Suidpunt-jazz van André Letoit : die lees van 'n postmodernistiese prosateks

Abstract

Suidpunt-jazz by André Letoit: reading a postmodernist text A literary-historical model is used to approach the postmodernist text Suidpunt-jazz. Van Gorp's interaction directed model for writing literary history is taken as a point of departure. Van Gorp argues that, in writing literary history, attention should not be fixed on the discussion of different factors but on the interaction between these factors within a specific language system. Van Gorp calls this system theory a "two-stroke system" as it enhances a specific series of literary information on the one hand, that is studied in a wider context on the other. This point of departure is complemented by Ena Jansen's reaction to Vodiҫka on the writing of literary history and also by certain of T.T. Cloete's ideas. From the above framework three sets of tasks are eventually identified: the origin of the text; the functioning of the text in its context; the reception of the text. For the study of Suidpunt-jazz certain "indicators" are taken from the text as literary points of departure, and are then studied against a wider philosophical, historical, political, social and literary background. These "indicators" include the "construction of worlds"; breaching the boundaries between these worlds; worlds under erasure; "suidpunt" and "jazz". It is concluded that Suidpunt-jazz (and postmodernist fiction in general) is above all illusion breaking art, and that a model for the writing of literary history can indeed be an illuminating approach to postmodernist texts.