Elsa Joubert

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Elsa Joubert (born October 19, 1922 in Paarl ; † June 14, 2020 in Cape Town ; born Elsabé Antoinette Murray Joubert, real name Elsabé Antoinette Murray Steytler ) was a South African writer . She wrote in Afrikaans and was best known for her 1978 novel Die swerfjare van Poppie Nongena , in which she focuses on the life of a black woman.

Life

Elsa Joubert grew up in Paarl, where she attended the La Rochelle girls' school until 1939 . In 1942 she obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Stellenbosch University , and in 1943 a Secondary Education Diploma. In 1945 she graduated from the University of Cape Town with a master’s degree in Dutch and Afrikaans literature . Then she taught in Cradock at the "Higher Girls School". From 1946 she was responsible for the women's pages of the family magazine Huisgenoot . In 1948 she decided to only work as a writer. She made numerous trips to Africa, Europe and the Dutch East Indies .

Joubert was a member of the avant-garde movement of the Sestigers , who wrote in Afrikaans , but had a marginal position there.

Joubert's work mainly includes novels and travelogues, including books about the colonies of Madagascar , Mozambique and Angola at the time . In her 1978 novel Die swerfjare van Poppie Nongena (literally: “Die Wanderjahre von Poppie Nongena”, published in German as The Long Way of Poppie Nongena ) she describes the fate of a black woman during apartheid . The novel is about Nongena's ultimately unsuccessful resistance to forced relocation to the homeland of Transkei . The novel was translated into 13 languages, but was rejected by many Boers in their own country . In 2019 Christiaan Olwagen filmed the novel as Poppie Nongena .

In 1950 she married the journalist and editor Klaas Steytler, who died in 1998. They had three children together. Elsa Joubert last lived in the Cape Town district of Oranjezicht.

She died in June 2020 at the age of 97 as a result of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

reception

The future President Nelson Mandela read some of her travelogues about African countries during his long imprisonment. He felt that Joubert was the first Burin to feel like an African.

Awards

Works

Travelogues

  • Water en woestyn , Dagbreek Boekhandel, 1957
  • The verste reis , 1959
  • Suid van die wind , 1962
  • Ons wag op die kaptein , Table Mountain, 1963
  • The staf van Monomotapa , 1964
  • Swerwer in the Herfsland , 1968
  • The Nuwe Afrikaan , Table Mountain, 1974
  • Gordel van Smarag , Table Mountain, 1997

Novels and short stories

  • The Wahlerbrug , Table Mountain, 1969
  • Bonga , Table Mountain, 1971
  • The swerfjare van Poppie Nongena , Table Mountain, 1978
  • Melk (short stories), Table Mountain, 1980
  • Laaste Sondag , Table Mountain, 1983
  • The four vriende (children's book), 1985
  • Missionaris , 1988
  • Dansmaat (short stories), Table Mountain, 1993
  • The journey of Isobelle , Table Mountain, 1995
  • Twee Vroue , Table Mountain, 2002

drama

Autobiographies

  • 'n Wonderlike geweld , 2005
  • Reisiger , 2009

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Herman Eloff: Iconic SA author Elsa Joubert, 97, dies of Covid-19. Retrieved June 14, 2020 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c d portrait at stellenboschwriters.com (English), accessed on December 29, 2013
  3. ^ André Brink : A Fork in the Road. Harvill Secker, London 2009, ISBN 978-1846552458 , p. 210.
  4. ↑ Portrait of Joubert on the private website about the Sestigers (English), accessed on December 29, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Joubert, Elsa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Murray, Elsabé Antoinette (maiden name); Steytler, Elsabé Antoinette (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Pair
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 2020
Place of death Cape Town