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 languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

and English and taught English at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. In the 1960s Brink, Ingrid Jonker, Etienne Leroux and

Breyten Breytenbach Breyten Breytenbach (; 16 September 193924 November 2024) was a South African writer, poet, and painter. He became internationally well-known as a dissident poet and vocal critic of South Africa under apartheid, and as a political prisoner of ...

were key figures in the significant Afrikaans

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...

intellectual and literary movement known as ''Die Sestigers'' ("The Sixty-ers"). These writers sought to expose the

Afrikaner people Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

world literature World literature is used to refer to the world's total national literature and the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. In the past, it primarily referred to the masterpieces of Western European literature. ...

, to use the

Afrikaans language Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento that speaks the Patagonian dialect. It evolved from the Dutc ...

to speak out against the extreme Afrikaner nationalist and

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

National Party-controlled government, and also to introduce

literary modernism Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...

, postmodernist literature,

magic realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical re ...

and other global trends into Afrikaans literature. While André Brink's early novels were especially concerned with his own opposition to apartheid, his later work engaged the new questions of life in South Africa since the end of National Party rule in 1994.

Biography

Brink was born in Vrede, in the Free State. Brink moved to

Lydenburg Lydenburg, also 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. It h ...

, where he matriculated at Hoërskool Lydenburg in 1952 with seven distinctions, the second student from the then Transvaal 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 language, Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with othe ...

of South Africa. His immense attachment with

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

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

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

in Paris in

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

. 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 young Afrikaans writers, along with the novelist Etienne Leroux and the poet

, to challenge the apartheid policy of the National party through his writings. During a second journey 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. 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 research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

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

home. Brink died on a flight from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

to South Africa, having visited Belgium to receive an honorary doctorate from the Belgian Francophone

Université Catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

. 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 ''An Instant in the Wind'' (Afrikaans: n Oomblik in die Wind'') is a 1975 novel by André Brink which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Set in 1751, the novel focuses on the relationship of a white woman and a black slave. ''Kirkus Rev ...

'' (1975) shortlisted for the Booker Prize. *'' Rumours of Rain'' (1978) – shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

*''

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 u ...

'' (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'' (1982) *''The Wall of the Plague'' *''States of Emergency'' (1989) *'' An Act of Terror'' (1992) *''The First Life of Adamastor'' (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 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 Academic staff of the University of Cape Town 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