Mattheus Uys Krige (4 February 1910 – 10 August 1987) was a South African writer of novels, short stories, poems and plays in
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
and English. In
Afrikaans literature
Afrikaans literature is literature written in Afrikaans. Afrikaans is the daughter language of 17th-century Dutch and is spoken by the majority of people in the Western Cape of South Africa and among Afrikaners and Coloured South Africans in oth ...
, Krige is counted among the ''
Dertigers'' ("Writers of the Thirties"). Uys Krige was, according to his friend
Jack Cope
Robert Knox ″Jack″ Cope (3 June 1913 – 1 May 1991) was a South African novelist, short story writer, poet and editing, editor.
Life
Jack Cope was born in Natal Province, Natal, South Africa and home-schooled by tutors. From the age of 12, ...
, very much an exception among Afrikaner poets and writers of his generation due to his hostility to extreme
Afrikaner nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism ( af, Afrikanernasionalisme) is a nationalistic political ideology which created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afrik ...
,
White Supremacism
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...
, and his role later in life as a mentor to young Afrikaner intellectuals who convinced them to join the internal opposition to
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.
Life
Uys Krige was born in Bontebokskloof (near
Swellendam
Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them b ...
) in the
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
.
Even though the Krige family believed in
Afrikaner nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism ( af, Afrikanernasionalisme) is a nationalistic political ideology which created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afrik ...
, "the home atmosphere was broadminded and creative, his mother was a talented writer and his younger brother a leading painter."
[Cope (1983), page 32.]
Uys Krige was educated at the
University of Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...
. Like many other
Afrikaner
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...
young men of his generation, Krige was invited to join the
secret society
A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...
known as the ''
Broederbond
The Afrikaner Broederbond (AB) or simply the Broederbond was an exclusively Afrikaner Calvinist and male secret society in South Africa dedicated to the advancement of the Afrikaner people. It was founded by H. J. Klopper, H. W. van der Merw ...
'', "But on discovering its rule of secrecy and the somewhat medieval rites, Krige beat a hasty retreat."
At the age of 21, Krige left for Europe, where he lived, "on a kind of cheerful vagabondage."
Krige acquired fluency in French and Spanish. Whilst in France he played
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
for a team in
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
, was a swimming coach on the
Côte d'Azur
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
, wrote poems and penned freelance articles for the Afrikaans press.
From 1931 to 1933, Krige lived at
Martigues
Martigues ( in classical norm, ''Lou Martegue'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte.
A di ...
, in
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
as a tutor to the daughters of
Anglo-African
The British diaspora in Africa is a population group broadly defined as English-speaking white Africans of mainly (but not only) British descent who live in or come from Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority live in South Africa and other Southern ...
poet
Roy Campbell and his
English aristocrat-turned-
bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
wife,
Mary Garman
Mary Margaret Garman Campbell (1898–1979) was the eldest of seven sisters known for their glamorous, bohemian lifestyles and their many love affairs with famous artists, writers, and musicians of interwar London. She was a member of the Bloom ...
Campbell. The Campbells' oldest daughter, Anna Campbell, later recalled that Uys Krige replaced a French
governess
A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...
named Anne-Marie, who, "never taught us anything, but drove every night to the casino at Foss to dance". Anna later recalled, however, that she and her sister Tess, "enjoyed doing our lessons", with Uys Krige and that, thanks to him, "we made rapid progress. He stayed with us almost two years."
By the end of 1932, the
Pound Sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
had devalued and it had become clear that Krige and the Campbells could no longer afford to live in France. During a discussion with Krige in the spring of 1933, Mary Campbell, "who had read the memoirs of
Saint Theresa of Avila
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
when she was six and had a preconceived idea of everything Spanish", recommended moving to Spain.
Krige returned to South Africa in 1935 and began a writing career as a reporter for the ''
Rand Daily Mail
''The Rand Daily Mail'' was a South African newspaper published from 1902 until it was controversially closed in 1985 after adopting an outspoken anti-apartheid stance in the midst of a massive clampdown on activists by the security forces. The ...
''.
The Campbells had converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
in
Altea, Spain
Altea (, ) is a city and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain, on the section of Mediterranean coast called the Costa Blanca.
At present, the economy of Altea is based on tourism, which started to grow in the 1950s because of i ...
and, due to their new faith and to their first hand experiences of the
Red Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
by forces loyal to the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
in
Toledo, the Campbells vocally supported the
Nationalist faction during the ensuing
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. Meanwhile, Krige campaigned just as passionately for the
Republican faction. Despite their views being at variance over the Spanish Civil War, Roy Campbell and Uys Krige remained friends and, in Campbell's 1952 memoir, ''Light on a Dark Horse'', he explains Krige's Republican sympathies by the latter being, "an incurable Calvinist."
[Coullie, Lyle & Campbell (2011), page 38, footnote 76.]
In 1937, Krige married the actor
Lydia Lindeque, and they had their first child, Eulalia. During the same year, he wrote the Afrikaans poem, ''Lied van die fascistiese bomwerpers'' ("Hymn of the Fascist Bombers"). Krige later recalled, "I needed only a line or two, then the poem wrote itself. My hand could hardly keep pace. I did not have to correct anything. Well... that seldom happens to you."
[Cope (1983), page 33.] The poem condemned the bombing raids by pro-Nationalist German pilots of the
Condor Legion
The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...
. Inspired, according Jack Cope, by Krige's upbringing within
Afrikaner Calvinism
Afrikaner Calvinism ( af, Calvinisme) is a cultural and religious development among Afrikaners that combined elements of seventeenth-century Calvinist doctrine with a "chosen people" ideology based in the Bible. It had origins in ideas espouse ...
and its traditional hostility to an allegedly corrupt Pre-Reformation Church, ''Lied van die fascistiese bomwerpers'' also leveled savage attacks against
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
.
[Cope (1983), page 36.]
According to Jack Cope, "The poem starts on a note of military pride – the eyes of the Fascist pilots fixed on themselves in their joyful and triumphant, their holy task. The tone of bitter irony rises as the pace becomes faster, climbing to height after height of savagery and contempt. The lines of the
Latin liturgy become mixed with the brutal exultation of the mercenaries raining down death from their safe altitude.
The Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
itself is rolled in the blood. The lovely place-names of Spain rise in gleams above the dust and smoke. In the end the hymn becomes an insane scream of violence and bloody destruction mocking even
the Crucifixion
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...
."
As no Afrikaans journal dared to publish it, Uys Krige's ''Lied van die fascistiese bomwerpers'' appeared in the ''Forum'', a Left-leaning literary journal published in English. Krige's poem elicited vehement condemnations from both extreme
Afrikaner nationalists
Afrikaner nationalism ( af, Afrikanernasionalisme) is a nationalistic political ideology which created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afri ...
and from the
Catholic Church in South Africa
The Catholic Church in South Africa is part of the worldwide Catholic Church composed of the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, of which the South African church is under the spiritual leadership of the Southern African Catholic Bish ...
, which "protested vehemently" called Krige's poem
sacrilegious
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
. Krige responded by asking whether South African Catholics approved of the Nationalist's dismantling of what he considered the lawful Spanish Government or in the ongoing
White Terror
White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Krige was a
war correspondent with the
South African Army
The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...
during the
Abyssinian Campaign and the
North African Campaign. Captured at the
Battle of Tobruk in 1941, he was sent to a
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
camp in
Fascist Italy from which he escaped after the overthrow of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
two years later. Krige was then smuggled back to Allied lines with the help of the
Italian Resistance
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
. Krige returned to South Africa able to speak fluent Italian.
[Uys Krige]
monograph at ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' online Krige subsequently wrote and published the English language war memoir, ''The Way Out'', as well as war poetry and short stories.
After the
National Party took power over South Africa in 1948, Krige actively campaigned as part of the
Torch Commando
The Torch Commando was a South African organisation, born out of the work of the Springbok Legion, a South African organisation of World War II veterans, founded in 1941 during the Second World War, and the War Veterans Action Committee estab ...
alongside former
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
Sailor Malan
Adolph Gysbert Malan, (3 October 1910 – 17 September 1963), better known as Sailor Malan, was a South African fighter pilot and flying ace in the Royal Air Force (RAF) who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain. He finished ...
and many other Afrikaner World War II veterans against the new Government's plans to
disenfranchise
Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. ...
Coloured
Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...
voters.
In May 1952, Krige had lunch in London with fellow South Africans
Roy Campbell,
Laurens van der Post
Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in Jun ...
,
Enslin du Plessis, and
Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' and '' Too Late the Phalarope''.
Family
Paton was born in Pietermaritzbu ...
. During the lunch, the five men composed and signed an
open letter
An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
to the South African Government, in which they again denounced the ruling
National Party's
plans to disenfranchise Coloured
Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...
voters. The letter was subsequently published by several South African newspapers.
In 1958, Krige, in spite of or because of his opposition to the National Party-dominated Government, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
University of Natal
The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...
.
Also during the late 1950s and '60s, Krige served as a mentor to many fellow members of
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
's racially mixed
literary bohemia, which gathered in the beach-side suburb of
Clifton
Clifton may refer to:
People
*Clifton (surname)
*Clifton (given name)
Places
Australia
* Clifton, Queensland, a town
**Shire of Clifton
*Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong
*Clifton, Western Australia
Canada
*Clifton, Nova Scotia ...
. Due in large part to Krige's influence, membership in both literary bohemia and in the
literary movement
Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing ...
known as ''
Die Sestigers'' ("The Writers of the Sixties") became synonymous with
public opposition Public opposition describes a form of social activity that deliberately opposes establishment opinion in the public sphere in order to raise public awareness of topics, problems or social groups that appear to be neglected or oppressed. As with the ...
to both the National Party and
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.
The most famous of Krige's proteges was
Ingrid Jonker
Ingrid may refer to:
* Ingrid (given name)
* Ingrid (record label), and artist collective
* Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid
* Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones
* 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid
* InGrid, the grid computing project ...
and Krige played a major role in Jonker's transformation from the dutiful daughter of a National Party MP into a vocal critic of the National Party's policies of censorship and
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
. When Jonker committed suicide by drowning in 1965, Krige spoke at her secular funeral.
Uys Krige also co-edited ''The Penguin Book of South African Verse'' (1968) with
Jack Cope
Robert Knox ″Jack″ Cope (3 June 1913 – 1 May 1991) was a South African novelist, short story writer, poet and editing, editor.
Life
Jack Cope was born in Natal Province, Natal, South Africa and home-schooled by tutors. From the age of 12, ...
.
In an interview later in life, Krige told Jack Cope, "One of the biggest mistakes is to identify the Afrikaans language with the Nationalist Party."
[Cope (1983), page 38.]
Uys Krige died near
Hermanus
Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service in the
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
in 1987, aged 77.
[
]
Poetry
According to Uys Krige's friend Jack Cope
Robert Knox ″Jack″ Cope (3 June 1913 – 1 May 1991) was a South African novelist, short story writer, poet and editing, editor.
Life
Jack Cope was born in Natal Province, Natal, South Africa and home-schooled by tutors. From the age of 12, ...
, "He was essentially a lyric poet
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
, his subjects personal, often romantic, sentimental; his technique despite a full acquaintance with Dada
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...
, Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
and other schools remained traditional, helped along with homely anecdotes and plentiful rhyme. He enjoyed the resonance and timbre of words and liked to exploit the nuances of his language as against the precision of French and Spanish with its darker more sensuous tones."
Literary translations
According to Jack Cope
Robert Knox ″Jack″ Cope (3 June 1913 – 1 May 1991) was a South African novelist, short story writer, poet and editing, editor.
Life
Jack Cope was born in Natal Province, Natal, South Africa and home-schooled by tutors. From the age of 12, ...
, Krige's linguistic and literary talent combined with his passion for French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese literature
Portuguese literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the Portuguese language, particularly by citizens of Portugal; it may also refer to literature written by people living in Portugal, Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, and other P ...
made him the principal translator from Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
into Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
during the 20th century.[Cope (1982), page 38]
Uys Krige translated many of the works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
from Elizabethan English into Afrikaans. He also translated works by Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
, Pablo Neruda
Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...
, Lope de Vega
Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...
and Juan Ramón Jiménez
Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...
from Spanish, works by Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...
, François Villon
François Villon ( Modern French: , ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these ...
, Jacques Prévert
Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...
, Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he starte ...
, and Paul Éluard
Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement.
In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...
from French, and "scores of poems" by anti-Mussolini Italian poets Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...
and Giuseppe Ungaretti
Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experi ...
, with whom Krige struck up a friendship.
Krige's encounter with Latin American poetry
Latin American poetry is the poetry written by Latin American authors. Latin American poetry is often written in Spanish, but is also composed in Portuguese, Mapuche, Nahuatl, Quechua, Mazatec, Zapotec, Ladino, English, and Spanglish. The unific ...
while stationed in Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
during World War II also led him to translate the poetry of Jacinto Fombona-Pachano, Jose Ramon Heredia, Vicente Huidobro
Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández (; January 10, 1893 – January 2, 1948) was a Chilean poet born to an aristocratic family. He promoted the avant-garde literary movement in Chile and was the creator and greatest exponent of the literary m ...
, Jorge Carrera Andrade
Jorge Carrera Andrade was an Ecuadorian poet, historian, author, and diplomat during the 20th century. He was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1902. He died in 1978. During his life and after his death he has been recognized with Jorge Luis Borges, Vice ...
, Nicolas Guillen
Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to:
People Given name
* Nicolas (given name)
Mononym
* Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer
* Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer
Surname Nicolas
* Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...
, Cesar Vallejo, Jorge de Lima and Manuel Bandeira
Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho (April 19, 1886 – October 13, 1968) was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and translator, who wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose.
Life and career
Bandeira was born in Recife, Pernambuco. In 190 ...
into Afrikaans from both Spanish and Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
.
Jack Cope has written of Krige's translations of Latin American verse, "This important body of modern poetry, steeped in humanist tradition, non-racial to the extent that much of it was written by poets of Black, Indian, and mixed races, has had a considerable influence on South African writing, both in Afrikaans and English. English-language poets of the country such as Dan Jacobson
Dan Jacobson (7 March 1929 – 12 June 2014) was a South African novelist, short story writer, critic and essayist of Lithuanian Jewish descent.
Early life and career
Dan Jacobson was born 7 March 1929, in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his p ...
and Charles Eglington have agreed that Krige's versions are in nearly every instance closer in spirit and tone to the originals than those yet achieved in English either in Britain or the United States. This says much for the translator/poet but also for the language he is using, which is able to capture more unaffectedly the warmth, softness, and resonance of Latin tongues."
Legacy
In 1994, Uys Krige's granddaughter, Lida Orffer was murdered with her family at their home in . The murderer was found to be a Black South African drifter whom the Orffer family had given his first real job. The murder of the Orffer family, which came within weeks of the free elections that toppled the ruling National Party and ended apartheid, horrified the town of Stellenbosch and made many local residents question whether Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
's promise of a "rainbow nation" was truly possible.A small town in South Africa
''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 31 March 1995. Retrieved 26 June 2020
In 2010, a collection of Uys Krige's letters from France and Spain was published by Hemel & See Boeke under the title ''Briewe van Uys Krige uit Frankryk en Spanje''.
In celebration of the centenary of Krige's birth in 2010, South African composer Hendrik Hofmeyr was commissioned to compose a song cycle based on his poetry. The cycle "Ek maak 'n hek oop in my hart" was first performed in that year. http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/hofmeyrh.htm
In popular culture
* As of 2007, work was underway on an
Ingrid Jonker
Ingrid may refer to:
* Ingrid (given name)
* Ingrid (record label), and artist collective
* Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid
* Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones
* 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid
* InGrid, the grid computing project ...
biographical film under the title ''All that Breaks''. Based on a screenplay by
Helena Nogueira
Helena Nogueira is a South African film director, "the first woman to direct a feature film in South Africa".
Life
Helena Nogueira was born in Mozambique. She studied at the University of Natal and then the Institut des hautes études cinémat ...
tested at
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
's Market Theatre, the film was to focus on three years in Jonker's life and on her involvement with the
literary bohemia which gathered around Uys Krige in the
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
suburb of
Clifton
Clifton may refer to:
People
*Clifton (surname)
*Clifton (given name)
Places
Australia
* Clifton, Queensland, a town
**Shire of Clifton
*Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong
*Clifton, Western Australia
Canada
*Clifton, Nova Scotia ...
. The film was to be produced by
David Parfitt
David Parfitt (born 8 July 1958) is an English film producer, actor, and co-founder of Trademark Films. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 71st Academy Awards for ''Shakespeare in Love'' (1998).
Early life
Parfitt was born in Sunder ...
(''
Shakespeare in Love
''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 romantic period comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Col ...
''),
Charles Moore, and Shan Moodley and to be directed by Nogueira.
*In the 2011
Ingrid Jonker
Ingrid may refer to:
* Ingrid (given name)
* Ingrid (record label), and artist collective
* Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid
* Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones
* 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid
* InGrid, the grid computing project ...
biographical film ''
Black Butterflies'', Uys Krige is portrayed by actor
Graham Clarke.
Bibliography
All publications are in Afrikaans unless otherwise noted. The English translation is given in brackets.
* Collected poems:
** ''Kentering'' (Change), 1935
** ''Rooidag'' (Red day), 1940
** ''Oorlogsgedigte'' (War poems), 1942
** ''Hart sonder hawe'' (Heart without harbour), 1949
** ''Ballade van die groot begeer'' (Ballad of the great desire), 1960
** ''Vooraand'' (The evening before), 1964
* Novels:
** ''Die palmboom'' (The palm tree), 1940
** The dream and the desert (in English), 1953
* Travelogues and war correspondence:
** The way out (in English), 1946
** ''Sol y sombra'', 1948 (Sun and Shade), with illustrations by his brother François
** ''Ver in die wêreld'' (Far in the world), 1951
** ''Sout van die aarde'' (Salt of the earth), 1961
* Plays:
** ''Magdalena Retief'', 1938
** ''Die goue kring'' (The golden circle), 1956
* One-act plays:
** ''Die wit muur'' (The white wall), 1940
** Alle paaie gaan na Rome (All roads lead to Rome), 1949
** ''Die sluipskutter'', 1951 (translated by the author as "The sniper" in 1962)
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
External links
Ulys Krige Collectionat the
Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krige, Uys
1910 births
1987 deaths
People from the Overberg District Municipality
Afrikaans-language poets
Afrikaner people
Afrikaner anti-apartheid activists
Anti-Catholicism in South Africa
South African people of German descent
South African poets
South African translators
Translators from Spanish
Translators from French
Translators from English
Translators to Afrikaans
Stellenbosch University alumni
International Brigades personnel
South African people of the Spanish Civil War
South African military personnel of World War II
South African prisoners of war
World War II prisoners of war held by Italy
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Hertzog Prize winners for poetry
20th-century translators
20th-century poets
White South African anti-apartheid activists
Alumni of Paul Roos Gymnasium
Translators of William Shakespeare
World War II poets
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Escapees from German detention