'n Nuwe Groot Trek-mite: Herverbeelding van identiteit in Die Pad na Skuilhoek deur Hans du Plessis.

A new myth regarding the Great Trek: Reinvention of identity in Die pad na skuilhoek [The path to Skuilhoek] by Hans du Plessis.

Du Plessis, Hans; Historical fiction; National character; Cultural identity; Group identity

This article aims to illustrate how Hans du Plessis, in his novel Die pad na Skuilhoek [The path to Skuilhoek] (a place of shelter), subverts the way in which history had been presented in historical novels in the past by addressing social issues that contemporary readers find relevant. The first part of the article deals with the social codes that shape the identities of the main characters and how these identities are relevant in terms of the social framework within which the novel is received. In the second place the focus will shift towards Du Plessis's representation of cultural and national identities. The question: 'Who were the Afrikaners at the time of the Great Trek?' will be answered with reference to these identities. In conclusion it will be pointed out how Du Plessis avoids dated practices of historical interpretation by choosing ecocrticism as the ideological framework for his novel and is, in this way, constructing a new social myth about the Great Trek. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hierdie artikel sal aangetoon word hoe Hans du Plessis in sy roman Die pad na skuilhoek die idee van die geskiedenis as 'n feitelik agterhaalbare reeks gebeure in die verlede ondermyn en dit weer bruikbaar en relevant maak vir die hede deur klem te lê op maatskaplike kwessies wat vir hedendaagse lesers relevant is. Eerstens sal gefokus word op die verpersoonlikte maatskaplike kodes waarvolgens die hoofkarakters se gedrag en identiteit gevorm word en hoe dié identiteit tersaaklik is vir die maatskaplike opset waarbinne die roman ontvang word. Tweedens sal die kwessie van kulturele en nasionale identiteit belig word soos dit in die roman vergestalt word. Aan die hand van dié insigte sal gepoog word om die vraag te beantwoord wie of wat die Afrikaner ten tye van die Groot Trek was. Ten slotte sal aangetoon word hoe Du Plessis gedateerde praktyke van geskiedkundige interpretasie en fiksionele representasie vermy deur die keuse om die ekokritiek as ideologiese raamwerk vir sy roman te neem. Sodoende word 'n nuwe maatskaplike mite oor die Groot Trek gevestig. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]