Surviving a Lost War

Abstract

Afrikaans writers have often found themselves in a marginal position. During the time of apartheid, they vehemently criticised racial discrimination, thus dissociating themselves from the centre of power. After the demise of apartheid, Afrikaans writers were marginalised in a different way, when the Afrikaans language lost its previous dominant position and truly became a minority language. They were then forced to reexamine their past and reinterpret their present. In this article, recent Afrikaans writers' radical reinvention of the ideological significance of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) is discussed. One novel about the War, Ingrid Winterbach's Niggie (“Cousin”) is analysed in detail as an example of the search for meaning from a marginal position. The novel has a special relevance for Afrikaners in their painful adaptation to a new South Africa, but it is also linked to general themes like trauma, despair and hope.

Journal for the Study of Religion Vol. 19 (2) 2006: pp.87-98