Triomf explores the distortion of the national Afrikaner identity as a result of apartheid. This
dissertation aims to demonstrate how van Niekerk deconstructs the Afrikaner through myths,
stories, symbols, intertextuality and Derridean deconstruction. The Benades represent the
Afrikaner on three levels: the personal, the national and the primordial. Since the Benades are
primordial, Van Niekerk is able to use the archetypes of Jung’s collective unconscious to
deconstruct the archetypal mythological structures Afrikaner nationalists used to develop identity
and unity. The archetypes deconstructed are Spirit, the Great Mother, Re-birth, the Trickster, the
Physical Hearth and the Sacred Fire. Afrikaner myths deconstructed include the Great Trek, the
family, the patriarch, the matriarch, the future of a white Afrikaner nation and the binding
character of Afrikaans as white national language. Van Niekerk undermines the plaasroman of the
1920s and 1930s, as the Afrikaner’s national identity was constituted and deconstructed in literature. / English / M.A. (English)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/2638 |
| Date | 07 1900 |
| Creators | Du Plessis, Aletta Catharina |
| Contributors | Levey, D.N.R. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource ([viii], 188 leaves) |
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