Perspektiewe op die 'ander' in Pieternella van die Kaap deur Dalene Matthee en Eilande deur Dan Sleigh
Date
2003
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Publisher
Afrikaanse Letterkundevereniging
Abstract
The publication of two Afrikaans historical novels focusing on the first encounters between Europeans and indigenous people at the Cape of Good Hope, roughly coincided with the commemoration in 2002 of the founding of the VOC 400 years ago. Both Pieternella van die Kaap (2000) by Dalene Matthee and Eilande (2002) by Dan Sleigh pay particular attention to the rhetorical representation of (inter alia) Eva-Krotoa from the Goringhaicona tribe and to Pieternella van Meerhoff, Eva's daughter from her marriage with the Danish surgeon, master Pieter van Meerhoff. This article first compares the two texts as historical novels and then as postcolonial novels in which identity and power relations play a major part. Different reconstructions of history depend on different selections of 'facts', perspectives, and ways of characterisation. Both novels exemplify relationships which will later characterise South African society, while they also contribute to a more universal discourse on the human condition.
Description
CITATION: Van Zyl, D. 2003. Perspektiewe op die 'ander' in Pieternella van die Kaap deur Dalene Matthee en Eilande deur Dan Sleigh. Stilet, 15(2).
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Citation
Van Zyl, D. 2003. Perspektiewe op die 'ander' in Pieternella van die Kaap deur Dalene Matthee en Eilande deur Dan Sleigh. Stilet, 15(2).