"Colonial Botany": Conservationists and Orchid Hunters in Popular Afrikaans Fiction Set in the Congo (D.R.C.) and Central Africa from 1949-1962. Issue 4 (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beer, Linde
• Is Part Of: Journal of literary studies. Volume 35:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 46
• Page End: 57
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: South African literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 820.9968
• DOI: 10.1080/02564718.2019.1690821
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0256-4718

Abstract

Summary: In this article I focus on the use of botanical tropes in Die jagters van Bloedeiland (1958), a popular fiction text from the colonial era set in the Congo (D.R.C.). It forms part of the adventure series Die Swart Luiperd (1949-1962), whose titular hero is a white Afrikaner dressed in a black leopard costume. His mission is to guard the tropical jungle against "outsiders" who attempt to access the treasures of Africa. Amongst these are European botanists, whose feverish exploration of "undiscovered" plant species – reminiscent of the "orchid hunting" of the Victorian era – renders them vulnerable to abduction by hostile indigenous tribes. The Black Leopard is portrayed as a particular brand of conservationist figure: the white Afrikaner "insider" hero who has an intimate knowledge and love of Africa, and adheres to a strict moral code. While this series represents Africa as both rich (evoking the "Eldorado" trope), and "dark" in the Conradian sense, its hero is unambiguously noble. In his aversion for Western civilisation and love of the wild the Black Leopard may seem to embody the perfect balance between "whiteness and wildness" (see Leon de Kock 2006), but his idealised characterisation firmly roots him in the prevailing Afrikaner nationalism of the era.