Sprokies is nie waar nie: Die donker god van Fransi Phillips

Abstract

The literary oeuvre written by Fransi Phillips belongs to the aesthetic-symbolistic trend in Afrikaans literature. In her books Phillips withdraws into her own imaginary world. Her latest novel, Die donker god (2007), is a symbolistic novel too. It tells the story of a love affair with no happy ending; a passionate romance turns into heart-rending tragedy. The realization that happiness is unattainable due to the irreconcilable differences between men and women steeps the novel in melancholy. Die donker god purports to express a universal state of affairs, hence its symbolistic nature: the main characters are not individuals but stereotypes and the realistic setting should first and foremost be interpreted symbolically. The references to the plays written by Maurice Maeterlinck, to the fairy tales of One Thousand and One Nights, to other literary works, to philosophers, ancient and modern, and to romantic musicians and painters do not only create a richly textured palimpsest but also reinforce the symbolistic nature of the novel. Die donker god lays bare the paradoxes that make life into an impossible possibility. It is an imaginative, challenging and thought-provoking novel.