Impaired vision. Portraits of black women in the Afrikaans novel 1948-1988

verantwoording

gebruikt exemplaar

exemplaar universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden, signatuur: Diss. Amsterdam VU 1991: 129

 

algemene opmerkingen

Dit bestand biedt, behoudens een aantal hierna te noemen ingrepen, een diplomatische weergave van Impaired Vision. Portraits of Black Women in the Afrikaans Novel 1948-1988 van Judy H. Gardner uit 1991.

 

redactionele ingrepen

p. 229-234: de eindnoten op deze pagina's zijn in de lopende tekst geplaatst. Betreffende pagina's zijn daardoor komen te vervallen.

 

Bij de omzetting van de gebruikte bron naar deze publicatie in de dbnl is een aantal delen van de tekst niet overgenomen. Hieronder volgen de tekstgedeelten die wel in het origineel voorkomen maar hier uit de lopende tekst zijn weggelaten. Ook de blanco pagina's (p. VI, VIII, XII, 6, 96, 224, 228, 248 en 252) zijn niet opgenomen in de lopende tekst.

 

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IMPAIRED VISION

 

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VU University Press is an imprint of:

VU Boekhandel/Uitgeverij bv

De Boelelaan 1105

1081 HV Amsterdam

The Netherlands

 

Tel.: (020)-6444355

Fax: (020)-6462719

 

Cover design by J.J. ter Poorten, Amsterdam

Lay-out by T.A. Vonk Kuiper, Amstelveen

 

Isbn 90-5383-069-3

Nugi 953

 

© J.H. Gardner, Capetown, South-Africa, 1991.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording. or otherwise. without the prior written permission of the holder of the convright

 

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VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT

IMPAIRED VISION

Portraits of black women in the Afrikaans novel

1948-1988

ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT

ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit te Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus dr. C. Datema, hoogleraar aan de faculteit der letteren, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de faculteit der letteren op donderdag 28 november 1991 te 15.30 uur in het hoofdgebouw van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105

door

Judy Hilary Gardner

geboren te

Somerset-Oos, Zuid-Afrika

 

VU University Press

Amsterdam 1991

 

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Promotor: prof. dr. W.J.J. Schipper-de Leeuw

Copromotor: prof. dr. G.J. Gerwel

Referent: prof. dr. E. Ibsch

 

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CONTENTS

Preface and acknowledgement			xiii
1.	introduction		1
	1.1	Literature as discourse	3
	1.2	Myth and stereotype	4
2.	fact and fiction about south african women		7
	2.1	Afrikaner women	8
	2.1.1	Calvinism and Afrikaner women	9
	2.1.2	Afrikaner women's struggles and heroism	12
	2.1.3	Images of the Afrikaner woman	18
	2.1.4	Suffrage	20
	2.1.5	Contemporary position of the Afrikaner woman	24
	2.1.6	The literary response to the Afrikaner woman's position	26
	2.2	Black women	32
	2.2.1	Legislation affecting the lives of black women	33
	2.2.2	Patriarchy	35
	2.2.3	The ‘coloureds’	36
	2.2.3.1	‘Try-for-white’	43
	2.3	Concluding remarks	46
3.	‘half the solution’: the period 1948-1959		47
	3.1	Literary trends	48
	3.2	F.A. Venter	50
	3.2.1	Venter's oeuvre regarding blacks	50
	3.2.2	Swart Pelgrim (1952/1958)	51
	3.2.2.1	Introduction	51
	3.2.2.2	Title, ‘topicality’ and story	52
	3.2.2.3	Language	53
	3.2.2.4	Focalization	56
	3.2.2.5	The ‘noble savage’ theme	56
	3.2.2.5.1	Race and ethnicity	57
	3.2.2.5.2	Blacks entering the ‘white man's cities’: ‘futility’ and ‘tragedy’	61

 

 

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	3.2.2.6	The women	63
	3.2.2.6.1	Peripheral status	63
	3.2.2.6.2	Miriam, the shebeen queen and prostitute	65
	3.2.2.6.3	Kamala, the shrewish whore	70
	3.2.2.6.4	Nomosi, the ‘ideal’ black woman	71
	3.2.2.6.5	The white women	72
	3.3	Mikro	74
	3.3.1	Mikro's oeuvre regarding ‘coloureds’	74
	3.3.2	Die Koperkan (1959)	75
	3.3.2.1	Introduction	75
	3.3.2.2	The title, symbolism and story	76
	3.3.2.3	Language	77
	3.3.2.4	Focalization	80
	3.3.2.5	Race and ethnicity	84
	3.3.2.6	‘Futility’ and ‘tragedy’ of trying for white	86
	3.3.2.7	The women	87
	3.3.2.7.1	Peripheral status	87
	3.3.2.7.2	Petro	87
	3.3.2.7.3	Alet, Sarah and Même Katryn	89
	3.3.2.7.4	Silences in the text with regard to ‘coloured’ women	90
	3.4	Concluding remarks	95
4.	the sestiger period and jan s. rabie's ‘brown afrikaners’		97
	4.1	Literary trends	97
	4.2	Jan S. Rabie	100
	4.2.1	Rabie's commitment to Africa	100
	4.2.2	The Bolandia series	101
	4.2.3	Die Groot Anders-maak (1964)	102
	4.2.3.1	Introduction	102
	4.2.3.2	Khoi women	105
	4.2.3.3	Keas	107
	4.2.3.3.1	Central character?	108
	4.2.3.3.2	Keas' story	109
	4.2.3.3.3	Keas' transformation	109
	4.2.3.3.4	Focalization	111
	4.2.3.3.5	Images of Keas	112
	4.3	Concluding remarks	126
5.	a man for all seasons: the ongoing voice of andré p. brink		127
	5.1	Brink in the 1970s and 1980s	128
	5.2	Brink on women and sex	129

 

 

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	5.3	‘Tendencies’ in Brink's writing with regard to women	130
	5.3.1	The systematic ‘breast’ metaphor	131
	5.3.2	The theme of ‘freedom’	134
	5.3.3	A ‘feminist’ perspective	139
	5.4	Houd-den-Bek (1982)	143
	5.4.1	Focalization and narration	144
	5.4.2	Black women characters in the novel: an overview	148
	5.4.3	Ma-Rose	153
	5.4.3.1	Naming	154
	5.4.3.2	Function in the novel	155
	5.4.3.3	Mother Supreme	159
	5.4.3.4	‘Vulva’ Supreme	164
	5.4.3.5	‘Milk’	167
	5.4.3.6	The ancestral presence	168
	5.5	Concluding remarks	174
6.	women's voices since 1976 and poppie nongena's dubbed voice		177
	6.1	Women's voices in the Afrikaans literary corpus	178
	6.2	Overview of white women depicting black women	181
	6.3	Elsa Joubert	184
	6.3.1	Joubert's oeuvre regarding blacks and ‘preparation’ for the novel	185
	6.3.2	Poppie Nongena (1978)	186
	6.3.2.1	Title of the novel and naming	188
	6.3.2.2	Reception of the novel	190
	6.3.2.3	Narration and focalization	193
	6.3.2.4	Journey motif	199
	6.3.2.5	A ‘feminist’ novel?	201
	6.3.2.6	‘Maids and Madams’	209
	6.3.2.7	Poppie's religion	212
	6.3.2.8	‘Mutter Courage’	216
	6.3.2.9	Poppie's politics	218
	6.4	Concluding remarks	222
7.	conclusion		225
	notes		229
	bibliography		235
	samenvatting (summary in dutch)		249