Misplaced Pages

Looking on Darkness (Afrikaans: Kennis van die aand) is a 1973 novel by prominent Afrikaans novelist Andre Brink. The novel was the first Afrikaans book to be banned by the South African government. One of the story lines in the novel which caused controversy was that of a tragic relationship between a Coloured man and a white English woman, a type of relationship that was illegal under Apartheid, and the inclusion of such a storyline was harmful to the relations of different ethnicities in South Africa according to the Publications Control Board.

Development

Seeking a readership abroad after being banned in South Africa, André Brink translated Kennis van die aand into English and published it abroad as Looking on Darkness. This was his first self-translation.

Production

Kirkus review had mixed reception of the novel, writing, "All of this has more validity as thesis than as fiction." But the author reportedly said in September 1973, before the book was banned, that an initial run of 30,000 copies was selling well enough that a second printing would probably be needed in January of the following year.

References

1. Brink, André (11 September 2010). "A Long Way From Mandela's Kitchen". New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2012. One of my novels had the dubious distinction of being the first book in Afrikaans to be banned under apartheid.
2. "Literary Autonomy on Trial: The 1974 Cape Trial of André Brink's Kennis van die Aand". Law Explorer. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
3. Wroe, Nicholas (13 August 2004). "Out of the laager". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
4. Brink, André (2003): "English and the Afrikaans Writer" in: Steven G. Kellman Switching languages. Translingual writers reflect on their craft. University of Nebraska Press, p. 218.
5. "Looking on Darkness by Andre Brink". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
6. Akerman, Anthony (29 January 2024). "The 50th Anniversary of the first Afrikaans literary work to be banned". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 25 September 2024.

This article about a South African novel is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

• v
• t
• e

• Novels by André Brink
• 1973 novels
• 20th-century South African novels
• Afrikaans literature
• South African novel stubs