"Die pot kook oral" : NP van Wyk Louw, Johannes Degenaar en Afrikaanse dekolonisering
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns
Abstract
Die hoofdoel van hierdie artikel is om moontlike dekoloniale momente in NP van Wyk Louw se denke na te speur. In die eerste plek gee ek 'n kort oorsig oor die kritiese gesprek tussen Louw en Johan Degenaar, met die vraagstuk rakende die "voortbestaan" van 'n "volk" as die vernaamste fokuspunt. Ek oorweeg veral Degenaar se kritiek op Louw se nasionalistiese politieke raamwerk en die redes vir sy kritiek. Teenoor "volksnasionalisme" en ander vorme van nasionalisme as raamwerk vir politiek in Suid-Afrika stel Degenaar 'n pluralistiese model voor. In die tweede deel van die opstel, in reaksie op Degenaar se vernaamste kritiek teen Louw, probeer ek vasstel tot watter mate 'n mens Louw kan interpreteer as 'n dekoloniale denker. Weens die dramatiese omwentelinge in die "Afrikaanse volk" se politieke lot oor die loop van die twintigste eeu, staan Louw op 'n sekere manier nader aan "ons" (Afrikaanssprekendes in Suid-Afrika in 2020) as Degenaar. In hierdie gedeelte vra ek hoe ons die dekoloniale momente in Louw se denke kan herwin ter wille van die hedendaagse besinning, sonder om die apartheidsgeskiedenis te ontken. In die proses moet ons die blindekolle van Louw en van Afrikanernasionalisme deeglik verreken, maar, stel ek voor, ook soek vir produktiewe aanknopingspunte tussen Louw as proto-dekoloniale denker en die hedendaagse dekolonisasie-debatte.
The main aim of this article is to trace possible decolonial moments in the thought of NP van Wyk Louw. I know this is a controversial exercise and that it should be approached with great caution and nuance. Also, because of limited space, this remains a tentative opening up of the topic, which will, I hope, be explored further elsewhere. In the first section, “Degenaar en Louw”, I introduce Louw’s question about whether a small people (“volk”) has the right to (continued) existence, and, if so, on what grounds. Louw initially asked this question during the 1930s – a time when “white Afrikaners” were beginning to overcome the worst effects of the “Tweede Vryheidsoorlog” (Second War of Liberation) (1899–1902) and of urbanisation. It was also a time of increasing nationalist rhetoric. On the one hand, Louw is a child of his time, and, as the philosopher Johan Degenaar shows in his critical response of 1976, Louw seems to absolutise the nationalist framework as the obvious way to order politics in South Africa. On the other hand, I show that, for his time, Louw is surprisingly open and even radical in his view of the “Afrikanervolk” (Afrikaner people) as a contingent creation whose enduring existence is by no means written in the stars, or divinely guaranteed, but dependent upon voluntary actions and certain measurable achievements.
The main aim of this article is to trace possible decolonial moments in the thought of NP van Wyk Louw. I know this is a controversial exercise and that it should be approached with great caution and nuance. Also, because of limited space, this remains a tentative opening up of the topic, which will, I hope, be explored further elsewhere. In the first section, “Degenaar en Louw”, I introduce Louw’s question about whether a small people (“volk”) has the right to (continued) existence, and, if so, on what grounds. Louw initially asked this question during the 1930s – a time when “white Afrikaners” were beginning to overcome the worst effects of the “Tweede Vryheidsoorlog” (Second War of Liberation) (1899–1902) and of urbanisation. It was also a time of increasing nationalist rhetoric. On the one hand, Louw is a child of his time, and, as the philosopher Johan Degenaar shows in his critical response of 1976, Louw seems to absolutise the nationalist framework as the obvious way to order politics in South Africa. On the other hand, I show that, for his time, Louw is surprisingly open and even radical in his view of the “Afrikanervolk” (Afrikaner people) as a contingent creation whose enduring existence is by no means written in the stars, or divinely guaranteed, but dependent upon voluntary actions and certain measurable achievements.
Description
CITATION: Du Toit, L. 2020. "Die pot kook oral" : NP van Wyk Louw, Johannes Degenaar en Afrikaanse dekolonisering. Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, 60(2), doi:10.17159/2224-7912/2020/v60n2a6.
The original publication is available at http://tgwsak.co.za
The original publication is available at http://tgwsak.co.za
Keywords
Louw, N. P. van Wyk (Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk), 1906-1970, Degenaar, J. J (Johannes Jacobus), 1926-2015, Decolonisation
Citation
Du Toit, L. 2020. "Die pot kook oral" : NP van Wyk Louw, Johannes Degenaar en Afrikaanse dekolonisering. Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, 60(2), doi:10.17159/2224-7912/2020/v60n2a6.