André Philippus Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) was a South African novelist, essayist and poet. He wrote in both

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 and taught English at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

. In the 1960s Brink,

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 ...

Etienne Leroux Etienne Leroux (13 June 1922 – 30 December 1989) was an Afrikaans writer and a member of the South African Sestigers literary movement. Early life and career Etienne Leroux was born in Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape on 13 June 1922 as Stepha ...

and

Breyten Breytenbach Breyten Breytenbach (; born 16 September 1939) is a South African writer, poet and painter known for his opposition to apartheid, and consequent imprisonment by the South African government. He is informally considered as the national poet lau ...

were key figures in the significant Afrikaans literary movement known as ''Die

Sestigers The Sestigers (Sixtiers), also known as the Beweging van Sestig (the movement of sixty), were a group of influential resistant Afrikaans-language writers in the 1960s started by André Brink and Breyten Breytenbach, which also included Reza de W ...

'' ("The Sixty-ers"). These writers sought to use Afrikaans as a language to speak against the

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 ...

government, and also to bring into

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 other ...

the influence of contemporary English and French trends. While Brink's early novels were especially concerned with apartheid, his later work engaged the new range of issues posed by life in a democratic South Africa.

Biography

Brink was born in

Vrede Vrede is a town in the Free State province of South Africa that is the agricultural hub of a 100 km² region. Maize, wheat, mutton, wool, beef, dairy products and poultry are farmed in the region. History In 1863 one J. H. Krynauw bought t ...

, in the Free State. Brink moved to

Lydenburg Lydenburg, officially known as Mashishing, is a town in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, on the Mpumalanga highveld, South Africa. It is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Lepelle River at the summit of the Long Tom Pass. ...

, where he matriculated at Hoërskool Lydenburg in 1952 with seven distinctions, the second student from the then

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

to achieve this feat and studied

literature in the

Potchefstroom University The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to c ...

of South Africa. His immense attachment with

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

carried him to France from 1959 to 1961, where he got his degree from

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

at Paris in

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

. During his stay, he came across an undeniable fact that changed his mind forever: black students were treated on an equal social basis with other students. Back in South Africa, he became one of the most prominent of young Afrikaans writers, along with the novelist

and the poet

, to challenge the apartheid policy of the National party through his writings. During a second sojourn in France between 1967 and 1968, he hardened his political position against Apartheid, and began writing both in Afrikaans and English to enlarge his audience and outplay the censure he was facing in his native country at the time. Indeed, his novel ''Kennis van die aand'' (1973) was the first Afrikaans book to be banned by the South African government. André Brink translated ''Kennis van die aand'' into English and published it abroad as ''Looking on Darkness''. This was his first

self-translation Self-translation is a translation of a source text into a target text by the writer of the source text. Self-translation occurs in various writing situations. Since research on self-translation largely focuses on ''literary'' self-translation, this ...

. After that, André Brink wrote his works simultaneously in English and Afrikaans. In 1975, he obtained his PhD in Literature at

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

. In 2008, in an echo of a scene from his novel ''A Chain of Voices'', his family was beset by tragedy, when his nephew Adri Brink was murdered in front of his wife and children in their

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

home. He died on a flight from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

to South Africa from Belgium, where he had received an honorary doctorate from the Belgian Francophone

Université Catholique de Louvain The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

. He was married five times. Brink's son, Anton Brink, is an artist.

Works

Novels

*''The Ambassador'' *'' Looking on Darkness'' (1973) *'' An Instant in the Wind'' (1975) shortlisted for the Booker Prize. *''

Rumours of Rain ''Rumours of Rain'' (Afrikaans: ''Gerugte van Reen'') is a South African novel by André Brink, published in 1978. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It is set on a South African farm during apartheid. Plot summary Martin, the narrator, a ...

'' (1978) – shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

*''

A Dry White Season ''A Dry White Season'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Euzhan Palcy and starring Donald Sutherland, Jürgen Prochnow, Marlon Brando, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae and Susan Sarandon. It was written by Colin Welland and Palcy, based upon A ...

'' (1979) –

Martin Luther King Memorial Prize The Martin Luther King Memorial Prize was instituted by novelist John Brunner and his wife and was awarded annually to a literary work published in the US or Britain that was deemed to improve interracial understanding,Derek Humphry''Good Life, Go ...

Carolyn Turgeon
"A Dry White Season"
at encyclopedia.com. *''

A Chain of Voices ''A Chain of Voices'' is a 1982 novel by Afrikaans writer André Brink. The novel is a historical novel which recounts the roots of the apartheid system during the early part of the 19th century. The novel focuses on a slave revolt center in th ...

'' (1982) *''The Wall of the Plague'' *''States of Emergency'' (1989) *'' An Act of Terror'' (1992) *''The First Life of

Adamastor Adamastor is a mythological character created by the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in his epic poem ''Os Lusíadas'' (first printed in 1572), as a personification of the Cape of Good Hope, symbolizing the dangers of the sea and the formidable ...

'' (1993) *''On the Contrary'' (1994) *'' Imaginings of Sand'' (1996) *''Devil's Valley'' (1998) *''The Rights of Desire'' (2000) *''The Other Side of Silence (Anderkant die Stilte)'' (2002) *''Before I Forget'' (2004) *''The Other Side of Silence'' (2004) *''Praying Mantis'' (2005) *''The Blue Door'' (2006) *''Other Lives'' (2008) *''Philida'' (2012)

Memoirs

*''A Fork in the Road'' (2009)

Essays

* Languages of the Novel: A Lover's Reflections (1998)

Notes

External links

* *
André Brink
on Books LIVE * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brink, Andre 1935 births 2015 deaths Afrikaans-language poets Exophonic writers People from Phumelela Local Municipality Afrikaner people Afrikaner anti-apartheid activists South African people of Dutch descent White South African anti-apartheid activists Afrikaans-language writers Sestigers South African male novelists South African translators Translators from Spanish Translators from French Translators from English Translators to Afrikaans Prix Médicis étranger winners Hertzog Prize winners for drama Hertzog Prize winners for prose North-West University alumni University of Cape Town academics Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga 20th-century South African novelists 21st-century South African novelists 20th-century South African male writers 21st-century South African male writers 20th-century translators