciousness.
'Ek is besig om iemand heeltemal anders te word ...': die ontginning van liminaliteit in Vaselinetjie deur Anoeschka von Meck
Authors: Van Zyl D.
Published: August 2012

'I am becoming someone completely different …': the utilisation of liminality in Vaselinetjie (Little Vaseline) by Anoeschka von Meck The concepts of liminality, transition and borders are utilised extensively in “Vaselinetjie” by Anoeschka von Meck (2004). This is especially the case regarding her use of characterisation, focalisation, time and space (including place and landscape) in the construction of identity. As a liminal character, Vaseline finds herself in different kinds of liminal spaces on a regular basis, like the children’s home, which is foregrounded in the novel, as well as in consecutive preliminal, liminal and postliminal phases. The children’s home is an essentially liminal space, but from the perspective of Vaseline it is firstly gradually transformed into a place to which meaning is attached, and secondly to a landscape of belonging, as she expresses her solidarity with the scorned group of children in the home. On the one hand the children’s home is characterised by a certain liminal essence, but on the other hand it can be regarded as “a realm of pure possibility” (Turner, 1967:97).
Liminal spaces and imaginary places in The bone people by Keri Hulme and The folly by Ivan Vladislavic
Authors: Wenzel M.
Published: August 2012

This article argues that the transcendent power of the imagination represented by literature and novels in particular, has played a major role in aiding societies to confront and deal with specific social and political realities in a multicultural global society. The fact that novels represent the development of fictional characters in time and space, enables the reader to experience the lives of the protagonists in a vicarious fashion. In fact, the concept of liminality (with regard to the different stages of separation, transition and re-integration into society) is emulated in the reading process. The interstitial space provided by liminality is especially pertinent to postcolonial novels such as “The bone people” by Keri Hulme. In this novel Hulme illustrates how fictional characters, in an individual and social sense, have to experience “rites of passage” in order to come to terms with traumatic changes in their lives and cultures. In a different way and with the bigoted South African apartheid society (including the reader) as target, Vladislavic exploits the power of the imagination to launch a subtle, yet stringent critique on people who lack imagination and consequently fail to use it constructively in order to transcend their narrow-minded reality – similar to Patrick White in his condemnation of restrictive social conventions in Australian society in his novel “Voss”.
The collective voice in The Madonna of Excelsior : narrating transformative possibilities
Authors: Zulu N.S.
Published: August 2012

The collective voice in the novel, “The Madonna of Excelsior” (2002), reveals that crossing of borders is a process characterised by cultural contact that reduces cultural polarisation and makes social transformation possible. This article examines the transformative potential of the novel. The first part of the novel indicates that the transformation of polarised South African society is inevitable, desirable and possible in order to normalise life. This transformation does, however, involve transgression and contestation of the old order. To present the possibility of transformation, the collective voice in the novel makes the Immorality Act the object of its satire, revealing the failure of apartheid nationalism and its master narrative. The alternative offered in the second part of the novel is a transforming macrocosm – a South African society that grapples with crossing apartheid’s borders.
Between freedom and self-subjection: the dilemma of writing in an African language
Authors: Maake N.
Published: August 2012

This article is an analysis of the dilemmas that confront an author who chooses to write in an African language. (Language choice remains a particularly vexing issue in African literature.) On the one hand a language that he is a master of gives him the freedom to assert himself and oppose the imperial way of thinking, which is liberating. On the other hand choice of language confines his work to a specific audience and a particular set of literary canons. Sometimes certain influential gatekeepers overtly prescribe boundaries and limit the possibilities of transcending them. On the other hand, as a case study of Sesotho literature shows, the literature itself manifests generic and thematic propensities that limit the freedom of literary expression. From the subjective and privileged position of being a writer in Sesotho himself the author in the end makes a number of suggestions on how to overcome this stifling status quo.
'Life?': modernism and liminality in Douglas Livingstone’s A littoral zone
Authors: Terblanche E.
Published: August 2012

In an attempt to find his place within nature in South Africa and in a global modern context, Douglas Livingstone returns strongly to modernist poetry in his 1991 volume A littoral zone. In contrast to his predecessors like Wallace Stevens in “The glass of water” and T.S. Eliot in The waste land, this volume at critical moments gets stuck in a liminal stage. Images and poems, and eventually the volume as a whole, despite the highlights they present, say that it no longer seems so possible to end up also within the postliminal stage, so as to complete a rite of passage. Yet modernist poems such as Stevens’s “The glass of water” have the ability to end up in postliminal affirmation through and beyond the liminal stage of the overall process. Here light becomes a thirsty lion that comes down to drink from the glass, with a resultant transcendence of the dualistic between-ness that characterises the liminal stage in the modernist poetic mode, while this further results in the incorporation of a deeper and refreshing, dynamic unity. Even more remarkable is that this poetic rite is not of a closing nature, but open, especially in the sense that it affirms all that is possible and greater than the individual ego or subject, this, while getting stuck within a liminal stage just short of the postliminal stage can be in the nature of closure, as Livingstone shows, for example, when he says in “Low tide at Station 20” that humanity is trapped in its inability to see the original power of unity with and within nature in order to live within it; and while humanity remains an ugly outgrowth on the gigantic spine of evolution. In provisional conclusion this article finds that it will be better to view Victor Turner’s 1979 celebration of what he terms the “liminoid” in the place of a “true liminality” critically. Although it is impossible to return to a collective catharsis in watching a play, one cannot feel too comfortable about getting rid of the cosmological, theological and concrete embeddedness of rites of passage (of which a liminal stage merely forms a part). Van Gennep links these matters, and modernist poets are still able to express these interlinked matters with a powerful, sensitive effect of dynamic unity. Livingstone also does this, but in considerably lesser measure, and from within a considerably more uncertain context. The article ultimately shows that for these reasons and more, Livingstone’s volume deserves far more critical reading than it has received to date, and that despite one or two weaknesses – of which the employment of The waste land in the rather flimsy “The waste land at Station 14” is the most serious – the volume continues to make a rich contribution to South African life, or within any country that views poetry as an important form of human communication.
Die digter in transito: reisverse en liminaliteit in Lykdigte en Ruggespraak van Joan Hambidge
Authors: Nel A.
Published: August 2012

The poet in transit: travel poetry and liminality in Joan Hambidge’s Lykdigte and Ruggespraak In the poem “Versugting” the first person narrator confesses: “reis na reis het ek in gedigte gekarteer, / in woorde opgevang elke slopende liefdeservaring”. The most important themes in Hambidge’s poetry converge in these two lines, namely the travel experience, reflection on the writing process, and love. These themes are the focus of this article. In both volumes under discussion the poet is presented as a traveller in real life. This concrete experience of reality becomes the isolated journey of the psyche and is “translated” and mapped in verse form. The journey as a liminal experience, the poet as the traveller and the writing process as the journey are some of the aspects that will be examined. For the poet the travel experience also implies the search for the beloved/love/the poem, while the transferral of the self causes a feeling of displacement. The city as destination also plays a role in the travel experience, which is experienced in a spatial-poetic manner, and finally becomes a poem itself.
Om alleen te reis: ’n Lacaniaanse ondersoek – aantekeninge tydens ’n reis deur Frans-Kanada
Authors: Hambidge J.
Published: August 2012

This essay represents the splintered ego in Lacanian terms. A trip through French Canada is the backdrop for Lacanian theories, internet representations of Lacan and films on paranoia. The writing ego being disillusioned with Lacanian thinking readdresses writing through poetry. Representations of the Titanic – viewed in the Halifax museum – is a metaphor for the writer eternally under siege and travelling through (mis)representations.
Mediadekking in die Suid-Afrikaanse gedrukte media oor taalverwante onderwerpe, in besonder taalregte en taalbeleidskwessies
Authors: Truter E.
Published: August 2012

Coverage of issues related to language, in particular language rights and language policy, in the South African print media The print media are both important and reliable barometers for determining the feelings and attitudes of the reading public. This information, compiled in an annual report to PanSALB, may assist in making various groups aware of their language rights and could help to cultivate a proactive culture of language rights. This, in turn, could contribute towards the transformation of our society. It could also serve as deterrent to linguistic discrimination. In order to determine the validity of the assumptions represented in the print media, language issue coverage in the print media is compared to official language rights complaints lodged with PanSALB. The government might well avoid conflict by taking cognisance of language problems and ensuring that constitutional rights are upheld before problems arise.