‘Restitutions of Body and Soil’ in Mies Julie (2012): South African theatre audience receptions of Yaël Farber’s adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie within a post-apartheid South African political landscape

Please follow the DOI link at the top of this record to navigate to the official published version of this articleYaël Farber’s 2012 adaptation of August Strindberg’s classic play Miss Julie entitled Mies Julie and subtitled Restitutions of Body and Soil since The Bantu Land Act No. 27 of 1913 and The Immorality Act No. 5 of 1927, received rave reviews internationally, earned a great number of awards, had sold-out performances and often received standing ovations from various international audiences. In this article I discuss why South African audiences’ experience of Yaël Farber’s South African adaptation of a classic play, Strindberg’s Miss Julie, would differ to some extent from international audiences’ reception of the play. The focus is on two aspects which would have impacted on local audiences and their reception of the play, namely the particular South African setting of the play, and its sociohistorical context. The three aspects foregrounded by the play’s title: the aspect of ‘indentured race-based servitude’ as reflected in the title, Mies Julie; the Bantu Land Act, and thirdly, the Immorality Act, as reflected in the subtitle, are discussed in some detail to demonstrate why the political is more personal for local audiences than for international audiences.Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

Deon Opperman’s Donkerland: the rise and fall of Afrikaner nationalism

In his epic play on Afrikaner history (from the Great Trek in 1838 to the birth of the new South Africa in 1994) Deon Opperman (award-winning South African playwright) presents the parallel and interlinked histories of two families – represented by a white patriarch and a black matriarch and their various descendants – against the background of important historical developments in South Africa. The article focuses on the depiction of the birth and demise of Afrikaner nationalism by identifying the “self” in Opperman’s Donkerland, and by discussing the relationship of the self versus the “other” in this play

’n Herbesoek aan NP van Wyk Louw se Die pluimsaad waai ver of Bitter begin: NP van Wyk Louw’s Die pluimsaad waai ver, of Bitter begin revisited

NP van Wyk Louw’s Die pluimsaad waai ver, of Bitter begin revisited The historical play Die pluimsaad waai ver, of Bitter begin (“The plume seeds are blown far, or Bitter beginning”) by NP van Wyk Louw was commissioned for the Republic Festival of 1966 and holds a special place in the annals of Afrikaans theatre. Many who know the play and its history recall the polemical reception of the work when it was first performed on 25 May 1966 in Die Kleinteater (“The Little Theatre”) in Pretoria and the then prime minister, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, criticised both Louw’s portrayal of the Afrikaner and his representation of the Anglo-Boer War history in the play. In the following decades, the play elicited further controversy, especially after Gerrit Olivier’s criticism of Louw’s Afrikaner-nationalist beliefs and Luc Renders’s negative evaluation of Louw’s entire dramatic output. Against the backdrop of these polemics, I argue in this article for a new appraisal of the play based on contemporary drama and theatre approaches with regard to dramatic performance reception. The discussion stresses three notable points. The first pertains to the many forms the reception of iconic works within a specific theatre tradition can take. For example, in the Afrikaans theatre tradition there are few plays, if any, that generated such vociferous responses from such a wide range of interested persons, both in and outside the circle of theatregoers and theatre practitioners. These responses ranged from the highest political office in Afrikaner politics (Verwoerd), to established theatre practitioners and literary figures, to anonymous letters, supposedly from the public, to newspaper editors and the like. Reception of the play was characterised by conflicting opinions, emotional statements and varying critical evaluations, all of which is fertile ground for students of contemporary drama and for theatre studies concerned with the reception of plays in the wider context of their societies (see, for example, Susan Bennet’s seminal study in this regard: Theatre audiences: A theory of production and reception, 1997). The second point addresses the relationship between history and its dramatic representation in a play, which in the case of Die pluimsaad waai ver also led to divergent opinions in the year of its first performance. A substantial part of the polemic generated by the play boiled down to how Louw portrayed the historical events and figures important to many Afrikaners. Today most people (including theatregoers) realise that it is not a simple matter to determine historical facts and/or truths. One’s own beliefs and ideological points of view influence and determine how one interprets incidents, developments and events (for example battles or wars) in historical and fictional works. The third point deals with the fact that the play was a commissioned work, requested for an important Afrikaner-nationalist festival (1966 Republic Festival). The function and role of occasional plays during the rise and heyday of Afrikaner nationalism has yet to be investigated in depth. However, a number of theorists have indicated that the popular plays always presented Afrikaner history and the participants (for example, the generals during the Anglo-Boer War) in a highly positive fashion (see Van Heerden 2009). However, Louw stated on various occasions that he wanted to break with the tradition that deals only with the heroic and write a play that presented more realistically what actually happen in times of war, the Anglo-Boer War in particular. Although Afrikaner nationalism was at its apex (1966) when Louw wrote the play, he adopted a new perspective and seemed to have realised that the era of the heroic occasional play had passed. Although Die pluimsaad waai ver, of Bitter begin invited severe criticism on the grounds of both ideological belief and dramatic and performative shortcomings, the play provides the 465 Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, Jaargang 60 No. 2: Junie 2020 doi.10.17159/2224-7912/2020/v60n2a14 1 In die res van die artikel word die titel verkort tot Die pluimsaad. contemporary drama and theatre researcher with an arresting case study in Afrikaans (and South African) drama and theatre history. Revisiting the play more than fifty years after its publication becomes a more rewarding experience for the contemporary researcher when it is approached as a theatrical document rather than a play for performance. In this play, we find reflected one of the biggest polemics in respect of audience reception and one of the most detailed documentations of this reception in the Afrikaans theatre history – a rich case study for the student of theatre reception and for the Afrikaans theatre historian!In die annale van die Afrikaanse teatergeskiedenis beklee NP van Wyk Louw se historiese feesdrama, Die pluimsaad waai ver, of Bitter begin, wat as opdragwerk vir die Republiekfees in 1966 geskryf is, ’n besondere plek. Dié wat vertroud is met die werk en die geskiedenis daarom ken, is ook vertroud met die polemiese resepsie van hierdie werk kort ná die openingsopvoering op 25 Mei 1966 in Die Kleinteater (Pretoria) en die kritiek van die destydse Eerste Minister, dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, op Louw se uitbeelding in hierdie drama van die Afrikaner en die geskiedenis van die Anglo-Boereoorlog. In die dekades daarna het verdere polemieke rondom Louw ontstaan wat ook betrekking het op hierdie drama (onder andere die kritiek van Gerrit Olivier [1992] en Luc Renders [2002]). Teen die agtergrond van hierdie polemieke probeer ek om met ander fokuspunte iets nuuts te bring na die gesprek wat reeds in 1966 ’n aanvang geneem het oor hierdie drama en waaroor gesprek na meer as vyftig jaar nog steeds moontlik is. Daar is drie aspekte wat uitstaan by ’n herbesoek aan NP van Wyk Louw se Die pluimsaad: eerstens die veelfasettigheid van die resepsie van ikoniese werke soos hierdie een binne ’n bepaalde teatertradisie, tweedens die verhouding tussen geskiedenis en die dramatiese uitbeelding/voorstelling daarvan in ’n teaterstuk, en derdens die drama se verbintenis met die tradisionele historiese geleentheidsdrama in Afrikaans.Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

Die laaste karretjiegraf (Riana Steyn en Athol Fugard)

No abstrac

J.R.L. van Bruggen (Kleinjan) se eenbedryf "Bloedrivier" uit Bakens: Gedramatiseerde mylpale uit die Groot Trek (1938/1939) - 'n terugblik vanuit 2013

Please follow the link at the top of this record to navigate to the official published version of this article.In hierdie artikel fokus ek op een drama, “Bloedrivier” (uit die bundel eenbedrywe Bakens) deur J.R.L. van Bruggen (Kleinjan) in ’n poging om die 175ste herdenking van die Groot Trek en die Slag van Bloedrivier ook in verband te bring met die dramatiese werk wat daarmee verbind kan word. Van Bruggen het sy bundel eenbedrywe geskryf met die uitdruklike doelwit om in 1938, tydens die eeufeesviering van die geveg, hierdie historiese gebeure ook op dramatiese wyse te herdenk. Hy het met hierdie eenbedrywe probeer om met die gebruik van die sogenaamde dokumentêre dramavorm die illusie te skep van die skynbaar feitelik-historiese weergawe van hierdie gebeure. Sy keuse om in die eenbedryf “Bloedrivier” sterker op sekere bronne (Jan Bantjes) as ander (Sarel Cilliers) te steun kan as veelseggend beskou word. Ter inleiding van my fokus op hierdie spesifieke drama verwys ek kortliks na die voorkoms en rol van dramatiese werk/voorstellings by die Groot Trek-herdenkingsfees en ander feeste (o.a. die grootskaalse gebruik van historiese tablo’s by hierdie feeste). Die teoretiese raamwerk waarbinne my bespreking van die eenbedryf “Bloedrivier” vervolgens geplaas is, sluit aan by sekere aspekte wat die sogenaamde Nuwe Historisme kenmerk. Aangesien hierdie benadering dikwels ’n redelik omvattende en gedetailleerde studie van die sogenaamde sosiale energieë (soos uiteengesit deur Stephen Greenblatt 1988) van ’n tydvak inhou, wat moeilik in die bestek van ’n artikel volledig gedoen kan word, is daar besluit om hier slegs op sekere kernaspekte van die benadering te fokus. Wat in hierdie artikel dus wel aan bod kom, is hoofsaaklik ’n poging om te wys hoe literêre en ander tekste (in hierdie geval historiese bronne/dokumente) op mekaar inspeel; dat die literatuur as kulturele praktyk naas ander praktyke staan (historiese, politiese, sosiale e.a. praktyke); die rol van magsverhoudings binne die betrokke historiese periode, en veral dat alle “waarhede” gewoon histories vasgelê is. Die polemiese sake rondom die Slag van Bloedrivier – veral die Gelofte self – word betrek binne die bespreking van Kleinjan van Bruggen se drama. As gerekende akademikus en opvoeder van sy tyd sou hy wel deeglik kennis geneem het van die verskillende standpunte oor die Slag van Bloedrivier en die Gelofte in sy eie tyd. Ek probeer uitwys in watter mate hierdie drama kan bydra tot die debat oor ’n historiese aangeleentheid en hoe dit as ’n kultuurproduk van 1939 doelbewus aangesluit het by die strewe om Afrikanernasionalisme te vestig en te bevorder deur middel van ook die kultuur en bepaalde kulturele aktiwiteite soos die drama. In sy doelwit om ’n sogenaamd histories korrekte weergawe van die gebeure te gee, poog Van Bruggen terselfdertyd om die ideologie van Afrikanernasionalisme te bevorder. Abstract J.R.L. van Bruggen’s (Kleinjan) one-act play “Bloedrivier” from Bakens: Gedramatiseerde mylpale uit die Groot Trek (1938/1939) – in retrospect from 2013 December 2013 marked the 175th anniversary of the Great Trek and the Battle of Blood River. This article focuses on the one-act play “Bloedrivier” (Blood River), from the anthology Bakens (Beacons) by J.R.L. van Bruggen (Kleinjan). Van Bruggen wrote his anthology of one-act plays during the time of the centenary celebrations of these historical events (1938), with the explicit aim of commemorating the events dramatically. He endeavoured, by means of the documentary drama genre, to create the illusion of a seemingly factual version of the historical events. He made a significant choice by choosing the journal kept by Jan Bantjes (and not the recollections of Sarel Cilliers) as his main source. The theoretical framework for the study is based on aspects of New Historicism. Since this approach often entails extensive and detailed study of the so-called social energies characterising a certain period (as discussed by Stephen Greenblatt 1988), I utilise only certain aspects of this approach: to demonstrate how literary and other texts (in this case historical sources or documents) interact with one another; that literature as a cultural practice stands next to other praxis (historical, political, social, etc.); the role played by power relations within the historical period concerned; and that all “truths” are historically determined.Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

Migration theatre in South Africa with reference to Mike van Graan’s When swallows cry

In this article a discussion on migrant theatre in South Africa is given, with special reference to Mike van Graan’s play When Swallows Cry (2017). In the introduction a short background is given in terms of migration statistics and issues (notably xenophobia) pertaining to the South African state and society. Against the background of an international and national upsurge in migrant theatre the view is expressed that though we have had migrant theatre pre-1994 during the heyday of Nationalist apartheid ideology, a change has occurred since 1994 when the political dispensation changed in South Africa and the African National Congress (ANC) came into power. The situation today is more complex where intra-continental and cross-continental migrancy is now part of everyone’s lives, as portrayed in Mike van Graan’s When Swallows Cry. Van Graan’s play thus reflects a changing focus in migrant plays in South Africa: from the very early plays concerned with internal migration in the country to plays that today reflect a more complex world (i.e. the often violent and xenophobic experiences of African migrants – also within a so-called new South Africa, but also in the rest of Africa and the bigger world).In hierdie artikel word ʼn bespreking van migrasieteater in Suid-Afrika gegee met spesiale verwysing na Mike van Graan se drama, When Swallows Cry (2017). In die inleiding word ʼn kort agtergrond gegee van migrasie-statistieke, asook die probleme geassosieer daarmee (onder meer, xenofobie) met verwysing na die Suid-Afrikaanse regering en gemeenskap. Teen die agtergrond van ʼn internasionale en nasionale toename in migrasieteater word die beskouing gehuldig dat, hoewel ons migrasieteater gehad het voor 1994 gedurende die hoogbloei van die Nasionale Party se apartheidsideologie, ʼn verandering ingetree het sedert 1994 toe die ANC die politieke mag in Suid-Afrika oorgeneem het. Die situasie is tans meer kompleks met intra-kontinentale en kruis-kontinentale migrasie wat nou deel is van ons almal se lewens, soos wat Mike van Graan in When Swallows Cry ook uitbeeld. Van Graan se drama weerspieël dus ʼn veranderende fokus in migrasieteater in Suid-Afrika: vanaf die vroeë dramas wat hoofsaaklik gehandel het oor interne migrasie in die land tot dramas wat vandag ʼn meer komplekse wêreld reflekteer (naamlik die dikwelse geweldadige en xenofobiese ervarings van Afrika-migrante binne die sogenaamde nuwe Suid-Afrika, maar ook in die res van Afrika en die wêreld daar buite).Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

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

Twee bekroonde dramas deur Wessel Pretorius

No abstract available

Deon Opperman’s Donkerland: the rise and fall of Afrikaner nationalism

In his epic play on Afrikaner history (from the Great Trek in 1838 to the birth of the new South Africa in 1994) Deon Opperman (award-winning South African playwright) presents the parallel and interlinked histories of two families – represented by a white patriarch and a black matriarch and their various descendants – against the background of important historical developments in South Africa. The article focuses on the depiction of the birth and demise of Afrikaner nationalism by identifying the “self” in Opperman’s Donkerland, and by discussing the relationship of the self versus the “other” in this play