| Abstract: | This essay considers André Brink's frequent depiction of characteristic Afrikaner reduction of the Bible to a white mythology that complements the materiality of apartheid. Like his generation of Afrikaans writers, the 'Sestigers', Brink's initial interrogation of traditional Afrikaner norms about religion, sex, and morality was only too cautious. His insight into the role of the Dutch Reformed Church in the sustenance of apartheid was, however, to lead him to the final disenchantment, atheism. As the article shows, refuting the Afrikaner biblical sanction of apartheid was to remain an abiding passion of Brink's in his political novels. He condemned apartheid basically because he was convinced that it impoverished the humanity of the Afrikaner. In the Afrikaner's recognition of the full humanity of his black neighbour and in his creative response to black ways and traditions, Brink discerns a path to the restoration of humanity to the Afrikaner himself. Bibliogr. |
AfricaBib 
Periodical article
Leiden University catalogue
WorldCat
