Aspekte van die outeursfunksie in Antjie Krog se Lady Anne (1989)

Abstract

Aspects of the author function in Antjie Krog’s Lady Anne (1989)

The purpose of this essay is to investigate the Foucauldian notion of the so-called “author function” in Antjie Krog’s seventh volume of poetry, viz. Lady Anne (1989). It is an attempt to show how the notion of the death of the author (Barthes) links up with this theorisation of Foucault. Furthermore, it is also an attempt to indicate the characteristic features of the so-called “author function” in the late eighties in Afrikaans poetry, especially with regard to the conflict between aestheticism and political ideology in poetic expression. Focus is also placed on the role of the author’s name within the discursive framework of what is regarded as “Afrikaans literature”, as well as the author’s interaction with other authors within that discursive framework, in particular, Breyten Breytenbach.