Project topics and materials
Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »
Introduction and research design
In April 2001, reports surfaced in South African newspapers that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) had made public a list of authors and titles that it deemed unsuitable as prescribed works for schools in the province. Among the texts listed were Nadine Gordimer’s acclaimed July’s People, as well as works by Alan Paton, Njabule Ndebele, William Shakespeare, Peter Wilhelm and Olive Schreiner (Nieuwoudt 2001).
Newspapers reported that the GDE found Gordimer’s novel to be unacceptable on the grounds that it was ‘deeply racist, superior and patronising’ (Isaacson 2001) and projected a vision of a future South Africa that never materialised (SAPA 2001). The media reports caused a huge outcry from the public, literary figures and politicians, locally as well as abroad (Rademeyer 2001). Since the first reports were very unclear about the specifics of the case, the popular impression was that the GDE debacle was part of a decision of the ANC government to ban particular texts from set reading lists for schools (Matshikiza 2001). It soon became evident, though, that some facts were overlooked in the way in which events were reported in the media. It emerged that the recommendation to exclude certain books from the set work list was made by a selection committee in the Gauteng Department of Education, comprising of experienced (and mostly white) language and literature teachers, and had not yet been ratified by the Department.
The national government was quick to point out that the report’s status was unconfirmed and that the recommendations contained in the report had not been endorsed by the Minister of Education. Gauteng MEC responsible for education, Ignatius Jacobs, distanced himself from the events, stating that ‘learners should be subjected to a broad variety of literary styles and traditions and [that it was] important to ensure that learners develop the ability to critically understand and evaluate what they are reading’ (SAPA 2001).
The debate carried on further on radio and television talk shows and in contributions to newspaper letter pages. International newspapers, including The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, too carried stories about the incident on their cover pages or in editorials (Coetzee 2001). Some commentators raised ghosts from the pasts by University of Pretoria etd – Du Plessis, I (2004) equating the recommendations of the GDE report with the kind of censorship prevalent under National Party rule (see Van Vuuren 2001) and others hinted to continuities between the present dispensation and apartheid, pointing out that three of Gordimer’s books were banned by the previous government.
Chapter One: Stepping into Keurboslaan’s world
Introduction
Setting and founding history of the Keurboslaan College for Boys
Character development and human relations as central
problematics in the Keurboslaan series
Story lines and narrative structure in selected titles in the
Keurboslaan series
Jong Dr. Serfontein
Keurboslaan se Eerste Kaptein
Keurboslaan se Struikrower
Die Hoof van Keurboslaan
Keurboslaan se Peetvaders
Avonture op Keurboslaan
Twee Nuwe Seuns op Keurboslaan
Die Kroon van Keurboslaan
Spanning op Keurboslaan
Die Serfontein-kinders
Kaptein Richard
Gevare op Keurboslaan
Misverstand op Keurboslaan
Conclusion
PART II: THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS
Chapter Two: Revisiting Afrikaner nationalism and the apartheid state:
New avenues for inquiry
Chapter Three: Studying popular fiction
Chapter Four: Selected themes in the study of children’s literature
PART III: THE MAKING OF THE KEURBOSLAAN SERIES
Chapter Five:
Setting the Scene: Writing, publishing and reading Afrikaans
Chapter Six:
Publication, circulation and reception of the Keurboslaan series
PART IV: DISCOURSE IN KEURBOSLAAN
Chapter Eight:
Imagining and imaging the nation in the discourse of fiction
Chapter Nine:
Body of the nation: Sexuality and self-control in Keurboslaan and in
the Tweede Trek series
PART V: SYNOPSIS
Conclusion
