Aspekte van die werk van J.M.A. Biesheuvel met besondere verwysing na "De Heer Mellenberg"

Abstract

Biesheuvel is regarded as one of the most important writers of short stories of the seventies in the Netherlands. His prose is characterised by a strong autobiographical tendency. This is apparent in all the relevant short stories. His resistance to Christianity, the church and the religious education of his childhood constitutes a distinctive theme in his short stories. He makes use of a unique mask which enables to be an outstanding first person narrator. He makes use of the perspective model of Max Havelaar by Multatuli for purposes of expressing himself. The study centred on "De heer Mellenberg" (from the collection In de bovenkooi (19721) as a distinctive example of the short story as part of Biesheuvel's oeuvre. Biesheuvel's stories are treated in two ways: Firstly in the traditional manner according to elements of structure, namely time, space, characters and perspective, in which events are incorporated; and in the second place the approach is based on the concept of code as subscribed to by D.W. Fokkema, who distinguishes among five different codes. The socio-codes and literary codes are stressed. The combination of these approaches supplies the optimal amount of information asfar as Biesheuvel"s prose is concerned, especially with regard to "De heer Mellenberg". Part of the dissertation centred on the study of Christ and biblical issues as themes as constitutive of part of the socio-code in Biesheuvel's work. The repeated pejorative use of Christ and pejorative references to Biblical truths are discussed and evaluated. The different approaches, the traditional and the code approaches, are compared, and the conclusion is reached that an optimal amount of information on "De heer Mellenberg" is arrived at. In conclusion it is felt that although this study covers only a small and specifically delineated part of Biesheuvel's oeuvre, one can safely state that Biesheuvel can be regarded as a master among writers of short stories.