Oswald Pirow’s Ashambeni (1955) : a “history” of dogs, humans, werewolves

dc.contributor.authorBarendse, Joan-Marien_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2020-02-14T06:42:03Z
dc.date.available2020-02-14T06:42:03Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.descriptionCITATION: Barendse, J. M. 2018. Oswald Pirow’s Ashambeni (1955) : a “history” of dogs, humans, werewolves. Tydskrif vir Letterkunde, 55(3):96-107, doi:10.17159/2309-9070/tvl.v.55i3.5502.en_ZA
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at https://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/tvlen_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn this paper I explore the human-dog interaction in Oswald Pirow’s Ashambeni (1955). I focus on the position of the dog in Pirow’s depiction of a world where the lives of animals and humans, and the natural and supernatural world, are entangled. In the novel, there are references to real historical figures and particulars of Portuguese East Africa and the South African Lowveld around 1850. The historical context sketched in the novel is from Pirow’s far-right, racist perspective. While most critics place Pirow’s work in the folkloric tradition, Ashambeni is more than a folkloric tale since it promotes Pirow’s offensive views. In Ashambeni the role of the dog ranges from valuable possession to loving companion to hunting and fighting tool. It shows that a dog history cannot be separated from a human history, and that dogs are part of the social and cultural life of humans. The depiction of human-dog interaction in Ashambeni points to a historical anthropocentric entanglement rather than the boundary-crossing entanglement between human and animal proposed by contemporary human-animal studies. The human characters control the dog characters’ status in the human society. Even more problematic, the description of the dogs is tied up with Pirow’s racist ideology and subjective account of history.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/tvl/article/view/5502
dc.description.versionPublisher's versionen_ZA
dc.format.extent12 pagesen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBarendse, J. M. 2018. Oswald Pirow’s Ashambeni (1955) : a “history” of dogs, humans, werewolves. Tydskrif vir Letterkunde, 55(3):96-107, doi:10.17159/2309-9070/tvl.v.55i3.5502en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2309-9070 (online)
dc.identifier.issn0041-476X (print)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.17159/2309-9070/tvl.v.55i3.5502
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/107476
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherVan Schaik Publishersen_ZA
dc.rights.holderVan Schaik Publishersen_ZA
dc.subjectHuman-dog interactionen_ZA
dc.subjectPirow, Oswald, 1890-1959 -- Ashambeni -- Criticism and interpretationen_ZA
dc.subjectDogs in literatureen_ZA
dc.subjectHuman-animal relationshipsen_ZA
dc.subjectDogs -- Effect of human beings onen_ZA
dc.titleOswald Pirow’s Ashambeni (1955) : a “history” of dogs, humans, werewolvesen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
barendse_oswald_2018.pdf
Size:
214.76 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download article
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: