LOBOLA FOR LIFE

LOBOLA FOR LIFE

Lobola for Life (published in 1962 in Afrikaans as Lobola vir die
Lewe) was a ground-breaking addition to African literature. It was
considered to be a clean break from past literary tradition. Brink,
strongly influenced by Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, uses love,
at times with sexual nuances as the starting point for metaphysical
enquiry. It then lucidly flows into a metaphysical journey for the
archetypical ‘outsider’ to find meaning in an existential complexed
reality. It simultaneously invites the reader to do the same. It may turn
out to be a ‘non-reality’, even a crisis.
With the 1962 publication, Brink, of the Sestigers generation of
Afrikaans literature, not only established himself as the voice of his
people, but as a storyteller par excellence. He has a readership in
more than 30 languages worldwide, and a lifelong career of literary
achievements and international prizes.
Lobola for Life is one of the author’s only novels which had not been
translated into English. It is a timeless piece of art which sees Brink
set in motion what would become a life-long revolt against injustice,
the Lie and all that threatens freedom. Set against the backdrop of the
post-industrial revolution world and it slaves, it reminds us of today’s
slavery to information technology.
Could this work possibly provide the answer to the age old musings
of the Id or our identity as a collective
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André Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) is one of South Africa’s best-known writers.
He was one of the key figures in the significant Afrikaans literary movement known as Die
Sestigers. These writers sought to use Afrikaans as a language to speak against the erstwhile
South African apartheid’s regime and brought Afrikaans literature on par with contemporary
English and French trends. More than 20 novels in Afrikaans (and most of them self-translated
into English) were given life through his pen. Brink gained international success and has a
readership in more than 30 languages worldwide. He was the receiver of numerous literary
awards, including the Martin Luther Memorial Prize (1980) and Prix Médicis Estranger (1980)
as well as South African prizes (the Hertzog Prize in 2000 and 2001, the CNA Prize in 1965,
1978 and 1982), Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur (1982) and Officier de l’ordre des Arts et
des Lettres (1987) and no less than three nominations for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

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NON FICTION
SOFT COVER
213 mm x 137 mm
256 pages
ISBN: 9781776172122