01 Resensies - Tydskrif vir Letterkunde

RESENSIES / REVIEWSThe Portable Bunyan. A TransnationalHistory of The Pilgrim’s Progress.Isabel Hofmeyr. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press; Johannesburg: WitsUniversity Press. 2004. 320 pp.ISBN 0-691-11655-5; pbk 0-691-11656-3.This is a most interesting and informativebook, the product of long and impressiveresearch, dealing with the use made of ThePilgrim’s Progress in the mission field, verylargely through translation. Bunyan has been“portable”, has been carried all over theworld into different cultures and languages.It contains a wealth of fascinating information,not only about how The Pilgrim’sProgress has fared around the world, buthow it has fared in England. One of IsabelHofmeyr’s contentions is that it was an internationalbook before the revival of interestin Bunyan through more or less moderncriticism and scholarship, some of whichhas tended to stress Bunyan’s Englishness,not to speak of his particular affiliation tothe Bedford region. We are told of the sometimescomic goings-on in the Camden Baptistcongregation (although the comedymust not be allowed to obscure the fact thatyoung people were going out possibly todie). We are told that Conrad’s eerie riverof the Heart of Darkness had a fairly brisksteamer traffic, not least transporting missionaries.We are shown that The Pilgrim’sProgress could be a kind of “Ur” text for theAfrican novel in English. We are told ofSouthern Africa, too, of the Lovedale Missionand Tiyo Soga’s celebrated translationand of possible Bunyan links with an earlierXhosa tradition and Nongqawuse. Weare also told of how unwillingly Bunyanwas granted a memorial in WestminsterAbbey, because of the tardiness with whichthe Church of England came to grips withits sometimes less than charitable past, andof the ludicrous article by Alfred Noyes,English patriot and poet, on the “Caliban-Bunyan”, with his “punitively narrow” Calvinistictheology and “Hottentottish” style,dreadful, primitive and insane, exhibitingthe lowest and most squalid levels of theprimitive races of Africa, which in turnshows Noyes’s adherence to the Darwinistanthropology that is one of the features oflate Victorian culture.In thus exposing Noyes, Isabel Hofmeyrin fact contradicts one of her lines ofthought. Not only is The Portable Bunyan amine of information, but it is part of a criticaldebate on the, by now, familiar themesof modern critical theory. What makes abook universal, or how can we understandthis notion of universality? Does the textstand as an icon, giving meaning, or is thetext what the reader makes of it? Therefore,is there a real Bunyan or Pilgrim’s Progress,a correct, single interpretation or reading?What happens in translation and transferenceto other cultures? Another criticaltheme is the Marxist approach to Bunyan,through the hints at sociological analysisthat can be gleamed from the text, so thatthe sub-text becomes the “real” text. Theapproach is represented by E.P. Thompson,whose The Making of the English WorkingClass contains a chapter on Bunyan againstApollyon, and Christopher Hill who hasproduced a substantial book on Bunyan andhis milieu, among his many studies of re-TYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 210

ellious sectarianism of the seventeenthcentury. Hofmeyr refers to Christopher Hillin particular.Difficulties arise. If there is no fixedBunyan or Pilgrim’s Progress, if the readermakes the text, if Bunyan is “portable”, ifthere is no right reading of the text, thencan anyone be wrong? Isabel Hofmeyrobviously does not agree with AlfredNoyes, so she is capable of saying that areading is wrong. Does one do this only forthe most egregious and vicious idiocy of anAlfred Noyes; if so, where does one drawthe line? The principle that the readermakes the text, that there is no secure anchorage,that there is no foundation (“antifoundationalism”is the watchword), itselfbecomes relative: we can claim that somereadings are better than others.Isabel Hofmeyr opposes the kind of criticismwhich she claims makes Bunyan “English”rather than “portable”. Indeed, it doesnot really matter whether HoughtonHouse, near Bedford, is The House Beautiful,to quote an example of local antiquarianism.However, antiquarianism and Englishpatriotism tend to get conflated with amuch more important investigation. InHofmeyr’s book this is represented particularlyby Roger Sharrock, the prominentBunyan scholar, who is quoted to the effectthat there is a paradox that Bunyan, a ParticularBaptist of mid-seventeenth centuryEngland, and a holder of an exclusive doctrineof election, (probably of the supralapsarianvariety) should have had such awide appeal. In the interests of asserting aglobal, varied, fragmented, universal, fluidand “evangelical” Bunyan, our author distancesherself from the likes of Sharrock.One notices, incidentally, that Hofmeyr’sbibliography, while it does have GraceAbounding to the Chief of Sinners, Bunyan’sautobiography, which is an account of theharrowing discovery of Bunyan’s electionand the basis of the allegory of The Pilgrim’sProgress, does not contain any of Bunyan’sspecifically theological and controversialworks. The Bunyan scholarship of peoplesuch as Sharrock has as its object a preciseunderstanding of Bunyan’s works throughan understanding of his milieu. This involvesa “right” reading of Bunyan as aChristian, specifically one of the varieties ofthe English Neo-Calvinist Puritans of histime, with a doctrine of election modifiedfor pastoral purposes by a pattern of experiencebroadly indebted to the work ofWilliam Perkins early in the century andunderpinned by the theoretical frameworkof Dort. In Bunyan’s case this is glossed byhis reading of Luther on Galatians.The universality of Bunyan depends ona reading that delights in the heroism andthe fortitude, in the adventures and in theacutely and often satirically depicted characters.This may go a long way to explainingthe Victorian evangelical liking for Bunyan.However, there was a great Baptistdebate from 1855 onwards (the Camdenchurch was built in 1853) that centred roundthe renowned Baptist preacher Spurgeonand how to deal with the predestinariantradition versus free grace. Did this in anyway touch the missionary enterprise? Hofmeyrdoes not tell us. It is, in fact, worthasking whether especially the first part ofThe Pilgrim’s Progress is not a bleak, predestinariandocument, ending as it does withthe casting of the poor, deluded, well-meaningyoung Ignorance down to hell at thevery gates of the Heavenly City.The Marxists try to avoid all this. Religionis the language of the times, concealingother dialectical processes. Hofmeyruses Christopher Hill on the Apollyon episode.Hill is probably indebted to E.P.Thompson’s earlier treatment of the sameepisode in The Making of the English WorkingClass. The battle is against a cruel tyrant, aTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 211

prince, waged by an heroic tinker. Whatupsets this reading is that Christian stateshis allegiance to a King. Christian, still imperfectlyassured of his election, is woundedin his “conversation” i.e. his conversion. Heis rescued by a favourable biblical text. Indeed,the intertext is most specifically theextremely well-known Pauline passage towardsthe end of Ephesians about the armourof spiritual struggle against, note well,unearthly foes, and not oppressive earthlyrules. While the text that pops into Christian’smind (just as texts popped intoBunyan’s mind, as he records in the autobiography)is from elsewhere in St. Paul, thewhole framework of allusion in the Apollyonepisode is most certainly the Ephesianspassage. The conflict is very much an internalone, although there might be sociologicalundertones. That there are such elsewhereis true: Mr Worldly-Wiseman is apatronising social superior, probably anAnglican Latitudinarian; Giant Despair is alandowner who locks up trespassers; thejudges at Vanity Fair are a vengeful, restoredroyalist magistracy. The broad traditionof Bunyan criticism has always beenwell aware of these dimensions.Let us finish nearer home, with TiyoSoga and the Lovedale Mission. Isabel Hofmeyris far more charitable than was Leonde Kock in his Civilizing Barbarians, althoughshe acknowledges in passing, the caseagainst missionary activity. Her informationis most fascinating, starting with theearly activity of van der Kemp with possibleconsequences in the Cattle-Killing, andwith the indigenisation of Greatheart intoSifuba-Sibanzi, a folk hero. (Dare we whisperthat “Bunyan’s” Greatheart is the kindof pastor able to encourage pilgrims doubtfulof the validity of their election?) Movingfurther north, we are told that Chief AlbertLuthuli’s father was John Bunyan Luthuli.Isabel Hofmeyr indicates that the great Zululeader of the ANC seemed to be more secularised,but his autobiography, Let My PeopleGo, is that of a devout man coming froma devout tradition. The Lovedale Missiongave birth to Fort Hare. Doubtless therewere faults, even missionaries are fallencreatures, and usually creatures of theirtimes, but the benefits were incalculable.We are the heirs of John Bunyan. Even ifmore inquiry is called for (and no book eversays it all) we are greatly indebted to IsabelHofmeyr for her book.Peter TitlestadUniversity of PretoriaDiscovering Home. A selection of Worksfrom the Caine Prize for African Writing2002.Bellevue [SA]: Jacana, 2003. 240 pp.ISBN 1919931554.Although the cover of this interesting collectiondescribes it as “A selection from the2002 Caine Prize for African Writing”, thisapplies to only five of its fourteen stories.The bulk of the tales are, in fact, “Storiesfrom the African Writers’ Workshop 2003”– by authors who were invited to a workshopheld near Cape Town because theirentries had been shortlisted for the Cainecompetition. The authors of this secondgroup are referred to as “youngsters” althoughstories by the two facilitators (VeroniqueTadjo and Peter Merrington) are alsoincluded here. The last page of the text usefullyexplains the rules for participation inthe next Caine Prize competition.The winning story is a heart-warmingbut by no means naïve account culminatingin a huge family reunion: “In two days,we feel like a family. In French, Swahili,English, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Kizandaand Ndebelo, we sing one song, a multi-TYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 212

tude of passports in our luggage” (26). Thisis the title story of the collection, but it isremarkable how appropriate this title is tomost of the other stories in this collection –even to the second story, whose protagonistis a young Nigerian woman who wonan American green card in a competition.This poignant, complex story shows theprotagonist’s uncomfortable, baffled butundeniable feeling that in her relationshipwith a kind and generous white Americanthere is nevertheless an inescapable flaw –“Your worlds were wrong” (34).A brilliant story, translated from French,is Florent Congo-Zotti’s “Small Hells onStreet Corners”, in which the huge citymarket is itself a ‘character’, the sphere inwhich orphaned “man-children, culprit-children”(48) stand no chance of survival.Rory Kilalea’s “Zimbabwe Boy” is streetwiseand poignant in taking on the issue ofcross-race homosexuality in Zimbabwe – itdepicts a fragile if somewhat unlikely encounterbetween a white farmer and a youngblack man who survives by “cruising”. Theonly South African story among the CainePrize group is by Allan Kolski Horwitz;ironically titled “Courageous and Steadfast”,it examines the “post-liberation blues” of asmall group gathered in Durban for anNGO conference: “Nomsa laughs (…) ‘Theminute you opened your mouth, I knewyou were another of those disillusioned butstill loyal Nkrumah types’” (73).The sadness of postcolonial poverty andvulnerability runs like a refrain throughmost of the stories. A vivid detail in “Lagos,Lagos” (the first of the Workshop tales) refersto the sort of pushy Nigerian mothers“who husband-hunted for their daughters(…) forc[ing] them to marry rich ugly traderswho spoke poor English and pulled theirtrousers up to their chests” (79) – a comicdetail in a story of disillusioned hope. Thesurreal after-life story by Mbongisi Dyanti,“The Witch of the Land”, actually takes astrongly feminist, worldly stand; this is aSouth African story containing many brilliant,bitingly satirical moments and takinga sardonic position on the question “Whatis a witch”? (108).Helon Habila’s “My Uncle Hezekiel” tenderlyand ironically recollects a ne’er-dowell:the exploitative, irresponsible andhopelessly alcoholic, yet lovable and humaneUncle. Rory Kilalea’s story (in the secondsection) is spiced with juicy Kaaps (nonstandardAfrikaans) and set in Zimbabwe.It is punningly titled “Colours”: both thedead ‘listener’ and the surviving (but dying)woman narrator were/are “coloured”.Horwitz’s second story is called “The Adjournment”– this is a long and somewhatlaboured account of a white lawyer whounexpectedly finds himself in jail, in thesame vulnerable position as accused clients(from whom he is normally distanced). Thecentral African civil wars and their attendantbrutalities feature in “Do You Remember?”by Goretti Kyomuhende. A strangetale is Zachariah Rapoola’s; I am not surethat its surrealism succeeds, however – thestory fades out on a note of bafflement thatseems intended to resonate. A “mysterious”woman evoked by a male writer/narratorfeatures in this and the next story, “AfterTime”; here she is the narrator’s own, dyingmother – nursing her is both a terribleand a tenderly soothing experience: “I was(…) ridiculously happy. I couldn’t wait forher to die”(199). This is an accomplishedpiece.I like the sardonic final story in the collection,Binyavanga Wainnaina’s “Ships inHigh Transit”, which describes some tourists’“African encounter” from the indigenousperspective: “Ngugi is only recommendedto those who came to Kenya toself-flagellate (…) because their cause andtheir self-esteem are one creature” (227-228).TYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 213

Finally, the stories by established writersfeatured in this collection range from PeterMerrington’s rollicking Tarrantino-meetsthe-Cohen-brothers,a very American (tall!)tale, to Veronique Tadjo’s and ShimmerChinodya’s stories of unfulfilling love –unfortunately the latter are both rather disappointingpieces. But as the old man inMbongisi Dyantyi’s story warns, “The wisdomhidden in a story is for kings to discover;a fool sleeps for lack of understanding”(112).Annie GagianoUniversity of StellenboschDie onsigbares.E.K.M. Dido. Kaapstad: Kwela Boeke. 2003.224 pp. ISBN 0-7957-0158-6.As eerste nie-wit vroueskrywer wat dieAfrikaanse prosa-arena betree, debuteerE.K.M. Dido in 1996 met Die storie van MonicaPeters, gevolg deur Rugdraai en stilbly in1997. Na laasgenoemde effense insinking,toon haar oeuvre weer ’n stygende lyn met’n Stringetjie blou krale in 2000, met as hoogtepuntin haar oeuvre tot dusver die onlangsverskene Die onsigbares.Die roman handel oor die lewens van vieregpare, maar sentreer veral om die ervaringsvan die vroue wie se mans in die huidigegewelddige postapartheid Suid-Afrika, in diejaar 2003 (54), in die polisiediens is. Oprealistiese wyse word die destruktiewefisiese sowel as psigiese gevolge van diégevaarlike beroep op die gesinsverhoudingeen op individuele gesinslede uitgebeeld.Die titel verwys in die eerste plek na dievrouens, wat nie slegs vir hulle afgetrokkeen oorspanne mans “onsigbaar” word nie,maar ook vir die gemeenskap wat onbewusskyn te wees van die uitwerking van diéberoep op die gesinslewe (77 en 111). WanneerJoan Arries se huwelik sienderoë beginverbrokkel, plaas sy ’n advertensie in’n koerant, en sit daarmee ’n telefonieseondersteuningsnetwerk, waarby die onderskeievroue dus vir mekaar “onsigbaar” bly,aan die gang. Ook die polisiemanne en –vroue self is egter die “onsigbares”, omdathulle in hulle beroep noodgedwonge ’nbeeld moet uitstraal van selfvertroue enbekwaamheid, maar tuis bang en onsekeroptree – ’n beeld wat eweneens vir die buitewêreld“onsigbaar” bly. Die titel hou ookdie gedagte in van ’n anonieme, ongeïdentifiseerdemag – die “hulle” (107) – wat diewelstand van sowel die individu as die gemeenskapop allerlei vlakke bedreig.Die sterk sosiale bewustheid wat uit dieroman spreek is tiperend van Dido se prosaoeuvre.Hier lewer sy kommentaar op diealgemene huidige landswye misdaad, maarvestig veral die aandag op bepaalde knelpunterakende die polisiewêreld, soos diestres verbonde aan dié beroep, wat onderandere lei tot geestelike versteurings waarvangesins- en selfmoorde getuig (87); dieonoordeelkundige vrylating van misdadigersop borgtog; swak salarisse, wat medeverantwoordelikis vir korrupsie onderwerknemers, ensovoorts. Met haar romandwing sy die leser as ’t ware om met anderoë na die polisieberoep te kyk in ’n pogingom die “haatlike houding” (43) van diegemeenskap jeens die polisie te vervangmet begrip.Soos telkens in die postapartheidsroman,wys die individuele gevalle uit na die kollektiewe.Behalwe dat die vier egpare uit verteenwoordigendestreke van die land kom(die Kaapse Vlakte, Oos-Londen; Sowetoen Pretoria), word grense tussen ras, klasen geslag deurbreek om ’n deursnee samelewingte verteenwoordig. “‘Problems kyk(immers) nie na colour nie’” (81), meen Joanse buurvrou. Gekleurd (Willem en Joan Arries;Shalon en Adam van Dyk); swartTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 214

(Gladys en Joe Mhauli) en wit (Kobus enNadia Viljoen) worstel met soortgelykeprobleme as gevolg van die onderskeiemans se beroep in die polisiediens. Laasgenoemdeis die “onsigbare” band watelkeen se “storie”, hoe verskillend ook al,met die ander s’n verbind. As hoofkarakterna wie telkens teruggekeer word, is JoanArries die eenheidskeppende faktor watpotensiële verbrokkeling teëwerk. Dieterapeutiese waarde van ’n oorgang vanrepressie na ekspressie – ’n procédé watreeds in die jare negentig deur die Waarheids-en versoeningskommissie aan diegang gesit is – word telkens in die romanbevestig. Voldoende integrasie met die verhaallynontbreek in enkele gevalle, soosmet Adriaan Cronje (82-85) en Diana Friesland(91-95), sodat hulle as karakters totblote skimfigure beperk bly.Aan die verhale van die vier sentalevrouekarakters en hulle eggenote, wordwel diepte verleen, onder andere omdatelkeen se storie hom ontvou teen dieagtergrond van ’n persoonlike verlede,waarmee veral in die geval van Nadia, diekollektiewe verlede van die land met syapartheidgeskiedenis opgeroep word.Nadat Nadia deur haar man in ’n gesinsmoordgeskiet is, herleef sy haar kinderenjeugjare op haar geboorteplaas in ’ntoestand van beswyming, en roep sy ’nromantiese spieëlbeeld – ’n pastorale idille– van die politieke en sosiale werklikheidvan Suid-Afrika se apartheidsverlede op.Die oorgange tussen hede en verledevertelde tye geskied in hierdie roman nieslegs spontaner as in vorige romans nie,maar ook dramatieser deurdat die verledenie slegs “oorvertel” word nie, maar “gewys”word, soos veral in die geval van Nadiawanneer sy ternouernood die dood ontkomen die leser die gebeure regstreeks aan diehand van háár bewussynstroom beleef. Diejukstaponering van verlede en hede ookelders in die roman, gee aanleiding tot ’ngeslaagde ironiese tydruimtelike kontraswerkingtussen byvoorbeeld armoede enrykdom; platteland en stad; ’n sorgvrye en’n kommervolle bestaan; die apartheids- endie postapartheidsbestel, ensovoorts.Soos in haar voorafgaande roman, ’nStringetjie blou krale, deurbreek Dido ookhier bepaalde taalgrense met haar losseren meer informele gebruik van Standaardafrikaans,asook die aanwending van omgangstaalmet sy vermenging van Engelsen Afrikaans en die aanpassing van Engelsewoorde by die Afrikaanse klanksisteem,soos byvoorbeeld “kitsjun” (147); “pensjun”(147) “soet” (vir suit, 182), “penlaait-betteries’(150), “sênwhietsjes” (159). Behalwe datdit een van die postkoloniale strategieë isom die taalsuiwerheid van die kolonialis teondermyn, het Dido met haar romans ’nander leserspubliek in gedagte as dié vandie gekanoniseerde werke.’n Verdere wins in hierdie roman, is diemeer genuanseerde uitbeelding van veraldie wit ras, waar dié in vorige romans oorwegendas terloopse en onbeduidendekarakters op pejoratiewe wyse uitgebeeldis. Selfs die rassistiese mevrou Templeton,wat op patroniserende wyse teenoor haarswart huishulp, Gladys, verwys na “jullemense” (114 en 117), en wat op tiperendewyse in algehele onkunde verkeer oor diepersoonlike lewe van haar (swart) werknemer,word hier met deernis uitgebeeldin haar lief en leed wanneer haar seun haarin die steek laat (113). Bepaalde karakters,soos die ma van Shalon, Carol, asook diebuurvrou van Joan, Magda, wat haar lewenswyshedebaseer op vrouetydskrifartikelsen sepies op die tiewie, word metdeernis, empatie en humor geteken, waarmeedie andersins swaarwigtige inhoud vandie roman enigsins gerelativeer word.Soos in vorige romans van Dido, ontkomDie onsigbares ook nie die idealisme enTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 215

didaktiek nie. Die roman hou die boodskapin dat selfs ’n geringe bydrae om grense tedeurbreek en mekaar die hand te reik, ’nverskil kan maak. ’n Wins ten opsigte vanveral Dido se debuutroman, is dat diemoralisering hier minder opsigtelik endaarom ook minder hinderlik is. Ten slottelewer die visuele aanbod op die voorbladook kommentaar, Op ’n algehele rooi agtergrondlê daar onder in die hoek ’n rooihart – moontlik as (idealistiese) teken datnaasteliefde oor klas, ras en geslag heen ’ntoekomstige oplossing vir die huidigelandsgeweld sou kon bied?Heidi de VilliersUniversiteit van KwaZulu-NatalWoman today. A celebration: 50 years ofSouth African women.Hilary Reynolds & Nancy Richards.Kaapstad: Kwela. 2003. ISBN 0795701659.Op 30 Junie 1952 is Woman’s World vir dieeerste maal uitgesaai vanuit die Kaapstadseateljees van die destydse SAUK. Geskoei opdie resep van die BBC program Woman’sHour wat vanaf 1946 uitgesaai is en gepooghet om vroue weer tuis te bring in die huisna die afloop van die wêreldoorlog, het dieSuid-Afrikaanse weergawe Woman’s Worldook elke moontlike onderwerp wat vrouemag raak op die lug aangepak. Vanaf 1995is die program herdoop tot Woman Todayen dit is dan ook die titel van die bundelsaamgestel deur Hilary Reynolds en NancyRichards. Die boek is soos die samestellersdit stel, “’n boek van die radioprogram” watdie eerste vyftig bestaansjare van die programdek vanaf 1952 tot 2002.Met ’n voorwoord deur die politiekeveteraan Helen Suzman wat haar alleenstrydas vrou in die politiek verwoord en ’nnawoord deur die nuwe politieke ster opdie horison Patricia de Lille, is daar minvrouefigure in die Suid-Afrikaanse openbaresfeer wat nie deur die boek gedekword nie. Soos Suzman en De Lille teregopmerk het vroue in Suid-Afrika ’n ver padgestap na demokrasie en erkenning, nie netin die politieke sfeer nie, maar ook in dieprivate wêreld. Die boek poog om ’n samevoegingvan al die stemme van vroue uitdie afgelope vyftig jaar te wees wat op dieprogram was en hulself op verskeie gebiedebeywer het vir die saak van vroue. Al is ditdan ook in die kombuis met ’n paar lekkerresepte soos deur Ina Paarman en andere.Die boek lees gemaklik in die sin dat daarvan ’n “verteller” gebruik gemaak wordwat die geskiedenis en konteks van elkedeelnemer en onderwerp bekendmaak alvorensdie deelnemer self aan die woordgestel word.Die oorgange tussen verteller en deelnemeris nie altyd seepglad nie, maarorigens bied die teks ditself naatloos aan.Die transkripsies van die onderhoude wordnie volledig weergegee nie, maar is aan dieoordeel van die redakteurs en samestellersoorgelaat. Dit hinder soms, want die leserwonder waarom die spesifieke gedeeltegeplaas is en nie ’n ander nie.Die program het ook sedert sy bestaangepoog om ’n forum aan vroue te bied veraldeur die gebruik van briewe van korrespondente(Elizabeth Webb van Oxfordshiretot Sibongile Khumalo van Dobsonville,Soweto) en die meer onlangse inbelprogramme.Die boek volg soos die programdie formaat van ’n dagboek wat volgensdie samestellers moontlik nie as“groundbreaking in male terms” beskoukan word nie, maar wel tot die meestevroue sal spreek.Vrouekwessies word vanuit ’n liberalelens beskou want, die vrou word bestempel“first of all as an individual, then as a wife,as homemaker, as mother, as intelligentTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 216

eader, as particpant in the life of the countryand as a citizen, not only of her owntown or village, but of the world”.Die onderwerpe wissel vanaf “Womenin fashion” tot die meer substansiële “Womenand the Struggle”. Daar is ’n onderhoudmet Maud Summner van 1967 onderdie “Women and the Arts” hoofstuk, ’nonderhoud met Enid Blyton in die “Womenwritingand storytelling”, asook ’n interessanteonderhoud met Adelaide Tambo in1993. Daar is natuurlik ook die onvermydelikeplasing van “To have or not to havechildren” en die “Half a century of babycare” inbelprogramme waarin die gewildeonderwerpe deur kenners soos MarinaPetropulos aangepak word.Amanda du PreezUniversiteit van PretoriaJohannesburg’s Portraits: From LionelPhillips to Sibongile Khumalo.Mike Alfred. Houghton: Jacana. 2003.131 pp. ISBN 1-919931-33-3Johannesburg, by any measure, is an extra-ordinarycity. In the history of moderncities, it has to take its place alongside ofother equally extra-ordinary cities of recenttimes, such as Mexico City, New York, Seoul,Bombay (or Mumbai), Madrid, Sao Paulo,Sydney and so on. Relative to these sistercities, what distinguishes it is the speed withwhich it “grew up”, and, still, its comparativeyouth. It started from nothing in 1886and within thirty years had a population ofover 100,000 people. Today, there is talk ofthe city, with Pretoria and the metro ofEkhuruleni, constituting a global metropolisthat will, in the next ten years, be largerthan Los Angeles. Its size aside, there aremany other curiosities that make it special.It sits astride a ridge to the north of whichwater flows towards the Indian Ocean, andto the south towards the Atlantic Ocean. Itis the most “treed” city in the world. It hasbecome home to vast numbers of birds. Itsarchitectural heritage is priceless markedas its streets are with grand edifices of entertainment,work and business.In addition to these facts about the city,Johannesburg is also a place of extra-ordinarypeople. Mike Alfred’s simple but attractivelydesigned book, Johannesburg’sPortraits, attempts to tell the story of someof these people. The book consists of tenstories of special Johannesburgers, four ofwhich are of couples and the remainder ofindividuals drawn from different walks oflife. The stories are all told with empathybut also with candour. The way Alfred writesis to reveal the vision and greatness of hissubjects but also to show, partly throughthe technique of juxtaposing these differentJohannesburgers with very differentunderstandings of their roles in life, whattheir detractors thought of them.The first story is of Lionel and FlorriePhillips, a couple who bequeathed to thecity its incomparable gold mining industry,the magnificent Johannesburg Art Gallery,the School of Architecture at the Universityof the Witwatersrand and much more. Thenext describes the less-well-known story ofthe relationship between Hermann Kallenbachand Mohandas Gandhi and the almostmiraculous evolution of satyagraha as amode of struggle against the backdrop ofthe rough and volatile social experimentthat Johannesburg stood for in the earlyyears of the twentieth century. From thepacificism of Gandhi the book moves to thetempestuousness of the enigmatic PercyFisher, an English immigrant who soughtto set the white working-class of Johannesburgup against the intractable Randlords,such as Phillips, in the amazing Rand Revoltof 1922. Following Fisher’s story comesTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 217

that of a set of modern Johannesburgers,Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Phillip Tobias,Bram Fischer, Peter Magubane, Geoff Lockwood,Lionel Abrahams and SibongileKhumalo and her father Khabi Mngoma.The story of the Sisulus is told tenderly,befitting the gentle yet tough couple whocame to make Johannesburg their homeand the home also of the national struggleagainst apartheid. This is echoed in the portraitsof Bram Fischer, one of the most significantSouth Africans of his generation,and Peter Magubane, amongst the country’sforemost photographers. The tormentsuffered by Bram Fischer is felt on the tip ofAlfred’s pen, as is the frustration experiencedby Ngubane through one period ofincarceration followed by another duringthe height of apartheid. The challenges ofthe modern apartheid city are vividly alsopainted in the lives of Phillip Tobias, livingout his humanity through his incrediblecontributions to modern science, and surelyone on whom should have been bestowedthe Nobel prize for his palaeo-anthropologicalwork, Geoff Lockwood and his life’swork on the beautiful birds of South Africa,the amazingly generous Johannesburgmuse, Lionel Abrahams (who sadly died asthis review was being written), and the incomparablemusical talents of Khabi Mngomaand his daughter.The writing in this book is punchy andsharp. Alfred’s approach to his task is directand unafraid. The technique often rests onthe use of the short sentence accompaniedby longer, sometimes more discursivelyconstructed phrases and clauses. He is notafraid to use a well-worn phrase if it suitshis purpose. In using it, it emerges freshand apposite. The writing is, as a result, attractiveand direct. It reads fluidly and convincingly.Not unexpectedly, comment on the collectionof characters in Alfred’s cast is unavoidable.In the midst of the great numberof people who make up the gallery of Johannesburg’sheroes, never-mind its roguesand just plain ordinary types, it is a matterof interest that this particular group of peopleis assembled. It could be said that thebook leans too heavily in the direction ofJohannesburg’s white history, or, moregenerously, its liberal history. Even if oneaccepts that this cast features large in keymoments in the city’s life, a question couldbe asked about the omission of characterssuch as Moses Kotane, Clements Kadalie,Solly Sachs, or modern figures such as IsmailMohamed, W. Kambule, and Zeph Mothapeng.One could point to many more in theblack community. Alfred explains that thepeople represent his personal fascinations.This as an explanation is fine up to a pointbut a little more historiographic justificationis called for here. It would be useful tohear what meta-story animates this fascination,if only to be able to have a fair squaring-offwith Alfred about how one narratesa municipal history. And that in itself, evenin a relatively modest book such as this,would be a really valuable provocation.Having made these last remarks, thebook is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Evenfor those who would have grown up in Johannesburgthere is much to learn.Crain SoudienUniversity of Cape TownDie stilte na die boek: Kitsessays.Etienne van Heerden. Kaapstad: Tafelberg.2004. 207pp. ISBN 0-624-04215-4.Die 66 tekste in hierdie versameling, verteldie skrywer in ‘n Nawoord, is ‘n keur uitrubrieke onder die oorkoepelende titelKommapunt, wat in Die Burger verskyn heten ook oorgeneem is deur Beeld en Volks-TYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 218

lad tussen 1997 en Oktober 2001, toe diereeks, volgens die Nawoord, deur ‘n hartomleidingbeëindig is.Die voorrang wat essay nr. 53 genietdeurdat dit die titel vir die geheel verskaf,moet natuurlik iets sê aangaande die aardvan die tekste. Dit vertel van ‘n skrywer seervaring van die gety van laagwater tussenboeke, daardie angs dat hy nooit weer ‘nboek gaan skryf nie, die opmars van gewonedaaglikse dinge wat sy ruimtes beset.Wat is die boodskap vir die leser?Dis bekend dat Virginia Woolf haar dagboek,haar korrespondensie en haar opstellevir die “common reader” gebruik hetas “vingeroefeninge” om haar uit die impassevan die stilte tussen boeke te skryf.“Schrijvende begint men te schrijven,” sêMarthinus Nijhoff, wat, ‘n mens kan sê indie stiltes tussen verse, gereelde bydraesgeskryf het vir Het nieuws van de dag en DeNieuwe Rotterdamse Courant.Word die opstelle gewoonweg van begintot end deurgelees, kan dit op die eerstegesig lyk asof die tipiese “gemengde kruie”van die koerantrubrieke daarin te vinde is:waarnemings aangaande menslike hebbelikhede,die aanskoue van besonderse landskappevan ver en naby, eietydse samelewingsverskynsels,persoonlike herinneringe,en omdat dié skrywer se eersteambag en leeftog inderdaad die literêrebedryf is, heelwat oor literatuur en skrywerskap.En sekerlik: al hierdie onderwerpeword styl-vol (wat taalhantering én lewenshoudingbetref) behandel: die leser weetvooraf dat jy in die geselskap van ‘n voortreflikewoordkunstenaar gaan verkeer virdie duur van die 207 bladsye, en dit word,inderdaad, “gheselscap goet ende fijn”. ‘nMens sou die ouderweste woord “causerie”as etiket daaraan kan heg.Gaandeweg besef die leser egter dat diéligtheid eintlik, in ‘n frase van NP van WykLouw, ‘n “masker van die erns” is.Besinning oor literatuur en skrywerskaptussen 1997 en 2001 moet sy plek vind tussen‘n heerskare van andersoortige mededingendeaansprake op skrywers én lesers.Etienne van Heerden is per slot van rekening‘n skrywer van ons tyd: seismograaf,van sy vroeë kortkuns in die kader van diegrensliteratuur van die tagtigerjare af, deursy groot romans wat samelewingsgeskiedenisdeur middel van omvormings van tradisioneleromansoorte registreer.So registreer hy in hierdie tekste diejongste literatuuropvattings, teorieë watons benadering van literatuur beïnvloed,en veral: veranderings in ons eietydse literatuurbeskouing.Wanneer hy dit doen, geskieddit nie by wyse van diepgaande verduidelikingsnie. Hy teken aan, voeg soms‘n karakteriserende of illustratiewe anekdoteby, maar hou hom by die tradisioneleinslag van die essay: om ‘n gesprek oor ‘nonderwerp te open sonder die pretensie omdie onderwerp uit te put.Dat hy hierdie tekste “kitsessays” noem,is ‘n wegwyser vir die waardering daarvan:dit maak die bundel nog uitdrukliker tuisaan die begin van die een-en-twintigste eeu,waar daar rats beweeg moet word om dievangriem om die leser se aandag vas te trek.Nie verniet nie praat van Heerden van onstyd as “die era van die Jan Rappers” (185).Daarin kan ‘n mens ten minste drie betekenisselees: die gewone leser geniet voorrang(“I rejoice to concur with the commonreader”, haal Virginia Woolf vir Dr. Johnsonaan); aldagswysheid word deur vele verneemuit die mond van die kultusfiguur,“rappers” soos Eminem is eminent; “rap” isvinnig, is kits …Maar met die ligte self-ironisering watdie leser daaraan herinner dat Etienne vanHeerden van oudsher satirikus en kabaretskryweris, kry die gestalte van die gevierdeskrywer van ons tyd gaandeweg al duidelikerdefinisie: die reisiger na konferensiesTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 219

en “Poetries International”, die naguil-op-‘n-kluit wat sy habitat moet verlaat om ‘nster van “pens-en-pootjiesblaaie” te word(201), die pelgrim van die kuberruimte,ewewigsoekend in ‘n wêreld van kitsverandering.So word die vervlietende moment, dieflits-insig op verganklike koerantpapier, dieonvoltooide gesprek, ten slotte tog bestendig,en kan Die stilte ná die boek ‘n verwysingspuntword in die geskiedenis van die Afrikaanseliterêre sisteem in die oorgangstyevan die millenniumwending. Daarmeeneem Etienne van Heerden sy plek naas sygroot voorgangers in die literêre joernalistiekmet onderskeiding in.Elize BothaEmeritus professorUniversiteit van Suid-AfrikaPower and Terror – Post-9/11 Talks andInterviews. Noam Chomsky. J. Junkerman& T. Masakazu (eds.).Houghton: Jacana. 2003. 156 pp.ISBN 1 919931-59-7.In 2002, ’n paar maande na die gewraakteterreuraanvalle van September 2001 in dieVSA het ’n Japanese filmmaatskappy ’n dokumentêr,Power and Terror: Noam Chomskyin Our Times, vervaardig en die boek wathier geresenseer word, is ’n uitvloeisel vandie filmprojek. Die boek bestaan uit vierafdelings: ’n onderhoud vir die rolprent metChomsky – sy siening van die terreuraanvalle,die daaropvolgende oorlog in Afganistanen die rol van Japan in die oorlog, ’ntoespraak van Chomsky, “US arms, humanrights and social health”, ’n aantal gesprekkemet hom, hoofsaaklik gebaseer op toesprakevan hom en die bespreking wat ditontlok het wanneer die gehoor vrae konvra en laastens ’n afdeling met algemeneinligting oor die skrywer en ’n lys vanpublikasies van hom wat spesifiek betrekkinghet op van die vraagstukke wat in hierdieboek gedek word. Die deurlopendetema is die mate waarin Amerika selfskuldig is aan ’n vorm van staatsterreur insy buitelandse optrede en dat indien dieAmerikaners dit halt sal roep, dit onmiddellik’n reuse verskil sal maak in die voorkomsvan terreur wêreldwyd. ’n Sub-temais die rol van intellektuele (sien veral 15-20)– hulle stilswye of selfs verdediging van enondersteuning vir die Amerikaanse posisie,omdat as terreur op eie bodem plaasvind,dit moeilik word om enigsins objektief tekyk na die oorsaak daarvan en om regeringsbeleidte bevraagteken.’n Paar aspekte rondom die publikasieval dadelik op. Dit is ’n boek gemik op dieleek en dien as eenvoudige inleiding totChomsky se politieke geskrifte en opinies– dit is nie ’n boek vir die intellektueel ofdie vakspesialis of mense wat werklikpitkos soek wanneer hulle oor die grootvrae van die dag wonder en daarmee worstelnie. Dit is nie die akademikus Chomskywaarmee ’n mens hier te doen het nie, maar’n Chomsky in gesprek met gewone mensewat ernstige vrae vra oor die rol van dieVSA in die kontemporêre internasionalepolitiek. Daarmee maak ek nie die publikasieaf as minderwaardig nie – inteendeel.Chomsky praat nie neerhalend of “af” nasy vraestellers nie, maar hanteer vrae enopmerkings met begrip en respek en probeereerlike antwoorde verskaf. Vir akademicikan hierdie juis goeie leesstof wees,want Chomsky word ’n rolmodel wat wyswat die taak van die intellektueel in dieopenbare lewe is.Maar dit gaan nie noodwendig dieperinsig bring in die vrae wat aangespreekword nie. Daarvoor moet ’n mens terugganna die skrywer se akademiese werk, en ’nuitstekende voorbeeld hiervan, minstensTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 220

inne die dissipline Internasionale Verhoudinge,is byvoorbeeld sy “Moral truisms,empirical evidence and foreign policy” watin Oktober 2003 in die gesaghebbendeBritse joernaal, Review of International Studies,verskyn het.Chomsky is nou reeds dekades lank bekendas iemand wat onverskrokke standpuntinneem, gewoonlik teenoor Amerikaansebuitelandse beleidsoptredes, en watmeedoënloos “sy land” se buitelandse optredesonder die vergrootglas plaas en danveral teenoor die skynheiligheid van Amerikaanseoptrede kritiek uitspreek. Vir tallemense is hy die toonbeeld van wat met dieword “patriot” bedoel word, in teenstellingmet “nasionalis”. Onderliggend aan sy werkis die idee dat die VSA ’n staat is waaringroot individuele vryheid bestaan, ’n landwat die potensiaal het om deur sy buitelandsebeleid ’n daadwerklike bydrae temaak tot internasionale vrede, sekuriteit enveral geregtigheid, maar dat die verskillendeadministrasies, hetsy Demokraties ofRepublikeins (hy is net so krities teenoordie Clinton-administrasie as teenoor diehuidige Bush-administrasie), vanweë elitebelange,hierdie potensiaal nooit verwesenliknie. Sy siening herinner sterk aan diévan die neo-Marxis, Ralph Miliband, dat die(kapitalisitiese) staat uiteindelik die agentvan die heersende klas is – die rykes en bevoorregtesin die samelewing: “The mediaare huge corporations that share the interestsof the corporate sector that dominatesthe government” (98).Chomsky se kritiek op die VSA se buitelandsebeleid, veral in die mate waarin Amerikaanseoptrede neerkom op direkte deelnameaan terreur (staatsterreur), word virhom van oorwegende en oorheersende belang.Dit is te verstane. En terloops, ’n mensis geneig om te vergeet, en Chomsky herinnerdie leser hieraan, dat die sogenaamde“war on terror” (of soos sommiges van onsdaarna begin verwys, die “war of terror”)reeds uit die Reagan-era dateer toe dit diefokuspunt van Amerikaanse buitelandsebeleid geword het. Sy ontleding van dieVSA se optrede in en teen verskeie state inSentraal-Amerika (spesifiek Nicaragua),teen die Palestyne en in Viëtnam gedurendedie sestigerjare (afdeling twee van die boek)toon ’n Amerika wat lank reeds, in Chomskyse woorde, slegs begaan is oor eiebelang(lees: korporatiewe of elitebelang, ’n ouprobleem in die ontleding van internasionalepolitiek – wie is die staat? Is dit werklik’n “unitary actor”?): “But they [slagoffersvan geweld en terreur buite die VSA] can beany colour, any religion, it doesn’t reallymatter. The principle is: does it affect USinterests?” (106).Vir ’n Afrika-leser raak hierdie standpunthinderlik wanneer Chomsky tydens ’n vraesessiena ’n toespraak gekonfronteer wordmet ’n aanhaling van generaal Romeo Dallaire,die Kanadese offisier wat tydens dieRwandese menseslagting van 1994 aan diehoof van die VN vredesmag gestaan het.Dallaire het gesê (dit word in die teks geparafraseer):“Rwanda was too small, toopoor and too black for anyone to care.”Chomsky gee toe dat daar waarheid in magsteek, maar sy (bykans) obsessie bly by dieVSA en dié se direkte betrokkenheid byterreur en geweld. Die VSA se rol in multilateraleorganisasies, byvoorbeeld die VerenigdeNasies, waar besluite oor intervensiein die geval van menseslagtings gemaakword, is vir hom nie van direkte belang nie:“He’s [Dallaire] talking about somethingbad, namely our unwillingness to do anythingto stop atrocities. But much worse thanthat, incomparably worse, is our willingnessto participate in atrocities”.Hierdie resensent deel die mening vantalle ander dat die internasionale gemeenskap,en spesifiek die VSA as permanentelid van die Veiligheidsraad, net so skuldigTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 221

was aan die Rwandese slagting as dié watdit uitgevoer het. Nietemin, ’n mens kandie publikasie aanbeveel, veral vir mensewat ’n oorhoofse indruk wil kry van dieomvang van Chomsky se politieke oeuvre.Omvattende hantering van vraagstukkegaan die leser nie hier kry nie en dit is niemoontlik om uit hierdie versameling naastenbydie omvang en diepte van die manse empiriese navorsing en interpretasiedaarvan te peil nie. Maar wat Chomskydeurentyd, ook in dié publikasie, demonstreer,is die aard van die werklike kritikus:die persoon of kundige of denker wat nabeide kante van ’n saak kan kyk en in beidegevalle kritiek kan uitspreek, nie partisaansen eensydig net een party afkraak nie.Sy sterk afkeur is nie net teen die VSAgemik nie (hoewel hy die oorwig van skuldvoor die Amerikaners se deur plaas wanneerdit by terreur kom – immers het diekleiner en swakker partye bittermin wapensom mee te baklei), maar ook teen alleander terreurgroepe. In die VSA word hyen ander kritici van die oorlog teen terreuras onpatrioties uitgekryt en in sommigegevalle verloor akademici tans selfs sekerevoorregte en regte (byvoorbeeld navorsingstoekennings)wanneer hulle te openlikAmerikaanse optrede kritiseer. Van hulle,en spesifiek Chomsky, word ook op ’nander manier gestraf – hulle werk wordgrootliks geïgnoreer en afgemaak as te“polemies” – ’n swaar straf vir akademiciwat juis daarop uit is om in gesprek te treemet ander.Nietemin bly Chomsky getrou aan ’nkultuur van kritiese ingesteldheid en blyhy grootliks ’n optimis: mense kan deuraktivisme die wêreld verander, en sy taak,goed vergestalt in hierdie publikasie, is ommense van die nodige feite en ontleding tevoorsien sodat hulle op ’n ingeligte manieraktivisties kan optree.Maxi SchoemanUniversiteit van PretoriaTYDSKRIF VIR LETTERKUNDE • 41 (2) • 2004 222