Verskyningsvorme van estetisisme en dekadensie in <i>Sy kom met die sekelmaan</i> en <i>Kaapse rekwisiete</i>

Abstract

Manifestations of aestheticism and decadence in Sy kom met die sekelmaan and Kaapse rekwisiete This article offers a new perspective on the novels of two well-known Afrikaans authors, namely Hettie Smit's Sy kom met die sekelmaan (1937) and Wilma Stockenstrom's Kaapse rekwisiete (1987). Both literary works are read within the framework of late nineteenth-century Western European and British aestheticism and decadence. Characteristic elements of aesthetic and decadent literature, such as an emphasis on artificiality - especially the tendency towards the fictionalization of reality narcissism, sexual perversity, and the utilization of a flowery style are identified in both novels. Stockenstrum 's novel can, however, also be read from a feminist point of view, as is already indicated by the fact that everything is seen through the eyes d f a female character, and by the negative projection of male characters and heterosexual relationships. Lefebvre's Jungian-based search for the Self is a further indication of the feminist character of this novel, as the psychological views of Jung with his accent on identity and individualisation form a myth in its own way in feminist literature.