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Voorslag

The richness and variety of South African periodicals printed during the first half of the twentieth century can surprise even the most devoted fans of the country. The circumstances at the bottom end of Africa were too particular to be overly influenced by the thought and talk of the imperial metropolis of London, and a miniature South African literary renaissance took place during the 1920s & 30s.

Among the publications one might stumble upon is Voorslag (“Whiplash”), founded by the poet Roy Campbell (who later moved to Spain, converted to Catholicism, and supported Franco during the Spanish Civil War). Campbell had returned to South Africa from England in 1924 in the hopes that his well-to-do relations in Durban might help support the struggling intellectual and his family. After finding financial backers, Campbell (with William Plomer and Laurens van der Post) launched Voorslag two years later in 1926.

Campbell, Plomer, and van der Post were a rebellious trio who challenged the racial obsessions of white South Africa during the magazine’s short turn (it survived only eight issues). Even so, the overall lives of Campbell and van der Post, though not Plomer, would suggest that they are best slotted into a (for lack of a better word) conservative framework.

Voorslag was also noteworthy for being bilingual (in English & Afrikaans, that is, though Campbell did speak Zulu fluently) during a time when the divisions between English & Afrikaner South Africans were stark.

But look at that cover: “Beauty in Nature – by Gen. J. C. Smuts”. Did the Greatest South African really contribute to Voorslag? Surely this was a parody, for if one was to parody Smuts, one would easily title the work “Beauty in Nature”. But no, a quick reference to Volume 5 of the Smuts papers confirms that the General did indeed submit the piece, and included 25 shillings for a year’s subscription.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3 were reprinted in facsimile form in the 1980s. Yet another addition to the list of sought-after works for the day when the expansion of my personal library can recommence.

Published at 8:11 pm on Monday 5 April 2010. Categories: Arts & Culture Featured South Africa Tags: , .
Comments

Another uniquely Andrew Cusack post.
Campbell was a very fine poet: the other two were not up to much.

— Baron v Hetterscheidt 6 Apr 2010 3:44 pm

I know next to nothing of Plomer, but Sir Laurens van der Post produced some quality stuff before his interest in Carl Jung overtook him. His Flamingo Feather is one of my favourites.

— Andrew Cusack 6 Apr 2010 11:30 pm

Jan Smuts was by all accounts a real boffin. My history teacher once mentioned that Smuts taught himself Latin in about a week to pass some exam.

Great blog Andrew. Baie goed.

— Ivan Petrovic 7 Apr 2010 2:57 am
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