To those Africans, already disenfranchised on their own soil, Afrikaans was the “language of the oppressor.” They marched with protest signs declaring “Down with Afrikaans” and “We are not Boers.”īrink, however, was emphatically a Boer. It was not coincidental for Brink that the Soweto demonstrations erupted after the Nationalist Party regime ordered black students to receive compulsory education in Afrikaans.

On June 16th of that year, South African troops had opened fire on about fifteen thousand students in the township of Soweto, killing at least twenty-three and setting off what would prove to be more than a decade of insurrection and retaliation, bringing the nation to the precipice of a race war. The volcano was Brink’s apartheid homeland, and the proximate cause of the rumbling was a recent, sudden upsurge in black protest and government repression. In it, he posed a question that was both rhetorical and piercingly immediate: “What is the function, the possibilities, of a writer living under this rumbling volcano?” Sometime during the South African winter of 1976, the novelist André Brink composed an essay for the Japanese magazine Asahi Journal. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.The South African author André Brink, in 1980.

The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:Īvailable in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you in your reading journey. He died on a flight from Europe to Cape Town in 2015.įind out everything you need to know about A Dry White Season in a fraction of the time!

As Ben gradually uncovers the horrific truth about the depths of police brutality, institutionalised racism and corruption in South Africa, he discovers that anyone who wants to fight for justice needs to be prepared to pay a steep price… André Brink was one of the foremost South African authors of the 20th century, and a committed opponent of the apartheid regime. It centres on Ben Du Toit, a middle-class Afrikaner teacher whose privileged life begins collapsing around him when he decides to investigate the death of Gordon Ngubene, the black cleaner at the school he works at, while in police custody. This engaging summary presents an analysis of A Dry White Season by André Brink, a shocking story about the harsh realities of life under the apartheid regime in South Africa. Unlock the more straightforward side of A Dry White Season with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!