Abstract

VAN COLLER, H. P.. Discursive patterns in Brandwaterkom by Alexander Strachan. Tydskr. letterkd. [online]. 2016, vol.53, n.1, pp.222-242. ISSN 2309-9070.  https://doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v.53i1.16.

The recently published and prizewinning novel Brandwaterkom is vintage Strachan with an intricate structure, imbedded stories and a whole network of allusions. Typical of postmodernist writing, the relationship between fact and fiction, historiography and the novel is problematized. The primary narrator is a Hermes-figure who constantly reflects upon the narrative in metafictional fashion, questioning and even belittling his own omniscience and omnipotence as narrator. The main story centres on Fanie Vilonel, a traitor during the Boer War, and the motif of treachery is central in the story, discourse and narration.

Keywords : Afrikaans novels; Anglo-Boer War; postmodernist writing; treachery.

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