Deon Opperman’s Donkerland: the rise and fall of Afrikaner nationalism

Abstract

English: In his epic play on Afrikaner history (from the Great Trek in 1838 to the birth of the new South Africa in 1994) Deon Opperman (award-winning South African playwright) presents the parallel and interlinked histories of two families – represented by a white patriarch and a black matriarch and their various descendants – against the background of important historical developments in South Africa. The article focuses on the depiction of the birth and demise of Afrikaner nationalism by identifying the “self” in Opperman’s Donkerland, and by discussing the relationship of the self versus the “other” in this play.Afrikaans: Deon Opperman (bekroonde Suid-Afrikaanse dramaturg) gee in sy epiese drama oor Afrikaner-geskiedenis (vanaf die Groot Trek in 1838 tot die geboorte van die nuwe Suid-Afrika in 1994) ’n parallele en ineengestrengelde uitbeelding van twee families – voorgestel deur ’n blanke patriarg en ’n swart matriarg, sowel as hulle onderskeie afstammelinge – teen die agtergrond van belangrike historiese ontwikkelinge in Suid-Afrika. Hierdie artikel fokus op die uitbeelding van die opkoms en verval van Afrikaner-nasionalisme deur die “self” in Opperman se Donkerland te identifiseer, sowel as om die verhouding tussen die self versus die “ander” in die drama te bespreek.