Loss and grief are central to the oeuvre of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach. Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat (2006), Winterbach’s latest novel, may be seen as a synthesis of the various experiences of loss that are mentioned in her previous prose texts: material loss; the temporary and permanent parting of loved ones; the death of significant others; more vaguely defined forms of loss, such as melancholy, yearning, psychological uneasiness and malaise; as well as a growing realisation of transience and mortality. In this study the various embodiments of loss and grief in the oeuvre of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach are investigated, in order to comment on the role of loss in Afrikaans literature, as well as on loss as a general human experience. Attention is not only given to the role of experiences of loss and reactions to grief in the narrative, but also to the way in which loss is portrayed in the structure, language use and style of the various prose texts. One of the main goals of the study is to question the concepts loss, grief and the processing of grief in the context of the Viljoen/Winterbach oeuvre. Despite its popularity in current “loss literature”, this study does not assess loss and grief from a psychotherapeutic perspective. An important reason for this is that psychotherapeutic loss assessments have a limited relevancy value in literature; they often reduce the data of a novel to psychological casework and, consequently, do not do justice to the complexity of the phenomena they are trying to explain. The psychoanalytical views of Freud, Lacan, Abraham and Torok regarding loss and grief, as well as the poststructuralist beliefs of Derrida regarding loss and grieving are rather used as points of departure, seeing that these authors mostly developed their thoughts on the basis of literary narratives. The complexity of the concepts loss and grief is acknowledged and explained by their views, while language plays a decisive role in their views on grief. The concept processing of grief is specifically discussed and it is indicated that a traditional, psychotherapeutic view of processing as “healing” is increasingly questioned in the Viljoen/Winterbach oeuvre. Further, the over-optimistic view of researchers, such as Abraham and Torok, that the conversion of loss into language is already an indication that the loss experience is accommodated by the psyche and processed to a significant extent is refuted on the basis of Lacanian psychoanalysis. At first glance, it seems as though most of the characters in the Viljoen/Winterbach oeuvre hold an opinion on grief similar to Freud’s initial belief regarding loss. Consequently, “normal” grief is seen as an active process, during which the libido is gradually detached from the lost love object and, in time, invested in another love object, with the view that there would eventually be a conclusive and spontaneous end to the grief (and thus also to the loss). If processing of loss means a complete severance of the libido from the lost love object and a spontaneous end to grief, the oeuvre of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach clearly illustrates unresolved grief across novel-borders. Few characters successfully find comfort in replacements or substitutes for their lost love objects. The grief of these characters rather displays characteristics similar to Freud’s later (revised) view on “melancholic” grief – a view according to which grief does not end conclusively and spontaneously, but rather constitutes a prolonged, even endless, process. According to Derrida such an “unresolved” and prolonged grief is, however, the more appropriate and ethical form of grief or mourning after a loss. Despite their desire to overcome their loss and grief and to let the lost other go, most characters in the Viljoen/Winterbach oeuvre realise that they also have a certain ethic responsibility towards the lost other. They eventually affirm the Derridian idea that the possibility of the impossible is the basis of the rhetoric of grief as a whole and that success implies failure and failure implies success. Should you, in one way or another, accomplish a successful internalisation of the other (but it is impossible), you fail, in fact, because the other is then no longer the other. And, vice versa, should you fail (and you are doomed to fail), you succeed, in fact, because that way you retain respect for the other as other. Viewed in this light, all the novellas and novels of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach essentially deal with the question of how mourning could and should take place through words. / Prof. W.D. Burger

Ingrid Winterbach's novels especially the latest novels since Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat are characterised by an unconventional sense of humour. Although the comic aspects of her work are frequently referred to, no systematic research of the specific comic aspects of her work has been undertaken to date, despite humour being a striking part of her work. Almost everyone who conducts research on the comical reflects on the issue that any scientific study of humour usually negates the humour of the subject matter. The many divergent attempts to create a theory of humour in literature were split into three useful groups by Perks (2012). Some theories address incongruency, others degradation, and the third group of theories discusses the relief associated with the comical. This interpretation of the theories of humour is used in this study to discuss the humour in three of Winterbach's novels. Although it is possible to discuss many of the situations that arise in the novels in terms of incongruency, degradation, or relief (often by using all three theories), it is readily apparent that Winterbach's unique sense of humour is not sufficiently captured by using just these theories. To investigate the effect of humour in Winterbach's novels, the interpretation of humour, as suggested by Milan Kundera in Testaments betrayed (1993), is used, wherein the Czech writer describes humour as a specific species of the comic that renders ambiguous everything it touches. This ambiguity that is created by the comical plays a central part in Winterbach's work. / Ingrid Winterbach se romans veral die laaste romans sedert Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat word deur 'n aweregse humorsin gekenmerk. Hoewel daar dikwels na komiese aspekte van haar werk verwys word, is geen stelselmatige ondersoek van spesifiek die komiese aspekte van haar werk tot dusver onderneem nie, terwyl dit 'n besonder opvallende kenmerk van Winterbach se werk is. Byna almal wat oor die komiese navorsing doen, wys op die probleem wat daarmee ontstaan aangesien 'n wetenskaplike studie juis dikwels die komiese ondermyn. Die talle uiteenlopende pogings om die komiese in letterkunde te teoretiseer, word deur Perks (2012) op 'n nuttige wyse in drie groepe gedeel. Sommige teorieë fokus op onversoenbaarheid, ander op degradasie, en 'n derde groep teorieë is gemoeid met die ontlading wat die komiese sou bied. Hierdie verdeling van teorieë rakende die komiese word in hierdie studie benut om die komiese in drie Winterbach-romans te beskryf. Hoewel dit moontlik is om talle komiese situasies in die drie romans deur middel van onversoenbaarheidsteorieë, degradasieteorieë, en ontladingsteorieë te beskryf (dikwels kan dieselfde situasie trouens deur al drie teorieë beskryf word), blyk dit gou dat Winterbach se kenmerkende humor nie genoegsaam daardeur beskryf kan word nie. Om die effek van humor in Winterbach se romans te ondersoek, word aangesluit by Milan Kundera se beskouing van humor in Testaments betrayed (1993), waarin die Tsjeggiese skrywer humor beskryf as 'n spesifieke "spesie" van die komiese wat meerduidigheid veroorsaak. Hierdie meerduidigheid wat deur die komiese bewerkstellig word, speel 'n sentrale rol in Winterbach se werk. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Afrikaans / MA / Unrestricted

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is a study of Ingrid Winterbach‟s novel, Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat. The premise of the thesis is that a study of the theme of contingency or chance can lead to a heightened insight into the novel. The novel is approached from different perspectives, but in each perspective the way in which the theme of chance is developed in the novel, is illuminated. By way of introduction the history of the term “contingency” in the Afrikaans language and Western philosophy is broadly traced. This is the background to a reading of the novel as a reaction to contingency. This is followed by a reading of the novel from the perspective of the sociology of religion. The focus is on the nominizing function of religion; the role of language in this process and the way in which Helena Verbloem‟s shells become symbol of man‟s search for meaning and order. In the third chapter the novel is read from the perspective of popular science with the focus on the part of chance in the history of evolutionary thought and the way the novel interprets this. A reading of the novel from the perspective of the philosophy of language follows: the arbitrary and contingent nature of language is discussed and the way the novel underlines this, is brougth to the attention. In the last chapter the novel is read from the perspective of literary theory, focusing on the traditional narrative structure and the way in which it is undermined, undermining also in the process a teleological reading of the novel. Following the reading of the novel from these different perspectives, the conclusion is made that Ingrid Winterbach acknowledges contingency and makes it her own to such an extent that she meets Nietzsche‟s criteria for a “brave poet”. She is indeed a brave and poetic novelist. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is ‟n studie van Ingrid Winterbach se roman, Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat. In die studie word die tema van kontingensie of toeval sentraal gestel. Die roman word dan ook vanuit verskillende perspektiewe benader; binne elkeen word die wyse waarop die toeval as tema in die roman uitgewerk word, duideliker. Daar word eerstens ‟n gebruiksgeskiedenis van die term “kontingensie” in die Afrikaanse taal en die Westerse filosofie gegee. Hiermee word die agtergrond geskets waarteen die roman as reaksie op die kontingensie gelees moet word. Daarna word die roman vanuit ‟n godsdiens-sosiologiese perspektief benader: die rol wat die tradisionele toeverlaat steeds in die hoofkarakter, Helena Verbloem, se lewe speel, word in oënskou geneem. Die fokus val op die nomiserende werking van godsdiens; die rol van taal in hierdie proses en die wyse waarop Helena se skulpe simbool word van die mens se soeke na betekenis en orde. In die derde hoofstuk word die roman vanuit ‟n populêr-wetenskaplike hoek gelees: die aandag word gerig op die rol van toeval in die geskiedenis van evolusionêre denke en die wyse waarop die roman hiermee in gesprek tree. ‟n Taalfilosofiese perspektief kom vervolgens aan die beurt: die arbitrêre en toevallige aard van taal word bespreek en die wyse waarop hierdie idees in die roman teruggevind word, word uitgelig. In die laaste hoofstuk word die roman vanuit ‟n literêr-teoretiese perspektief gelees met die fokus op die tradisionele narratiewe struktuur en hoe die wyse waarop daarvan afgewyk word, ‟n teleologiese lees ondermyn. Na aanleiding van die bespreking van die roman vanuit hierdie verskillende hoeke, word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat Ingrid Winterbach die kontingensie erken en haar eie maak en daarom aan Nietzsche se kriteria vir ‟n “brawe digter” voldoen. Sy is inderdaad ‟n brawe en digterlike romanskrywer.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis the possibility of reading the work of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach as extensive social commentary and criticism on a conformist, normative South African society, is investigated. This investigation will be conducted with the aid of theories about marginality and liminality. In an attempt to determine whether Viljoen/Winterbach's work can indeed be read as social commentary and criticism, a number of characters from her whole oeuvre are classified as either marginal, liminal or a combination of both these characteristics. The concepts marginality and liminality are described in chapter 1. In chapter 2 the classification system on which this investigation is built, will be discussed and attention will also be given to problems with the classification system (and problems with classification systems in general). In chapters 3 to 5 Viljoen/Winterbach's work will be discussed, with a chapter devoted to each of the following broad categories: marginal characters (the homeless, the proletariat, the mentally retarded and the insane), characters who are both marginal and liminal (mystics) and liminal characters (fortune tellers, temporary intermediaries, shamans and tricksters). The salient points will be gathered together in the conclusion. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie verhandeling word die moontlikheid ondersoek om die werk van Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach te lees as uitgebreide sosiale kommentaar en kritiek op 'n konformistiese, normatiewe Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing. Hierdie ondersoek sal verrig word aan die hand van teorieë omtrent marginaliteit en liminaliteit. In 'n poging om te bepaal of Viljoen/Winterbach se werk wél as sosiale kommentaar en kritiek gelees kan word, word 'n aantal karakters uit haar hele oeuvre geklassifiseer as marginaal, liminaal, óf 'n kombinasie van beide hierdie kenmerke. Die konsepte marginaliteit en liminaliteit word in hoofstuk lomskryf. In hoofstuk 2 word die klassifikasiesisteem waarop hierdie ondersoek berus, bespreek en word daar ook aandag geskenk aan probleme rondom die klassifikasiesisteem (en rondom klassifikasiesisteme in die algemeen). In hoofstukke 3 tot 5 word Viljoen/Winterbach se werk bespreek, met 'n hoofstuk afgestaan aan elkeen van die volgende breë kategorieë: marginale karakters (haweloses, die proletariaat, swaksinniges en gekke), karakters wat sowel marginaal as liminaal is (mistici) en liminale karakters (sieners, tydelike bemiddelaars, sjamane en trieksters). Die hoofpunte word byeengebring in die samevatting.

This study focuses on the creative adaptation of Anglo-Boer War material in Ingrid Winterbach’s (Lettie Viljoen) Niggie [Cousin] (2002) with specific reference to the Oorlogsdagboek van Jan F.E. Celliers, 1899-1902 [War Diary of Jan F.E. Celliers, 1899-1902] (1978) and other texts written during or shortly after the Anglo Boer War in Dutch, such as Totius’ Vier-en-sestig dae te velde: ‘n Oorlogsdagboek [Sixty Four Days Afield: A War Diary] (1977) and in English, Woman’s Endurance (1904) by A.D.L. and Deneys Reitz’s Commando. A Boer Journal of the Boer War (1929). More recent Afrikaans novels dealing with the same war are also analysed, such as Ons oorlog [Our War] (2000) by Klaas Steytler, Op soek na Generaal Mannetjies Mentz [In Search of General Mannetjies Mentz] (1998) by Christoffel Coetzee and Etienne Leroux’s Magersfontein O! Magersfontein (1976). A literary analysis is done of the novel Niggie, with specific focus on the nature and function of Anglo-Boer War material in Winterbach’s text. The question is posed why there is such a sustained focus and creative adaptation of Anglo-Boer War texts in Winterbach’s oeuvre (especially in Belemmering [Impediment], 1990, Karolina Ferreira, 1993, Buller se plan [Buller’s Plan], 1999, and Niggie [Cousin], 2002)? This novel has a profound effect on the reader a century after the war, because it addresses postcolonial issues and predicaments such as a defragmenting identity, as well as the possible demise of the Afrikaans language and culture, faced by the descendants of those involved in the war a century ago. In her reworking of the past to come to grips with the present, Winterbach confronts difficult South African topics, such as interracial relationships, racism, the relationship with the land, possible language death, gender relationships, the role of the supernatural and the unconscious in everyday life (in the form of dreams and trickster figures), amongst many others. The dissertation offers an intertextual study as well as a literary analyses of the literary techniques used, and the characteristics of this magisterial novel, which deservedly won the Hertzog prize in 2004, the highest accolade possible for an Afrikaans novel. The anomaly of such a novel in 2002 seemingly dwelling on the past, is shown up for what it is: a metaphor for the present and its dilemmas, reflecting the social conflicts existing at present in the crumbling Afrikaans community.

This research report explores the link between the novels of Ingrid Winterbach / Lettie Viljoen, a third culture and the neo-Victorian novel. The study is therefore situated within the cultural-philosophical framework of a third culture, which implies that the two cultures of science and literature do not function as separate disciplines, but as an organic unit. Researchers in the interdiscipline of literature and science identify the Age of Science (1879–1914) – including the Victorian era (1837–1901) – as a historical period where the existence of such a third culture was observed. This period was characterised by numerous scientific discoveries, and Darwin’s theory of evolution generated heated debates in Victorian society. Nineteenth-century literature (and specifically the Victorian novel) therefore reflects the spirit of an age where the interaction between science and literature was particularly evident. In our information-driven society, the focus is once again on scientific discovery and dissemination of knowledge, prompting social critics to typify the current period as “neo-” or “retro-Victorian”. The contemporary imagination still problematises Darwin’s theory of evolution, and fiction such as Winterbach’s therefore not only renegotiates the fixed modernistic boundaries between science and literature, but also revisits the nineteenth- century genres simptomatic of a similar third culture. Winterbach’s novels (1984–2006) display a distinctive predisposition towards natural history and Darwinistic principles and are therefore postmodern adaptations of nineteenth-century conventions. Darwinistic concepts such as growth, metamorphosis,transformation, evolution and the origin, naming and extinction of species are therefore accentuated. Winterbach’s fictionalisation of a nineteenth-century worldview can be linked to the work of her ancestors in the Afrikaans literary tradition, Eugène Marais and C. Louis Leipoldt (both amateur scientists). Her popularisation of scientific knowledge and revisitation of Victorian codes also link her to a neo-Victorian novelistic movement (a contemporary permutation of the Victorian tradition). Her oeuvre therefore also displays similarities to that of her British contemporary, A.S. Byatt, a prominent neo-Victorian novelist. An exploration of the natural world in this tradition, however, also implies an exploration of supernatural spheres, a trend which is equally evident in texts by congeners such as (George) Eliot, Marais, Leipoldt, Winterbach and Byatt. / Afrikaans / D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans and Theory of Literature)

This research report explores the link between the novels of Ingrid Winterbach / Lettie Viljoen, a third culture and the neo-Victorian novel. The study is therefore situated within the cultural-philosophical framework of a third culture, which implies that the two cultures of science and literature do not function as separate disciplines, but as an organic unit. Researchers in the interdiscipline of literature and science identify the Age of Science (1879–1914) – including the Victorian era (1837–1901) – as a historical period where the existence of such a third culture was observed. This period was characterised by numerous scientific discoveries, and Darwin’s theory of evolution generated heated debates in Victorian society. Nineteenth-century literature (and specifically the Victorian novel) therefore reflects the spirit of an age where the interaction between science and literature was particularly evident. In our information-driven society, the focus is once again on scientific discovery and dissemination of knowledge, prompting social critics to typify the current period as “neo-” or “retro-Victorian”. The contemporary imagination still problematises Darwin’s theory of evolution, and fiction such as Winterbach’s therefore not only renegotiates the fixed modernistic boundaries between science and literature, but also revisits the nineteenth- century genres simptomatic of a similar third culture. Winterbach’s novels (1984–2006) display a distinctive predisposition towards natural history and Darwinistic principles and are therefore postmodern adaptations of nineteenth-century conventions. Darwinistic concepts such as growth, metamorphosis,transformation, evolution and the origin, naming and extinction of species are therefore accentuated. Winterbach’s fictionalisation of a nineteenth-century worldview can be linked to the work of her ancestors in the Afrikaans literary tradition, Eugène Marais and C. Louis Leipoldt (both amateur scientists). Her popularisation of scientific knowledge and revisitation of Victorian codes also link her to a neo-Victorian novelistic movement (a contemporary permutation of the Victorian tradition). Her oeuvre therefore also displays similarities to that of her British contemporary, A.S. Byatt, a prominent neo-Victorian novelist. An exploration of the natural world in this tradition, however, also implies an exploration of supernatural spheres, a trend which is equally evident in texts by congeners such as (George) Eliot, Marais, Leipoldt, Winterbach and Byatt. / Afrikaans / D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans and Theory of Literature)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this dissertation I investigate how aesthetics, politics and ethics intersect as material flows in translation, and how these actualise in the oeuvre of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach. With the emphasis on praxis, I explore these three threads through the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in particular, though not exclusively. With reference to Deleuze and Guattari’s project on ‘minor literature’, I demonstrate that Viljoen/Winterbach’s oeuvre contains a high degree of deterritorialisation through methods such as thematic refrains, stylistic devices and her use of Engfrikaans. In translation these methods are investigated in terms of the ethico-aesthetic framework developed by Guattari, the role of capitalism in its relation to translation and the publishing industry (i.e. the political), and how translation and/as praxis may begin to develop a nomadic ethics. Aesthetics, from a Deleuzo-Guattarian perspective is shown to be not about the value produced by capitalism, but rather about that which deterritorialises as a singularity. Such a singularity in literature may be said to actualise as a minor literature or, more accurately, a becoming-minor. With regards to politics in translation/translation in politics, I argue that the question of translation should no longer be What does this word/text mean? but rather What is the word/text/translation doing? When the emphasis moves from semantics to praxis I argue that translation, like other forms of literature, has the potential to affect social transformation. I put forth as part of my argument that this is possible through deterritorialising practices like écriture féminine and Viljoen/Winterbach’s use of Engfrikaans and the trickster figure, as such methods allow for bifurcations away from State territorialisations. And finally, I examine how translators might begin to develop a praxis informed by a nomadic ethics which is not reliant on a normative morality, but rather constitutes an orientation founded on heterogeneity and the repudiation of universality. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie proefskrif word daar ondersoek hoe estetika, politiek and etiek as reële elemente saamvloei in vertaling, en hoe dit aktualiseer in the oeuvre van Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach. Met die klem op praxis ondersoek ek dié drie elemente in besonder in terme van die filosofie van Gilles Deleuze en Félix Guattari, alhoewel nie eksklusief nie. Met verwysing na Deleuze end Guattari se projek aangaande ’n ‘klein (mindere) literatuur’, demonstreer ek dat Viljoen/Winterbach se oeuvre ’n hoë graad van deterritorialisasie weerspieël wat uit haar gebruik van metodes soos tematiese refreine, stilistiese instrumente en die gebruik van Engfrikaans voortspruit. In vertaling word hierdie metodes ondersoek in terme van die eties-estetiese raamwerk wat deur Guattari ontwikkel is asook die politieke rol van kapitalisme in verhouding tot vertaling en die publikasiebedryf, sowel as hoe vertaling as praxis daartoe mag bydra om ’n nomadiese etiek te ontwikkel. Vanuit ’n Deleuzo-Guattariaanse perspektief word daar aangetoon dat estetika nie handel oor die waarde wat kapitalisme voortbring nie, maar eerder oor die enkele-uniekheid (“singularity”) wat deterritorialisering meebring. Dit kan gestel word dat in literatuur sodanige enkele-uniekheid as mindere (“minor”) literatuur gesien kan word of, om meer akkuraat te wees, die voortbring daarvan kan aktualiseer. Betreffende politiek in vertaling/vertaling in politiek word daar aangevoer dat die vraagstuk van vertaling voortaan nie moet wees Wat beteken hierdie woord of teks? nie, maar eerder Wat vermag ’n woord of teks in die vertaling? Daar word verder aangevoer dat wanneer die klem vanaf semantiek na praxis verskuif vertaling, soos ander vorme van literatuur, die potensiaal inhou om sosiale transformasie te beïnvloed. As deel van die onderliggende argument word daar gepostuleer dat die voorgenoemde inderdaad moontlik is deur deterritorialiserende paraktyke soos écriture féminine en Viljoen/Winterbach se gebruik van Engfrikaans asmede die triekster-figuur omdat sulke metodes die geleentheid skep vir splitsing (“bifurcation”) weg van Staatsterritorialisering af. Ten slotte word ondersoek ingestel na hoe vertalers ’n praxis sou kon ontwikkel wat deur ’n nomadiese etiek en nie’n normatiewe moraliteit gelei word nie, maar wat eerder op ’n orientasie van heterogeniteit en die verwerping van essensie gebaseer is.

The focus of this dissertation is a comparative study of Ingrid Winterbach's Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat (2006) [The Book of Happenstance (2008)] and Etienne van Heerden's Asbesmiddag (2007) [Asbestos Afternoon] within an intertextual and socio-political framework. Both novels show strong links to the literary traditions of which they form part through a high degree of intertextuality with literary predecessors (intertexts from Afrikaans and South African English literature, but also classical intertexts emanating from the larger field of world literature). Both texts exhibit an overt metatextual consciousness. The protagonists in each of these novels are portrayed as novelists. One of the main aims of the study is to interrogate the implied ideological perspectives in both novels - the nature and extent of the reflection of the current South African socio-political system. Winterbach and Van Heerden‘s texts may both be read as fictionalised forms of "protest" against the extrinsic South African socio-political order. These forms of protest focus on the inevitable change from one stage/era to the next, the old South Africa to the new, in a quest for artistic (creative writing and literature) and cultural (Afrikaner identity and language) survival. Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat (2006) and Asbesmiddag (2007) contribute to contemporary discourse by offering implied ideological insights into specific socio-political and metatextual phenomena. This is done in fictional guise - through the characters populating the fictional world of the novel, and also through the authors' implied ideological views. Both novels are intensely concerned with language issues, as well as the status of literature as cultural product. On the metatextual level theoretical issues concerning literature are in the focus, such as the precarious position of the novelist (and the academic) in contemporary South African society, and the status of literature and Afrikaans as a minority language. The purpose of this comparative study is to look at the metatextual, ideological and linguistic aspects of the novels through an extensive intertextual study, in order to interrogate and illustrate the socio-political discourse embedded in them.

Both historiographical and literary practices have undergone revision in recent years in attempting to address the inheritance of nineteenth-century realism. Since the object of realist stylistics, employed in both the writing of fiction and history, is to render authorship authoritative or even invisible, the ideological import of these narratives is often such that the constructedness of the historical record and its absences are veiled. In developments beginning in the 1980s with the advent of ‘New Historicism’ and with the emergence of postmodern literary techniques, the interface of literature and history became of seminal importance, since both were now credited as being products of narrative and discourse, and hence, to varying degrees, of the literary imagination. This movement intersects interestingly with developments in postcolonial studies, since it is the voices of the marginalized and disempowered colonized peoples that are routinely co-opted and excised from nineteenth-century realist histories. These concerns are now being fully explored in the literature of the contemporary post-transitional South African moment, since authors in this country seemingly now feel freed up to look back to histories that precede the immediate traumas of apartheid. The concern, in relation to apartheid developments but also on a broader universal scale, is this: if history is viewed as perpetual emergences of modernities, then one of the great absences in the record is the historical determinants of any given epistemology. The attempt to recreate such an epistemological genealogy is thus simultaneously postcolonial, historiographical, and literary. Russel Brownlee’s Garden of the Plagues (2005), Ingrid Winterbach’s To Hell with Cronjé (2010), and Etienne van Heerden’s The Long Silence of Mario Salviati (2002) attempt to bridge this gap in the recorded sensibilities of any historical moment by representing a ‘lived experience’ of the past, and in the process imaginatively recreating the cultural, historical and psychological locations of the proponents of an emerging modernity. This study concerns itself with the ways in which these authors address the influence of realist historiography through the use of literary innovations that allow for the departure from realist stylistics. Most commonly, all three authors draw on forms of magic realism, but multiple refigurings and recombinations of notions of temporality, narrative, and characterization likewise work to defamiliarize the once stable discourse of history.