Language:
English
Year of publication:
1998
Titel der Quelle:
Jewish Affairs
Angaben zur Quelle:
53,3 (1998) 15-21
Keywords:
Children's stories History and criticism
;
Antisemitism
;
Antisemitism in literature
;
South African literature History and criticism
Abstract:
Discusses the effects of literature on children's perceptions and attitudes. In South Africa, after the Afrikaner National Party came to power in 1948, Afrikaans children's literature was generally racist and ethnocentric; however, Jews were seldom featured in these works. Examines three novels which depict Jewish characters and focus on the Holocaust. All three present the Holocaust as a "normal" event of war, part of the general suffering. Two of them, Rona Rupert's "'n Roofvoel uit die Ooste" (1995) and Sheugnet Buys' "Hitler sterf in die Vrystaat" (1982), reflect stereotypes and perceptions current in Afrikaans communities in the 1930s-40s; they question antisemitic stereotypes to some extent and present Jewish characters positively, although as outsiders. Rupert sees the Jews as alien, but equates anti-Jewish prejudice with Afrikaner prejudice against the English. In Buys' novel, most of the people support Nazism but are tolerant of the one Jewish family in their town. The family is extremely wealthy, but also generous. The third novel, Maretha Maartens' "In die hemel eet 'n mens mieliepap" (1991), is highly antisemitic and contains standard racist stereotypes. Daniel, the Jewish hero, survives the Holocaust only because he embraces Christianity.
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