Salomo syn oue goudfelde : op die spoor van die retorika in die Afrikaanse romankuns

Abstract

Hoewel die retorika bykans 26 eeue oud is, word die relevansie daarvan vir ons eie tyd toenemend besef - as 'n sleutel tot die wyse waarop mense dinkargumenteer en oorreed. Hierdie studie ondersoek retoriese (oorredende) strategiee in Afrikaanse historiese romantekste, binne 'n historiese konteks en teen die agtergrond van eietydse historiografiese insigte. Die aspekte van die kommunikasiesituasie wat saamhang met die retorika, word verbind met die vernuwende denke daaroor binne die hedendaagse literatuurteorie en historiografie. Die konteks van die outeur en roman word telkens bestudeer, gevolg deur 'n retoriese analise. Aristoteles se idees oor die retorika kry hierby voorrang, vanwee sy nadruk op die inventio of vinding, maar die retorika word eerder geassosieer met 'n dinamiese metode as met rigiede kategorisering. Aandag word veral bestee aan retoriese strategies in S.J. du Toit se Di koningin fan Skeba (1898) en Andre P. Brink se Houd-den-bek (1982), maar ook aan resente historiese romans wat hedendaagse historiografiese en retoriese opvattinge en konvensies ontgin en problematiseer. Beide S.J. du Toit, wat kennelik 'n goeie kennis van die antieke retorika gehad het en Andre P. Brink, met sy romanonderwerp wat aansluit by die geregtelike rede, betree die retoriese terrain op sodanige wyse dat hul romans tipiese produkte van hul eie tyd genoem kan word. Beide die geskiedskrywing en die historiese roman is gemedieerde weergawes, gekenmerk deur 'n subjektiewe seleksie (inventio) van gegewens en die kombinasie daarvan binne eie verbale strukture (dispositio). Dit kan in verband gebring word met nie-tegniese oorredingsmiddele, waar die sender sy informasie van buite kry. Hy gebruik dan sogenaamde empiries-verifieerbare feite as retoriese strategie ten einde 'n waarheids- en I of werklikheidsillusie te skep wat bydra tot die roman se oorredingsskrag. Die keuse vir die skryf van 'n historiese roman, impliseer reeds ook 'n keuse vir die bakens van die geskiedskrywing, maar 'n skeppende skrywer is, anders as 'n historikus, eties vry om nie-tegniese bewysmiddele te transformeer tot tegniese bewysmiddele, in aanpassing by 'n nuutgeskepte argumentatio en 'n eie causa. Na aanleiding van die tekste kom die ontvanger op sy beurt tot 'n eie seleksie en skep sy eie kousale en argumentatiewe strukture

While rhetoric has been part of the history of mankind for nearly 26 centuries, it is increasingly regarded as extremely relevant for our time - as a key to the way in which people think, argue and persuade. This study investigates rhetorical (persuasive) strategies in Afrikaans historical novels. The novels and their authors are first situated in their historical contexts and against the background of contemporary historiographical inquiry, and then analyzed by means of rhetorical concepts. Aspects of communication, which coincide with rhetorical categories, are combined with recent developments in the field of literary theory and historiography. Aristotle's views on persuasion and rhetoric are used as point of departure, but rhetoric is regarded as a dynamic method rather than a rigid categorization. Attention is given to rhetorical strategies in the novel Di konlngin fan Skeba [The queen of Sheba] by S.J. du Toit (1898) and Andre P. Brink's Houd-denbek [translated into English by the author as A chain of voices], but also to recent Afrikaans historical novels which exploit contemporary historiographical and rhetorical conventions. In S.J. du Toit's novel (which illustrates his knowledge of ancient rhetoric) as well as Andre P. Brink's (where the topic can be linked to litigation) rhetorical strategies are employed in such a manner that their texts can be regarded as products of their historical contexts. Both historiography and historical novels are mediated representations, characterized by a subjective selection (inventio) of data and its combination in verbal structures (dispositio). This can be related to 'extrinsic' or 'inartificial' proofs, which are not contrived by the author. The author exploits the so-called empirically verifiable facts as rhetorical strategies to create an illusion of truth or verisimilitude, which greatly contributes to the persuasiveness of the novel. The decision to write a historical novel implies a choice to keep to the historical 'facts', but the writer, in contrast to the historiographer, is ethically free to transform the inartificial proofs into artificial proofs, in combination with his own invented argumentatio and causa. Prompted by these texts the reader, in his turn, makes his own selection and creates his own causal and argumentative structures