Raka

by N.P. van Wyk Louw

South African Poetry

Genres: Poetry, South Africa

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw was born at Sutherland on June 11th 1906. He was second in line of four brothers, of which the youngest was W.E.G. Louw, the poet. Their parents Von Moltke and Poppie Louw with their family moved to Cape Town in 1920. The young Van Wyk studied at Cape Town University and received a MA degree in German, later he became lecturer at this university. In 1948 he received an honours degree from Utrecht University for his critique and creative works. In 1949 he became a Professor of Afrikaans at the University of Amsterdam, he held this post until 1958. After that he became Head of Department Afrikaans-Dutch at the University of Witwatersrand.

One of the Dertigers, or "Writers of the Thirties," N.P. van Wyk Louw produced among his most famous works his debut 1935 volume of poems, Alleenspraak ("Monologue"), the 1937 poetry collection Die halwe kring ("The Semicircle"), the verse epic Raka, and the 1956 tragedy Germanicus.

N.P. van Wyk Louw is quoted on the Afrikaans Language Monument in Paarl, Western Cape Province; in his quote, he views Afrikaans as a bridge that connects Europe with Africa.

The South African composer Cromwell Everson composed a song cycle, "Vier Liefdesliedjies", that used three of Louw's poems: "Nagliedje", "Net altyd jy", and "Dennebosse".

He received various literary prizes: Hertzog prize for prose, drama and poetry. The S.A.B.C. prize for radio plays and the C.N.A.-literary prize. Some of his most well known works are the thesis in Afrikaans, Raka, Gestaltes en Diere, and Germanicus.

N.P. van Wyk Louw died one week after his sixty fourth birthday on 18th June 1970.

Reviews

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louw se epos bly een van die meesterwerke van die Afrikaanse literatuur. 'n Mens kan dit oor en oor lees - dit bly verbluffend weens die natuurbeelding, die belang van die sentrale tema (kultuur en kultuurbewaring), en die kragtige taalgebruik.

Dit is 'n klad op die Afrikaanse uitgewersbedryf dat die oorspronklike teks nie in druk is nie, maar slegs die skooluitgawe. Dit is 'n klad op die naam van die Suid-Afrikaanse skoolstelsel dat daar hoegenaamd 'n skooluitgawe is, en dat dit steeds gebruik word. Slegs op vier plekke word seksuele verwysings weggelaat. Die teks is nie eers ordentlik herset nie, die "aanstootlike" reëls is sommer net wit gelaat. Dit is 'n belediging vir die skoolgaande generasie, vir die onderwysers en vir die nalatenskap van Louw.

'n Mens kan maar net hoop dat iemand dinge sal herstel teen 2041, wanneer RAKA 'n eeu oud sal wees. Die teks sal nog so relevant wees soos vanoggend se nuusberigte - maar sal lesers nog die teks kan bekom in sy oorspronklike glorie?

Louw's epic poem remains as relevant as this morning's news and as powerful as it has been at its publication in 1941. The fact that it is out of print, except for the shoddily sanitized school's version, is a crying shame. A work of this calibre deseves better. An English translation exists - this needs fresh attention and promotion.

18 Junie 2020: Gelees saam met Ma en Gina (vir gr. 11 in Bloemhof) op die vyftigste herdenking van Louw se dood.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

'n Tydlose epiese gedig deur ’n literêre meester. Ek het ’n kopie van die twee-en-twintigste druk van 1973

[Mariette]

I read this book during matric as a compulsary reading and have re-read it since from time to time. The epos is only understandable when you read between the lines and understand the deeper meaning. As I understand it, Raka represents the strange/new/unknown aspect in our culture and out lifes. When a person first sees Raka, he is a stranger, the unknown factor. The people/culture gradually becomes more accustomed to this strange "character". The strong one tries to fight him, to get rid of him, but does not succeed. The people "in the kraal" become more accustomed to this stranger, begin to praise him, until he is part of them.

The question is: Is Raka in the midst of this culture good or a bad phenomenon? The answer may vary from Raka tot Raka: There is no need to be wary of all strange things and customs, but sometimes we do allow Rakas in our midst which can be very bad. Especially if those Rakas lead to the erotion of our values, believes and good customs.

[Adel Oberholzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. When I first started reading the book I didn't like it, but after reading the whole book and understood the deeper understanding of it, it was the best " epos " I have yet read. Thank you Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw for writing this book during the second world war in 1941. It taught me something and I hope other's will find it also pleasant!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Raka: 'n Roman by Koos Kombuis before attempting this classic by Van Wyk Louw, I found the forced rhymes and ramblings much more intelligible in terms of the flow of the story itself. What made this book for me was the bizarre and ultimately astounding wording chosen to depict this tragedy, even though it did make the reading itself a bit of a challenge.

[Leigh van Zyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ek het hierdie gedig baie geniet en die verhaal het pragtig gevloei.
Dit is nie een gedig wat een mens net een keer sal lees en begryp nie, maar oor die jare nog met regelmaat sal teruglees. Vir die mense die lief is vir Afrikaanse gedige is hierdie eksemplar perfekt.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I studied this book in first year Afrikaans at UCT - and it made me LOVE the language and the sounds of the words particularly - notwithstanding the deeper meaning of the story

[Mirjam Iyaloo Kandenge]

I read this book because my mom was a language teacher and she brought it home, she had to bring a lot of books home, because I was obsessed with reading. Funny enough the book I read was in Oshiwambo, a Namibian indigenous book, a lot of students were required to read this book in grade 10. When I read this book as a child I did not understand it, I took everything literally, until I read it again as an adult and understood the meaning behind Raka, the strange monster. Fast-forward to 2022 with the whole Covid situation, my sister said something about Covid being somewhat similar to the Raka situation. At first, it seemed as though Covid was just a rumour, and we heard it was in some far away country in another continent, then comes the news of it possibly being in our continent and people started to panic, stay home and avoid public places, then it came into our country and people introduced curfew because they felt they were only safe in their houses away from public places, and then it reached our homes. Some people tried to fight it any way possible, then we made peace with it and kind of accept it as part of our lives, then we were advised to sort of create space for it in our society in an attempt to control it, because it may never go away. I am typing this in January 2022 and most people don't even wear masks anymore, the fear is gone, they just live their lives as before and if they get Covid they get it, it is almost as if it is no longer much of a deal. The same thing happened with Raka, I just find the similarities interesting.

[sybrand. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moet terug kom na hierdie een soos wat die jare my agtervolg. Hier is soveel om aan te kou en herkou, alhoewel dit maar net 32 bladsye is. Weereens tref oom Wyk die nerwe van die leser met 'n direkte en bepaalde denk-krag wat skrik vir niks.

[Corné]

It was ok

[Ilze · Rating 3 out of 5]

With all the literary ooh's and wow's about this book, you'd probably be surprised to hear that it's a book-length poem about a beast visiting a cultural village ... in a nutshell (hear any ah's from me?)

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre long poem by the famed Afrikaans poet. I am not sure exactly what the context of it was: I know that it was compulsory reading for most Afrikaans classes. It deploys certain elements of Nguni tradition--the emphasis on the reeds, for example--though, I'm still working through it.