Page 34 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

32  INTRODUCING SOUTH AFRIC A

Literary South Africa

A rich literary tradition exists in all 11 national languages,
which include nine Bantu tongues, mostly from the
Nguni and Sotho branches. Most books were published
in Afrikaans or English, while much of the African heritage
was handed down orally. Books in African tongues are now
beginning to enjoy a wider circulation, both locally and
abroad, and are also appearing in foreign translation.
Over the years, South Africa has inspired a number of
outstanding authors and poets, among them Sir Percy
FitzPatrick, Olive Schreiner, Sir Laurens van der Post,
Nadine Gordimer and Mzwakhe Mbuli.
C J Langenhoven wrote Die Stem, one of
the two national anthems
Afrikaans Literature
The Dutch spoken by the
colonial authorities formed the
basis of a local tongue that
became known as Afri kaans, or
simply die taal (the language).
Efforts to translate the Bible
into Afrikaans led to a vigorous
campaign to have the
language formally recognized.
A direct result of these tireless
efforts was the publication of
Painting by Credo Mutwa, taken from the book African Proverbs almost 100 books before 1900.
The descriptive prose and
Mofolo’s Chaka (1925) in Ses­ lyrical poetry of literary greats
Traditional African otho, BW Vilakazi’s Noma Nini such as Gustav Preller, C J
Stories (1935) in isiZulu, and Sol Plaat­ Langenhoven, D F Malherbe
Many African communities jie’s Mhudi (1930) in Setswana. and Totius (Jacob Daniël du
have an oral tradition of English publications of Toit), who delighted in the use
stories, genealogies, proverbs trad itional African tales, novels of their new language, helped
and riddles that have been and poetry include Indaba My to establish Afrikaans as the
passed down from genera tion Children and African Proverbs lingua franca. Later writers such
to generation. by Credo Mutwa (1964). as P G du Plessis and Etienne
Izibongo, simplistically Le Roux placed Afrikaans
translated as praise songs, literature in a wider
are very complex oral pre­ context, while Adam Small
sentations delivered by a and Breyten Breytenbach
skilled performer known as used it as a form of polit­
mbongi. This rhythmic form ical and social protest
of poetry uses exalt ed against the white Afri kaner
language, rich in meta phor establishment.
and parallelisms. At Nelson “Afrikanerisms”, delib­
Mandela’s inaugu ration, erate use of Afrikaans
two izibongo were words and sentence
performed in isiXhosa. construction when
Among the best written writing in English, is a
works are Samuel Mqhayi’s literary device used in
historic Ityala Lamawele Pauline Smith’s The
(Lawsuit of the Twins) (1914) Beadle, and in Herman
and A Jordan’s Ingqumbo Charles Bos man’s
Yeminyanya (The Wrath of humorous short story
the Ancestors) (1940), both Actor Patrick Mynhardt in a dramatization of Herman A Cask of Jerepigo (1991).
in isiXhosa, and Thomas Charles Bosman’s A Cask of Jerepigo Both works describe the

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