Revisiting the Canon and the Literary Tradition: A South African Case Study

Abstract

Literary evolution is a process that occurs in every literary system. Due to the fact that literary systems do not merely exist, but come into being, it follows that they organise and protect themselves; changes, therefore, do not readily occur. Literary evolution cannot be described in neo-positivistic terms and neither can possible changes be accurately predicted. The whole process of literary change is affected by inter-systemic aspects as well as “extraneous factors” like historical events. It is customary to describe literary evolution as the succession of “streams”, “movements” or “periods”. A period can be described as a “regulative idea”, a system of norms and conventions. In this study, the above-mentioned terms are discussed and their interconnectedness is explained. Shifts in the Afrikaans literary system of the past decades are subsequently described and possible explanations are offered.

Opsomming
Literêre evolusie is ’n proses wat in elke literatuursisteem plaasvind. Omdat literêre sisteme nie maar net bestaan nie, maar tot stand kom, is dit ook so dat hul sigself organiseer en beskerm, en derhalwe nie geredelik verander nie. Literêre evolusie kan daarom nie bloot in neo-positivistiese terme verklaar of voorspel word nie en inter-sistemiese aspekte speel ’n ewe groot rol in literêre evolusie as sogenaamde buite-faktore soos historiese gebeure. Dit is verder gebruiklik om literêre evolusie te beskryf as die opeenvolging van “strome”, “bewegings” of “periodes”. Laasgenoemde is duide-lik markeerbare norme- of konvensiesisteme. In hierdie studie word bovermelde terme eerstens bespreek en logies verbind. Vervolgens word verskuiwings in die Afrikaanse literatuursisteem van die afgelope dekades beskryf, en verklarings vir hierdie prosesse word aan die hand gedoen.