Magrita Prinslo (1896), Magdalena Retief (1938) and Mies Julie (2012): from historical Afrikaner Mothers of the Nation to a modern Afrikanermeisie (girl): a postcolonial reading of Farber’s Mies Julie

Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

Between text and stage: the theatrical adaptations of J.M. Coetzee’s Foe

Several of J.M. Coetzee’s novels have been adapted successfully for the stage, both as theatrical and operatic versions, but these adaptations have not received much critical attention. This article examines the ways in which Peter Glazer and Mark Wheatley have adapted Coetzee’s novel Foe (1986), resulting in two different and distinct stage productions, performed in the US and the UK respectively. In order to explore the complex relationship between the published text and the play versions, the article will ground itself in theories of adaptation, drawing extensively on work by Linda Hutcheon and Robert Stam and Alessandra Raengo. One of the key ideas in adaptation theory is that adaptive fidelity to the source text is neither possible nor desirable, but that adaptation is a more complex, multi-layered intertextual and intermedial interplay of fictional material. The article discusses the two play scripts and analyses the adaptive choices which underpin them and how these structure their meaning-making. Finally, the article also suggests that these scripts can be used to throw more light on Coetzee’s enigmatic novel.DHE

N.P. van Wyk Louw, D.J. Opperman and the Afrikaans Literary Tradition

In this paper a brief sketch is given of the development of the Afrikaans language and the literary tradition before the arrival of the two major poets of the mid twentieth century: N.P. van Wyk Louw and D.J. Opperman. These two poets created a type of poetry in which every word and image were functional and illustrated their craftmanship and professionalism. As examples of their poetry two poems are discussed, one by each of the two poets: the centre piece of Louw’s choric drama Die dieper reg and Opperman’s “Nagwaak by die ou man.” Whereas Louw’s poem uses words which are marked by their intensity and poetic grandeur, that of Opperman illustrates his sober and economic style and the way in which he employs the short-circuiting metaphor and different layers of meaning. Both poets were able to “think” in terms of African images and to make the geography and history of their continent subservient to a greater purpose