"Taaltriomf of Taalverdriet?": An aspect of the roles of Eugene Marais and Gustav Preller in the Second Language Movement, circa 1905-1927*

"Taaltriomf of Taalverdriet?":'n Faset van die rol van Eugene Marais en Gustav Preller in die Tweede Taalbeweging, Ongeveer 1905-1927

Sandra Swart^I; Lize-Marié van der Watt^II

^ISandra Swart is a Senior Lecturer in the History Department, Stellenbosch University, who has just published a co-authored book with Greg Bankoff, Breeds of Empire The "invention" of the horse in the Philippines and Southern Africa, 1500-1950 (NIAS Press, Copenhagen, 2007) and a co-edited collection, with Lance van Sittert, Canis Africanis - a dog history of Southern Africa (Brill, Leiden, 2008)
^IILize-Mariè van der Watt is a MA student in the Department of History, Stellenbosch University, working on themes of socio-environmental change, particularly in the Free State

ABSTRACT

After the Anglo-Boer War, the threat of Anglicisation had special emotional resonance with many Boers. Their fears were exacerbated by the reconstruction policies of Lord Alfred Milner. This provided impetus to what was termed the Second Language Movement, a movement that endeavoured to make Afrikaans an official, written language, a language autonomous from Dutch, with its own literature and higher-function uses.
The historiography of the Second Language Movement is however, overwhelmingly triumphalist, giving a whiggish account of a successful nationalist endeavour. This article tries to locate itself in a growing body of work that explores the more nuanced aspects of the Second Language Movement and its place in history by examining the roles of two eminent taalstryders, Eugène Marais and Gustav Preller. Although they were enthusiastic proponents of the movement at its inception, their position had changed radically by the late 1920s. This article explores possible reasons for this and seeks to throw a different, more nuanced light on the dissonances within the Second Language Movement.

Keywords: Afrikaans; Afrikaans education; Afrikaans literature; Afrikaanse Taalgenootskap; Afrikaanse Taalvereniging; Afrikaner nationalism; C.J. Langenhoven; De Volkstem; Eugène Marais; Gustav Preller; Jan Hofmeyr; kultuurtaal; Land en Volk; language and identity; language and nationalism; Second Language Movement; taalstryders

OPSOMMING

Na afloop van die Anglo-Boereoorlog, het verengelsing as potensiële bedreiging emosionele aanklank by baie Boere gevind. Hulle vrese is versterk deur die heropbou beleidsplanne van lord Alfred Milner. Dit het stukrag verleen aan wat as die Tweede Taalbeweging bekend sou word -'n beweging wat daarna gestreef het om van Afrikaans 'n amptelike, geskrewe taal te maak, 'n taal wat onafhanklik van Nederlands staan, met n eie literatuur en hoë-funksie gebruike. Die historiografie van die Tweede Taalbeweging is egter grotendeels seëpralend - die verhaal van n suksesvolle nasionalistiese poging. Hierdie artikel poog om deel uit te maak van 'n groeiende groep werke wat die meer geskakeerde aspekte van die Tweede Taalbeweging en die plek daarvan in die geskiedenis ondersoek, deur te kyk na die rol van twee befaamde taalstryders, Eugène Marais en Gustav Preller. Hoewel hulle aanvanklik entoesiastiese voorstanders van hierdie beweging in sy vroeë stadia was, het hulle posisie teen die einde van die 1920's drasties verander. Hierdie artikel ondersoek moontlike redes hiervoor en poog om n ander, meer genuanseerde lig op onenigheid binne die Tweede Taalbeweging te werp.

Sleutelwoorde: Afrikaans; Afrikaanse letterkunde; Afrikaanse opvoedkunde, Afrikaanse Taalgenootskap; Afrikanernasionalisme; C.J. Langenhoven; De Volkstem; Eugene Marais; Gustav Preller; Jan Hofmeyr; kultuurtaal; Land en Volk; taal en identiteit, taal en nasionalisme; taalstryders; Tweede Taalbeweging

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* "Language Triumph or Language Despair?". This article comes from Swart's doctoral thesis, supervised by the late Stanley Trapido. Our appreciation goes to him, as well as to Lisa Jenschke, Albert Grundlingh, Adrian Ryan, Leopold Scholtz, Johanna Lategan, Ronèl Foster and Doret Jordaan.
1. D. Harrison, The White Tribe of Africa South Africa in Perspective (Macmillan - South African edition, Johannesburg, 1986), p 48.         [ Links ]
2. Note on terminology - the "Dutch" spoken by these school children would have been unrecognisable as such to most educated Dutch speakers from the Low Countries, and more closely resembled what would become known as Afrikaans.
3. Some notable exceptions included Mabel Malherbe, politician and editor of Die Boervrouw and M.E. Rothman, politician and author.
4. L.T. du Plessis, Afrikaans in beweging (Patmos, Bloemfontein, 1986), p 72.         [ Links ]
5. See for example Du Plessis, Afrikaans in beweging, p 69; P.H. Zietsman, Die taal is gans die volk woelinge en dryfvere in die stryd om die Afrikaner se taal (UNISA, Pretoria, 1992);         [ Links ] or the more recently contested work of P. van Eeden, Afrikaans hoort by Hollands Ons Afrikaanse Taalverdriet (Brevitas, Howick, 1998).         [ Links ]
6. Isabel Hofmeyr's analysis is the most insightful in this regard. I. Hofmeyr, "Building a Nation from Words: Afrikaans language, literature and 'ethnic identity', 1902-1924", in S. Marks and S. Trapido (eds), The politics of Race, Class and Nationalism in Twentieth Century South Africa (Longman, Harlow, 1987).         [ Links ] The centrality of the Afrikaans language to Afrikaner identity was again emphasized in the Afrikaanse Taaldebat (Afrikaans Language Debate) of the late 1990s and beginning of the twenty-first century, fought on platforms such as the internet journal Litnet (www.litnet.co.za/taaldebat) and in the Afrikaans press.
7. Authors who wrote published works on the history of the Afrikaans language movements as such, for instance include G.S. Nienaber, P.J. Nienaber, J.C. Steyn, J. du P. Scholtz, E.C. Pienaar, P.C. Schoonees, M.S. du Buisson, and more lately P.H. Zietsman and I. Hofmeyr.
8. Quote from G.S. & P.J. Nienaber, Die Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Beweging (Van Schaik, Pretoria, 1941), p 195.         [ Links ] There is a legion of similar triumphalist accounts, for example: R. Antonissen, Die Afrikaanse Letterkunde van Aanvang tot Hede (Nasou, Johannesburg, n.d.         [ Links ]), E.C. Pienaar, Taal en Poësie van die Tweede Taalbeweging (Nasionale Pers, Kaapstad, 1926),         [ Links ] P.C. Schoonees, Die Prosa van die Tweede Afrikaanse Beweging (De Bussy, Pretoria, 1922),         [ Links ] M.S. du Buisson, Die wonder van Afrikaans Bydraes oor die ontstaan en groei van Afrikaans tot volwaardige wêreldtaal (Voortrekkerpers, Johannesburg, 1959),         [ Links ] T. Johannes, The Achievement of Afrikaans (CNA, South Africa, 1934) and E.         [ Links ]C. Pienaar, Die Triomf van Afrikaans (Nasionale Pers, Kaapstad, 1943).         [ Links ]
9. F.G.M. du Toit, Eugene Marais - Sy bydrae tot die Afrikaanse letterkunde (N.V. Swets, Amsterdam, 1940), p 235;         [ Links ] J.H.H. de Waal, "My herinnerings van ons Taalstryd", Versamelde Werke I (Nasionale Pers, Kaapstad, 1939), pp 187-207; H. Oost, "In die Skaduwee van die Nederlaag: Preller as Vertolker van die Volkswil om te Oorleef", Die Huisgenoot\ 22 October 1943, p 5. D.J.C. Geldenhuys, Uit die Wieg van ons Taal Pannevis en Preller met hul pleidooie (Voortrekkerpers, Johannesburg, 1967).
10. For more on what Dutch, Cape Dutch, Hollands, Nederlands, Zuid-Afrikaans, Afrikaans, and so on signified at the time, see: J. du P. Scholtz, Wording en Ontwikkeling van Afrikaans (Tafelberg, Kaapstad, 1980), pp 113-120.         [ Links ] "Hollands" was used as opposed to "Nederlands" to signify the South African difference from the latter until "Afrikaans" became entrenched. P.H. Zietsman, Die taal is gans die volk, p 18.
11. Du Buisson, Die wonder van Afrikaans; Johannes, The Achievement of Afrikaans; Pienaar, Die Triomf van Afrikaans.
12. P. van Eeden, Afrikaans hoort by Hollands Ons Afrikaanse Taalverdriet (Brevitas, Howick, 1998).         [ Links ]
13. Hofmeyr, "Building a Nation from Words", p 108. Similarly, a recent analysis by Gouws and Ponelis records that there was opposition solely from "clergymen" and intellectuals with "strong ties to the Netherlands". R.H. Gouws and F.A. Ponelis, "The Development of Afrikaans and the Lexicographical Tradition", in L. Zugsta (ed), History, Languages and Lexicographers (Niemeyer, Tübingen, 1992), p 77.         [ Links ]
14. P.F. de Klerk (ed), Afrikaans my Taal St. 10 (Maskew Miller Longman, Cape Town, 1985),         [ Links ] last chapter. Sillabus of 1986.
15. J.H.H. de Waal, Versamelde Werke I, pp 165-185.
16. P. Corfield, Language, History and Class (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1991), p 29.         [ Links ]
17. Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) maintained that each language promoted a different "mode of thought" and each community had a different language, and therefore, a unique mode of though. Discussed in: J. Breuilly, Nationalism and the State (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1993), pp 56-64.         [ Links ]
18. J. Breuilly, "Approaches to nationalism", in G. Balakrishnan (ed), Mapping the Nation (Verso, London, 1999), p 152.         [ Links ] Of course, as Balakrishnan has argued, there are ways in which nations are not conceived in languages. Balakrishnan, "The National Imagination", p 207. Some nations, for instance, share the same language without language being pivotal in the scaffolding of "nationhood", for example many English-speaking nations, or some Chinese nationalisms.
19. L. Vail (ed), The Creation of Tribalism in South Africa (James Currey, London, 1989), p 11.         [ Links ]
20. H. Macmillan, "A Nation Divided? The Swazi in Swaziland and the Transvaal, 1865-1986", in Vail, The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa, p 303.
21. H. Seton-Watson, Nations and States An Enquiry into the Origins of Nations and the Politics of Nationalism (Westview, Boulder, 1977), p 187.         [ Links ]
22. Afrikaans had been variously called a kombuistaal (kitchen language), brabbeltaal (gibberish/barbarous tongue) or Hotnotstaal (Hottentot language). Zietsman, Die taal is gans die volk, p 26.
23. See for example: T. Guha-Thalkurta, The Making of a New "Indian" Art (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992);         [ Links ] P. Chatterjee, "Whose imagined Community?", in Balakrishnan (ed), Mapping the Nation, p 218.
24. See, for example: H. Heestermans, "Het Nederlands, een veelsoortige taal" and R. Willemijns, "Het Nederlands in het Zuiden na 1585: naar een eigen identiteit?", in V. February (ed), Taal en Identeit Afrikaans & Nederlands (Tafelberg, Cape Town, 1994), pp 74-89, 129-148.         [ Links ] P. van Eeden also extensively discusses Flemish and Dutch and its relation to the Afrikaans-Dutch debate. Van Eeden, Afrikaans hoort by Nederlands, pp 37-74.
25. "Europe's Gypsies lobby for nation status", The Guardian, 28 July 2000.
26. Afrikaans schools, festivals and churches are gaining in popularity in these communities. For running commentary on this phenomenon, consult http://www.litnet.co.za, especially the expat and taaldebat pages. Other examples include http://afrikaansinchristchurch.org.nz/afrikaans/, calling Afrikaans die mooiste taal in die mooiste stad (the most beautiful language in the most beautiful city). One of their projects is creating Afrikaans libraries; http://www.afrikaans.org.au & http://www.afrikaansinsydney.com are Australian based websites. A Google search for "Afrikaans in Australia" and "Afrikaans in New Zeeland" gave 629 000 and 682 000 results respectively (18 April 2008). In 2003, Afrikaans was the second most common language after English in Auckland, New Zeeland - Cape Argus, 15 July 2003, p 8.
27. E. Kotzé and T. Biberaurer, "Die rol van Afrikaans as identiteitsfaktor by SA ekspatriate in die Verenigde Koninkryk", Journal for Language and Teaching/ Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig, 40, 1, 2006.         [ Links ]
28. B. Anderson, Imagined Communities (Verso, London, 1983/1991).         [ Links ]
29. Anderson has shown that capitalism, and more specifically print-capitalism, has helped to create the vernacular movements.
30. Hofmeyr, "Building a Nation from Words", pp 106-110. See for example: Nienaber & Nienaber, Die Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Beweging, pp 135-179; J.C. Steyn, Trouwe Afrikaners Aspekte van Afrikaner-nasionalisme en Suid-Afrikaanse Taalpolitiek 1875-1938 (Tafelberg, Kaapstad, 1987), pp 41-51.         [ Links ]
31. Hofmeyr, "Building a Nation from Words", pp 106-110.
32. The role of ethnic identity through women's institutions has been examined by, for example, J. Butler, "Afrikaner Women and the Creation of Ethnicity in a Small South African Town, 1902-1950", in Vail (ed), The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa; L. Kruger, "Gender, community and identity of women and Afrikaner Nationalism in the Volksmoeder discourse of Die Boerevrouw, 1919-1931." MA dissertation, University of Cape Town, 1991;         [ Links ] L. Vincent, "The Mothers of Invention: Gender, Class and the ideology of the Volksmoeder in the making of Afrikaner Nationalism, 1918-1938." D Phil thesis, University of Oxford, 1997.         [ Links ]
33. Zietsman, Die Taal is Gans die Volk, p 51.
34. Hofmeyr, "Building a Nation from Words", p 107. J.C. Steyn also wrote extensively on the links between the Afrikaans language movements and politics. See for instance: Trouwe Afrikaners and Tuiste in Eie Taal Die Behoud en Bestaan van Afrikaans (Tafelberg, Kaapstad, 1980).
35. In the Helpmekaar Commemorative Book, this ostensibly altruistic and Christian incentive is explicitly linked to preventing a situation where die gehele fnansiële toestand sou in verwarring gekom het (the financial state would have become dishevelled). Furthermore, to join in the projects was a plig en voorreg als manne en Afrikaners (duty and privilege as men and Afrikaners). Helpmekaar Gedenkboek h geskiedenis van die grote reddingsbeweging van die Afrikanervolk met statistieke van die Helpmekaar-beweging (De Nationale Pers Beperkt, Kaapstad, 1918), pp 9, 15.
36. Quote from Tacitus in T. Perry, "Language Rights, Ethnic Politics: A Critique of the Pan South African Language Board" in Occasional Papers, p 14, http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/praesa/Occasional%20Paper%2012%20text%20layo ut.pdf (accessed: 10 February 2008).
37. The overlapping of the two Language Movements is discussed by Nienaber & Nienaber, Die Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Beweging, pp 105-110. On the other hand, L.T. du Plessis argued in Afrikaans in Beweging (1986) that one can distinguish five language movements, an assertion that led to considerable debate. W.A.M. Carstens and H. Waher, "Afrikaanse Taalbewegings: 'n Gesprek in Beweging", SA Journal of Linguistics, occasional papers, 7, 1988.         [ Links ]
38. J.H. Wrench, Alfred Lord Milner the man of no illusions (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1958), p 166.         [ Links ]
39. M.A. Basson, Die Voertaalvraagstuk in die Transvaalse skoolwese (Voortrekkerpers, Pretoria, 1944), p 46.         [ Links ]
40. The policy was not as chauvinistically pro-English as was imagined. Denoon has, for example, shown that the Director of Education, appointed by Milner, had sympathy for Afrikaans and regretted the lack of literature available in it. The reason why he was opposed to Dutch-medium education, was that Afrikaans children grew up speaking Afrikaans rather than Dutch, experiencing difficulty in the latter. Furthermore, higher education in Dutch necessitated relocation to Holland. D. Denoon, A Grand Illusion the Failure of Imperial Policy in the Transvaal Colony during the Period of Reconstruction 1900-1905 (Longman, London, 1973).         [ Links ] P.H. Zietsman too argued that the relationship between Milner and some pre-eminent taalstryders, especially Marais, was more congenial than is usually portrayed. P. Zietsman, "Eugene Marais, Vrydenker of Volksverraaier?", De Kat, Junie 2001, pp 37-41. Also see: R. van Reenen, "Lord Milner se geld toe al die tyd agter Winternag", Rapport, 4 Augustus 1974, no page number. Nevertheless, Milner's administration has been interpreted by most participants in the Second Language Movement as well as Afrikaner nationalist historians throughout the twentieth century as vehemently pro-Anglicisation and anti-Dutch, and it is this historiography that is of concern here.
41. Milner het geweet dat as hulle hul taal sou prysgee, hulle ook sou ophou om as volk te bestaan. 'n Volk sonder 'n taal is immers 'n volk sonder siel -Geldenhuys, Uit die Wieg van Ons Taal, p 36.
42. Letters between Marais and his son were, for instance, mostly written in English. Nasionale Afrikaanse Letterkundige Museum en Navorsingsentrum, Bloemfontein (hereafter NALN): M 2000/88 Marais Manuscripts. There was much linguistic diversity in the "home languages" of Afrikaners: for example, Leipoldt and J.D. Kestell spoke English at home, whereas the newspaper editor Engelenburg and Levi used Dutch. J.H. Viljoen, 'n Joernalis vertel (Nasionale Boekhandel, Cape Town, 1953), p 43;         [ Links ] Du Toit, Eugene Marais, pp 237-238; Zietsman, Die Taal is gans die volk, pp 84-91.
43. S. Swart, "A 'Ware Afrikaner'- an examination of the role of Eugène Marais (1871-1936) in the making of Afrikaner identity." D Phil thesis, University of Oxford, 2001. Also see: L. Rousseau, Die Groot Verlange (Protea, Pretoria, 2005) - a comprehensive biography of Marais.         [ Links ]
44. He received permission to restart De Volkstem, the main rival of Land en Volk in that market segment, in 1903.
45. National Archives Depository of South Africa, Pretoria (hereafter NASA): Transvaal Archives (hereafter TAB): A 787, Preller Collection, Volume 3: F.V. Engelenburg - G.S. Preller, 4 October 1899.
46. NASA: TAB: A 787, Preller Collection, Band 237: G.S. Preller - Mynwese, 2 September 1902.
47. NASA: TAB: A 787, Preller Collection, Volume 237: G.S. Preller - Mine, 26 October 1902.
48. Du Plessis, "Lewe en Werk van Gustav Preller", p 100. Marais and Preller had first come into contact with one another in 1891, when, while working as sub-editor of The Press, Marais rejected a short story of Preller, adding that it was not wholly without merit. G.S. Preller, "Vroeë herinneringe aan E.N. Marais", Ons Tydskrif, May 1936.
49. NASA: TAB: A 787, Preller Collection, Volume 182: E. Marais - G.S. Preller, 15 September 1902.
50. Rousseau, Die Groot Verlange, p 161.
51. Preller's biographer maintains that they were "soulmates", based on their shared love of their nation, country, literature, culture and science. Du Plessis, "Die Lewe en Werk van Gustav Preller", p 101.
52. The paper was subsidized by the government and received revenue from government notices. Colonial Secretary, 1078, 07/02: W.E. Davidson -Lord A. Milner, 19 January 1903.
53. W. van Heerden, "Preller die Joernalis", Tydskrif vir die Geesteswetenskappe, Desember 1975, p 269. Why Land en Volk was allowed to re-open, is open to speculation. Perhaps Marais' opposition to Kruger was considered to be a positive factor. Possibly it is simply because Preller and Marais presented little threat. Milner was well-aware of Marais' morphine addiction and related ill-health (see Zietsman, "Eugène Marais: Vrydenker of Volksverraaier?", p 39). Preller, on the other hand, knew little people of real influence.
54. W. van Heerden, "Gustav. S. Preller", Die Huisgenoot, 29 Mei 1931, p 45. In the first post-war edition Marais and Preller published a letter written by Milner to Chamberlain concerning the replacement of Afrikaans farmers by English colonists.
55. Rousseau, Uur van Verlange, p 176. Denoon, Grand Illusion, p 90. The competition for the educational control of the youth has been discussed elsewhere - see: M.A. Basson, "Die Invloed van die Transvaalse Onderwys, 1836-1907", Archives Year Book for South African History, 19, 2 (Government Printer, Cape Town, 1956);         [ Links ] S. Swart, "The Rebels of 1914: Masculinity, Republicanism and the Social Forces that shaped the Boer Rebellion." MA thesis, University of Natal, 1997, pp 61-62.         [ Links ]
56. J.H. Hofmeyr, "Is't Ons Erns't? Rede uitgesproken te Stellenbosch op 6 Maart 1905." Reprinted from Ons Land (Cape Town, 9 March 1905).
57. The speech that arguably defined this epoch, was delivered by Hofmeyr to a meeting of Ons Spreekuur, a popular Stellenbosch student association that promoted the language issue.
58. Denoon, Grand Illusion, p 90.
59. Zietsman, Taal is gans die volk, p 180.
60. Translatable as "Simplified Dutch Spelling".
61. According to the anecdote, told by De Waal and recounted by Steyn, C.R. Swart, later South Africa's first Sate President, wanted to discuss some matters with Viljoen, who told the black messenger: "Ou Jan, gaan haal gou vir ons eers twee koppies tee." ("Jan dear, please quickly fetch us two cups of tea."). Steyn, Tuiste in Eie Taal, p 193.
62. Derogatively called "Kruger's Hollanders" as opposed to South African born landszoonen (sons of the soil).
63. The articles ran in De Volkstem from 19 April 1905 to 14 June 1905, and shortly afterwards they were collected and published by the paper as a pamphlet entitled "Laat't ons toch Ernst wezen! Gedachten over de aanvaarding ener Afrikaanse schrijftaal" ("Thoughts on the acceptance of an Afrikaans written language"). On 30 March 1905 (three weeks after Hofmeyr's lecture and three weeks before his first article in De Volkstem) there was correspondence between Preller and S.J. du Toit on the issue of Afrikaans as skryftaal (written language). Argief Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika (hereafter GKA): S J. du Toit Collection: SJT 3/1, G.S. Preller -S.J. du Toit, 30 March 1905 & 15 April 1905. Preller did not publically associate himself with Du Toit, perhaps because of prominent taalstryder and Afrikaner politician, J.H.H. de Waal's antipathy towards Du Toit. Quoted in V.E. D'Assonville, S.J du Toit van die Paarl, 1847-1911 (Marnix,Weltevredenpark,1999), p 335.
64. A. Brink, Mapmakers Writing in a State of Siege (Faber and Faber, London, 1983), p 97.
65. G.S. Preller, "Laat't ons toch Ernst wezen! Gedachten over de aanvaarding ener Afrikaanse schrijftaal" (Volkstem, Pretoria, 1905), pamphlet in Africana Section, J.S. Gericke Library, University of Stellenbosch.
66. G.S. Preller, "Laat't ons toch Ernst wezen!", pp 80-81. Marais' experimentation with the use of Afrikaans has been discussed in Swart, "A 'Ware Afrikaner'", p 55. Also see: H. Giliomee, Die Afrikaners - 'n Biografie (Tafelberg, Kaapstad,, 2004) p 316.         [ Links ]
67. Anderson, Imagined Communities, p 39.
68. 2 June 1905. "Ek wil die taal skrywe en spreek soos Afrikaners dit gebruik, en nie afdaal tot die peil van Jantjie en April nie, want dit hinder my altyd as ek sien dat van my taal 'n grap gemaak word." Quoted in: P.J. Nienaber, Ons Taalhelde (Nasou, Cape Town, 1965), p 57.         [ Links ]
69. Steyn, Tuiste in eie Taal, pp 227-228. Some taalstryders, like J.H.H. de Waal, wanted to include coloured people in the language struggle. The shared language, though mostly considered as being just slightly different dialects of Afrikaans, was one of the main paradoxes that the "coloured question" struggled with.
70. NASA : TAB: A 787, Preller Collection, Volume 10 : 384. See also: NASA: TAB: E.C. Pienaar Collection, 48/9/70: C.P. Hoogenhout to G.S. Preller, 28 July 1905; Nienaber & Nienaber, Die Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Beweging.
71. Davenport, Afrikaner Bond, p 265.
72. J.H.H. de Waal, "My Herhinnerings van ons Taalstryd", p 202.
73. H. Giliomee and B. Mbenga, New History of South Africa (Tafelberg, Cape Town, 2007), p 228.         [ Links ]
74. The poem is still celebrated as the first step towards a mature literature in Afrikaans. In 2005 a commemorative anthology was published by PRAAG.
75. L.C. Minnaar, '"n Beeld van Eugène N. Marais as digter en prosaïs", Tydskrif vir die Geesteswetenskappe, Desember 1972, p 199.         [ Links ]
76. "De kombuistaal, die in Pretoria verheerlijkt word, in niet de taal van den ontwikkelden Afrikaner." Quoted in: Van Eeden, Afrikaans hoort by Hollands, p 145.
77. H. Giliomee, "The Beginnings of Afrikaner Ethnic Consciousness", in L. Vail (ed), The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa (James Currey, London, 1989), p 43.         [ Links ]
78. S.W. Pienaar, Glo in U Volk D.F. Malan as Redenaar (Tafelberg, Kaapstad, 1964), p 175.         [ Links ]
79. Archive for Contemporary Affairs (hereafter INCH), Bloemfontein: Akademie Archive: Volume l7/1922, Item 80: F.V. Englenburg - G.S. Preller, 8 May 1922 - the papers are in a process of being re-inventoried.
80. It is in his work as historian that Preller was most influential -F.A. van Jaarsveld credits him with the making of the "Voortrekker myth" F.A. van Jaarsveld, "Gustav Preller: Sy historiese bewussyn en geskiedbeskouing", Historia, 35, 2, November 1990.         [ Links ]
81. INCH: Akademie Archive: Correspondence 1927, Chapter 4: "Extract from the report of the Superintendent-General of Education", Cape Province, 31 December 1919.
82. "Ons wil verder gaan als Langenhoven!" NASA: TAB: A787, Preller Collection, Volume 205: G.S. Preller - W. Postma, 13 May 1914; Die Brandwag, 15 May 1912.
83. Preller also wanted this to be combined with active attempts to increase the amount of literature available in Afrikaans, for example in the translation of classic texts such as those of Emil Zola or Shakespeare. NASA: TAB: A 787, Preller Collection, Volume 241: G.S. Preller - Grosskopf, 6 February 1918.
84. "Ons kap die stam, waaruit ons levenssap trek, af." Die Burger, 9 Desember 1925.
85. J.S. Gericke Library, University of Stellenbosch (hereafter US): Langenhoven Collection, Volume 202: G.S. Preller to C.J. Langenhoven, 11 April 1926.
86. Die Burger, 2 Augustus 1927.
87. J.S. Gericke Library, US: Langenhoven Collection, Volume 202: G.S. Preller - C.J. Langenhoven, 11 April 1926.
88. Ons Vaderland, 17 Februarie 1926.
89. "Ons het mekaar te seer nodig in die kleine ou wereldjie, waarin ons aan alle kante omring is van vyande van ons taal en kultuurstryd." J.S. Gericke Library, US: Langenhoven Collection, Volume 202: G.S. Preller to C.J. Langenhoven, 11 April 1926. Also see: Steyn, Trouwe Afrikaners, p 207, for a valuable discussion which includes Langenhoven's position.
90. INCH: Akademie archive: Volume 9, 1924, Item 68, File 4/2: P.C. Schoonees - G.S. Preller, 15 September 1924. Preller also believed ek should replace ik. INCH: Akademie Archive: Correspondence: G.S. Preller to Chairman of the Spelling Commission, 27 September 1926. Marais was using ek as early as 1891 - but returned to using ik after 1902. Du Toit, Eugene Marais, p 241. Preller adopted this form. Pienaar, Taal en Poësie van die Tweede Taalbeweging (Nasionale Pers, Kaapstad, 1931), p 169. The 1921 Academy spelling rules saw the end of the ik form and after 1923 Marais reverted to the ek form (though occasionally still using ik in letters to Preller).
91. "Afrikaans is die enigste beskaafde skryftaal in die gehele wereld wat geen onvolmaakt verledene tyd besit nie." Steyn, Trouwe Afrikaners, p 214.
92. Du Toit, Eugène Marais, p 239.
93. G.S. Preller, S. Engelbrecht and J. van Bruggen, "Afrikaans en di Akademi", Ons Vaderland, 12, 16, 19 and 23 Oktober 1928.         [ Links ]
94. "Ons taal word deurtrek van Engels net soos h goue ring deur die kwiksilwer, sodat dit bros en nikswêrd word nie. As ons g'n Hollands leer nie, dan verloor ons binne enkele jare die vermoge om te sê wat ons taal-eige is en wat vreemd is, ... nie in woordkeus alleen nie, maar veral in die sinsbou, woordvorming en idioom."
95. Ons Vaderland, 14 Junie 1927. This has parallels with other language movements. The development of Yiddish for example, saw much intra-movement opposition on the ground that is was an impoverished tongue with no literature of its own. E. Goldsmith, Architects of Yiddishism at the beginning of the Twentieth Century (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Rutherford, 1976), p 37.         [ Links ]
96. The Afrikaans Bible was available by 1933 - it was delayed due to debates over whether to translate from Dutch or from Greek, and financial obstacles.
97. Ons Vaderland, 26 November 1926.
98. Ons Vaderland, 27 September 1927.
99. Ons Vaderland, 31 Desember 1926.
100. It appears more likely that these articles, which parroted much of Preller's earlier polemics verbatim, were a joint project.
101. INCH: Akademie Archive: Correspondence, 1927-1928: "Verslag van die Akademie - Kommissie insake die taalvorm", 18 April 1928.
102. "... geen tydsbepaling deur vervoeging gehad nie."
103. INCH: Akademie Archive: Correspondence, 1927-1928: "Verslag van die Akademie - Kommissie in sake die taalvorm", 18 April 1928.
104. Steyn, Trouwe Afrikaners, p 220.
105. For a clear and concise version of Marais' argument, see: Steyn, Trouwe Afrikaners, p 214.
106. Du Toit, Eugene Marais, p 254 (interview by Du Toit).
107. "Aanbevelinge van die Raadskommissie insake Rapport van Taalvormkommissie", Tydskrif vir Wetenskap en Kuns, September 1928.
108. Die Volksblad, 29 September 1928. Engelbrecht and Van Bruggen did not resign, but refused to attend the next meeting.
109. De Volksblad, 29 September 1928; Die Burger, 1 Oktober 1928. In Afrikaans today kon, moes, sou, wou and was live on, dag/dog is used infrequently, wis is used only by an older generation or in attempts to represent archaic speech, had and mog are heard very seldomly, brag/brog, while krog and begon/begos are no longer used. See, for example: J. du T. Scholtz, Taalhistoriese Opstelle (J.L. van Schaik, Pretoria, 1963), pp 38-39.         [ Links ]