Die gesprek tussen C.M. van den Heever se werk en enkele moderne Suid-Afrikaanse romans

Abstract

The discourse between Van den Heever’s work and a few modern Afrikaans novels

Many contemporary critics have castigated Van den Heever for what they allege is his dichotomy between realism and romanticism. But as J.M. Coetzee has indicated, there is in fact no dichotomy: Van den Heever’s portrayal of reality leads quite naturally to its interpretation.

This article assumes that Van den Heever’s works were rooted firmly in reality and were in effect early examples of littérature engagée. His approach has much to do with the seminal nature of his farm novels and explains the many intertextual allusions to them in modern Afrikaans novels.