The ghost of Afrikaner identity in Ancestral voices, Leap year and The long silence of Mario Salviati (Etienne van Heerden)
Literator
| Field | Value | |
| Title | The ghost of Afrikaner identity in Ancestral voices, Leap year and The long silence of Mario Salviati (Etienne van Heerden) Die spook van Afrikaneridentiteit in Toorberg, Die stoetmeester en Die swye van Mario Salviati (Etienne van Heerden) | |
| Creator | van Graan, Mariëtte | |
| Description | Ghost characters are a characteristic of the novels of Etienne van Heerden, but little research has been done concerning the nature and function of these ghost characters. In this article I discuss Van Heerden’s use of ghost characters diachronically with reference to the novels Ancestral voices (1986), Leap year (1993) and The long silence of Mario Salviati (2000). In order to clarify the nature of these ghosts, I use the so-called science of the paranormal as a framework. The ghosts in the three novels will be classified accordingly, and then discussed within the context of the novels in which they appear. In this way, I shall show how the ghost characters in these novels can be read as a constantly changing embodiment of Afrikaner identity (a central theme in Van Heerden’s oeuvre). Van Heerden’s Afrikaner changes with the times: in Ancestral voices the ghost characters form a collective that represents a fragmented image of the stereotypical, archaic male Afrikaner identity; in Leap year a liminal character is written in a liminal time to embody a liminal Afrikaner identity; and in The long silence of Mario Salviati Van Heerden moves away from the exclusive Afrikaner identity to a broader South African identity by using ghost characters from very different backgrounds and origins. In conclusion I shall compare these identities and the historical contexts of these novels in order to show the function of Van Heerden’s ghost characters as constant rewritings of South African identities. Spookkarakters is ’n kenmerkende aspek van Etienne van Heerden se roman-oeuvre, maar tot op hede is weinig navorsing gedoen waarin daar spesifiek na die aard en funksie van hierdie spookkarakters ondersoek ingestel is. In hierdie artikel bespreek ek Van Heerden se gebruik van spookkarakters diachronies, met verwysing na die romans Toorberg (1986), Die stoetmeester (1993) en Die swye van Mario Salviati (2000). Ten einde die aard van spookkarakters uit te klaar, word daar van die sogenaamde paranormale wetenskap gebruik gemaak. Die spoke in die drie betrokke romans word hiervolgens geklassifiseer en binne die konteks van die roman waarin hulle verskyn, bespreek. Hierdeur sal ek aantoon hoe die spookkarakters in dié romans as ’n voortdurend veranderende vergestalting van Afrikaneridentiteit (’n sentrale tema in Van Heerden se oeuvre) gelees kan word. Van Heerden se Afrikaner verander oor tyd: in Toorberg vorm die spookkarakters ’n kollektief wat ’n gefragmenteerde beeld van die stereotipiese, argaïese, manlike Afrikaneridentiteit vergestalt; in Die stoetmeester word ’n liminale karakter in ’n liminale historiese tydperk juis só geskryf om ’n liminale Afrikaneridentiteit te vergestalt; en in Die swye van Mario Salviati word daar wegbeweeg van ’n eksklusiewe Afrikaneridentiteit na ’n meer omvattende Suid-Afrikaanse identiteit deur die gebruik van spookkarakters wat ten opsigte van agtergrond en herkoms verskil. Ten slotte sal die historiese kontekste van die romans en die identiteite daarin vergelyk en bespreek word ten einde die funksie van Van Heerden se spookkarakters as voortdurende herskrywings van Suid-Afrikaanse identiteite uit te lig. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2017-04-28 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v38i2.1339 | |
| Source | Literator; Vol 38, No 2 (2017); 12 pages Literator; Vol 38, No 2 (2017); 12 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1339/2320
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1339/2319
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1339/2321
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1339/2317
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
