Eugène Nielen Marais: an Adlerian psychobiography

Abstract

Psychobiographical research has received increased interest from both national and international researchers advocating its value. South Africa has also produced a number of psychobiographical studies based on significant individuals who made important contributions, both nationally and internationally. One of these individuals is Eugéne Nielen Marais, on which this psychobiography is based. His poetry, short stories and ethological books have secured him a place as one of South Africa’s most renowned writers. He is mostly remembered as the writer of the poem Winternag (Winter’s Night), however, his ethological books and naturalistic studies have secured him international recognition. No currently existing works on Marais provided an in-depth psychological perspective of his life. It was for this reason that the researcher selected Marais, through purposive sampling, as the subject of this psychobiography with the aim of providing a psychological exploration and description of aspects of his life, against the backdrop of his socio-historical context. This was achieved by applying a single psychological theory (Adler’s theory of individual psychology) to the publicly available biographical and historical data collected on Marais, which consisted of both primary and secondary sources. The study’s primary aim was, therefore, to explore and describe Marais’s individual psychological development throughout his life. The exploratory-descriptive nature of this study, means that the objective falls within the inductive research approach. Specific methodological strategies were used in the extraction and analysis of data in this study. Alexander’s nine indicators of psychological saliency was employed to assist in the organisation and prioritisation of Marais’s biographical data. In an attempt to manage the vast amount of data available on Marais, specific questions were posed to the data, which enabled the extraction of relevant units of analysis that focused on the study objectives. A psycho-historical matrix, as proposed by Fouché, was incorporated to facilitate the data analysis of in this study. This assisted in the systematic categorisation and consistent analysis of the collected biographical data on Marais, according to the constructs of his individual psychological development, and in terms of his socio-historical contexts. Findings of the study suggested that Marais may have had an inferiority complex as represented by his dependence on morphine throughout most of his adult life. Despite this he also seemed to have had a strong social interest towards people as well as animals. This was seen his love for animals and willingness to help not only his own people but the enemy in times of war. His practises as an amateur doctor in the Waterberg region without asking for compensation also indicated his social interest towards others. The integrative and holistic approach of this study’s psychological framework enabled an extensive exploration and description of various constructs, and ensured that Marais’s life was explored against the backdrop of his socio-historical context, since Adler’s theory highlights the impact of one’s cultural, historical and political environment on one’s development and intrapsychic processes. In addition to contributing to the body of knowledge on Marais and to the framework of Adler’s theory of individual psychology, this study also contributed to the educational objectives in psychobiography.