Beauty in Bastardy: Breytenbach on Afrikaans and the Afrikaners

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Brian G. Kennelly

Abstract

The writings of Breyten Breytenbach nuance, extend, and complicate the ongoing debate over Afrikaner cultural identity. Breytenbach's choice of the supra-ethnic, supra-'national' term 'Afriqua'--in place of 'Afrikaner,' for example--better reflects the truly 'mongrel' nature of Afrikaans and the Afrikaners, their process of 'becoming,' their self-positioning towards history and the future in the Rainbow Nation that is the new South Africa.

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Section
General Articles (Peer Reviewed)
Author Biography

Brian G. Kennelly, Webster University

Born in South Africa, Brian Gordon Kennelly teaches in the Department of Foreign Languages at Webster University and has published widely on contemporary French literature and culture.