Taaltoer in die woestyn: Marais se Dwaalstories

Abstract

This article analyses the functions of the authorial and narrative instances in Marais’s Dwaalstories. It concentrates on the use of language, for example style and idiom, in order to examine the relationship between the distinctly Afrikaans register and the San world in which these stories are situated. The language of (he narrator to a marked extent predisposes the reception of the narrative. In this case, aspects like the high frequency of diminutives, the colloquial style and the effortless integration of the typically Afrikaans idiom complement fantasy to create charming African desert stories with a unique flavour. Furthermore, these stories are orchestrated to such a level of artistic coherence that the author’s own remarks in the foreword about vagueness and looseness cannot possibly be taken at face value.