Tydskrif vir Letterkunde (May 2018)
André Brink en de marxistische literatuuropvatting
Abstract
In 1990 the Cape literary critic Ampie Coetzee published a thought-provoking essay under the title Letterkunde en Krisis. 'n Honderd jaar Afrikaanse Letterkunde en Afrikaner-nasionalisme. ("Literature and Crisis. One Hundred Years of Afrikaans Literature and Afrikaner Nationalism"). Coetzee appeals for a Marxist appraisal of Afrikaans literature from the past up to the late 1980s. In Coetzee's opinion the notions of class warfare, of base and superstructure, of materialism and dialectics are essential to an understanding of historical development. Not many literary works in Afrikaans meet these requirements. Authors like Elisabeth Eybers and N.P. van Wyk Louw find no favour with Coetzee in spite of the innovations in their poems and plays. But, what about Andre Brink? Does he conform to Coetzee's criteria? The South African Publication Board pursued his novels on the grounds of their subversive, revolutionary nature. Even Brink's novels do not find favour with Coetzee. Brink's literary criticism demonstrates a profound knowledge of Marxist philosophical and Marxist cultural practice presuppositions in so-called socialist countries. He however refuses to write fiction within the framework of "socialist realism". He is aware of the complex relationship between material and mental production and he has taken notice of the derailments within Marxist cultural politics. On the other hand, in order to improve social conditions in South African society, Brink, in his novels Looking on Darkness (1973/1974), A Chain of Voices (1982) and Rumours of Rain (1978), is deeply concerned with social analysis. His novels do not make class distinctions but distinguish between the brave and the craven during the years of social and political opposition. This leads to another observation. It struck the author of this essay that the subject matter of human labour, including that of actual production and the social relations of labour in factories and on the mines, plays a lesser role in contemporary Afrikaans literature. Most authors have academic backgrounds; they tend to write about human life outside the place of industrial work.
