De betoverde berg en Het zwijgen van Mario Salviati van Etienne van Heerden: Tussen magisch realisme en misdaadroman. (Dutch/Flemish)

De betoverde berg and Het zwijgen van Mario Salviati by Etienne van Heerden: Between magical realism and detective fiction. (English)

In this article I read the Afrikaans novels Toorberg and Die swye van Mario Salviati against the Dutch literary history of the detective novel. Both Afrikaans magical realism and the Afrikaans Gothic novel are regarded as "eiesoortig" (Brink 2008, Alberts 2005). This means they have characteristics of their own. One of those characteristics is their affiliation with a tradition of ghost stories. When the translation of Toorberg is placed in the Dutch poly-system, it fits the tradition of imported translations of detective stories from abroad. A more complex reading arises when we read Die swye van Mario Salviati through the mode of magical realism. In this reading we view a different ontological order, where the real and the magical are placed on the same level. This ontological perspective is regarded as a way of recognizing subjective experiences and trauma of victims of the Anglo-Boer War that were earlier neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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