Desmond A. Eppel and Larry H. Peer, Humanities, Classics and Comparative Literature

As an native English-speaking South African married to a native Afrikaans-speaking wife, this research project held special personal importance for me. My wife and I intend to raise our children in a bilingual environment, and have been concerned about the future of Afrikaans materials and products with which to teach our children. I approached my research in an effort to understand the different factors influencing the market for Afrikaans publishing in South Africa, and discovered a wealth of information which will hopefully be instructive in a comprehensive effort to predict future growth or decline in this market.

Afrikaans is spoken almost exclusively in South Africa, and during the years of apartheid was accorded a privileged status (with English) as one of only two official languages. A thriving industry of Afrikaans publishers developed, producing newspapers, magazines and other literature. Since the end of apartheid, this official status has been extended to a further nine indigenous languages, leaving Afrikaans in a somewhat difficult and questionable position, as English seems to be regularly adopted as the “lingua franca.” Further, Afrikaans is often viewed by non-white South Africans as the “language of the oppressor,” despite the fact that there are more non-white speakers of Afrikaans than there are white speakers of Afrikaans.

I narrowed the field of my studies by considering primarily “literary” works of Afrikaans fiction, and directly contacted the persons responsible for these publications at three of the major publishers of Afrikaans fiction works in South Africa. I asked each of these professionals for their subjective opinion regarding the future for Afrikaans literature, an overview of any strategic planning they have developed, and some specific figures regarding the number of works published annually over the past six years. Each individual was very gracious and helpful, but I was surprised by an apparent lack of detailed planning or careful monitoring of statistics. One respondent even commented that I had made her think about things that she had not considered before my queries. The difficulty in obtaining specific numbers of sales and publication has convinced me that further investigation could only be effective if I were able to continue in South Africa. Though nationwide reports of books published are available in the relevant national records, there was no way of considering an individual company’s record. Personal visits to the different companies would be necessary to accomplish this, as their publication and sales figures do not seem to be published in any public forum, or even readily available to their top executives.

In contrast with the dearth of specific numbers, I quickly learned that everyone has an opinion regarding the future of Afrikaans publishing. Academics, librarians, professionals, authors and others are quick to share their own anecdotes and attitudes. In simply reviewing some of the documents which have been published on the world wide web or directly contacting individuals by e-mail, the full range of optimistic and pessimistic views are found. Each commentator bases their remarks on pieces of evidence which “obviously” support the position which they often appear to have previously conceived. Too often, these commentators implicate much more than a future for the Afrikaans language by stretching the scope of their articles to the very future of the Afrikaans-speaking people 94 or of the whole nation of South Africa. It was just this type of conclusion which I had hoped to avoid by basing my research solidly in verifiable data–perhaps I have learned something about the problems of discovering anything “absolute” in numbers.

Without any comprehensive and specific data, it is possible to draw almost any conclusion about the future for Afrikaans publishing in South Africa. While one respondent saw a dramatic increase in the colored market (peoples of mixed race who speak primarily Afrikaans), another speculated on the possibility of an orchestrated attempt to destroy the Afrikaans publishing industry. Some see hope in growing numbers of English, Sotho, Zulu, and Xhosa-speaking peoples who are purchasing Afrikaans works, while for others the recent troubles in academic publishing seem to spell disaster for the entire industry.

While I have determined to reserve judgement on the future prospects for Afrikaans publishing, one of the biggest potential dangers which I see for the industry is the lack of competition. Most of the major Afrikaans publishers are owned by a single, large holding company, Nasionale Pers. This phenomenon is typical of South African business, where each market tends to be dominated by a small number of large corporations, and has been recognized by analysts as a barrier to economic growth. I believe that this will be true for the publishing industry as well, where growth will not be dynamic until new publishers are able to break into the market. There are many hopeful signs that this could happen, among them an increasing number of web-based bookstores able to sell literature with very low capital requirements. The development of a large number of web sites and services for the Afrikaans community witnesses to the burgeoning market for these types of materials. Of course, there are also many concerns and potential pitfalls which could cause the demise of Afrikaans publishing. I hope that this will not be the case.

Perhaps it is simply a function of my personal circumstances that I see Afrikaans as a vibrant language with a future in publishing, or maybe an inherent love for the “underdog” makes me want to see the language and its market prosper. In either case, I see in the future for Afrikaans as a model for many other minority languages in a world that is increasingly tending towards hegemony. For this reason alone, I feel a study of its progress is significant, and will continue to observe this field with interest.