A Karoo night with a fire (Picture: Izak de Vries)
...
There is so much about loss, memory and remorse in Afrikaans history; the language seems to have been born out of turmoil, ripped from the womb of slavery, colonialism, wars, betrayals, homesickness and “broedertwis”.
...
Graeme Addison writes on Facebook:
A world-famous actress from Benoni is now unmentionable by name, because she said Afrikaans is dying. It is spoken, she quipped, by 44 people – a low estimate indeed as the fury of the reaction from thousands suggests.
Millions speak it and it’s not going away.
In fact, Afrikaans is a wonder of the age.
Defenders have focused on the rude words that make Afrikaans such a handy tool for cheerfully cursing thy neighbour. Right. It sings psalms of obscenity.
Its insults are savagely funny and unforgettable.
But it is also a beautifully expressive language in its ability to capture emotions of natural wonder and, above all, longing. There is so much about loss, memory and remorse in Afrikaans history; the language seems to have been born out of turmoil, ripped from the womb of slavery, colonialism, wars, betrayals, homesickness and “broedertwis”.
Afrikaans is surely one of the world’s most controversial languages, despite being arguably its youngest. It’s been regarded as not even a language, but a creolisation of Dutch by ignorant and uncouth farmers and their helots. It’s been called the language of the oppressor but is equally the language of the oppressed.
Its curses were heard as police murdered freedom fighters in the cells of apartheid. The prisoners and victims too cursed under their breaths in Afrikaans. Eschatological references flew both ways.
Afrikaans is no zombie acting out the last rites. It is vigorous in literature, music and street talk and still evolving in a polyglot manner among youth, business people and academics. South Africa would be poorer without this amazing vehicle of emotions and thought, both crude and uplifting.
Thanks, Charlize, for your sentiments. They are amusing but untrue. In the stillness of the Karoo night we hear the poetry of remembrance, words drawn from the earth, from blood, suffering, yearning and a deep love of the land.