M.A. / With the possible exception of the much-lauded Karolina Ferreira, most of Lettie Viljoen's novels are (unfairly) regarded as very complex and even incomprehensible. The main reasons being the lack of a satisfactory evaluation framework that can be used to address the interpretation problems in her texts successfully and a resulting tendency to approach her novels with conventional reading strategies and expectations. By situating Viljoen's literary work in a postcolonial context, however, basic premises of postcolonial theory and criticism can be used to develop an instrument that will be able to address these problems satisfactorily and improve readers' comprehension of her novels. Because most recent critical work on postcolonialism focuses mainly on literature produced in former British colonies, these premises should be revised and adapted to suit the South African situation in general and the Afrikaans literature specifically.