Adamastor: Gees van die Stormkaap

Adamastor: Gees van die Stormkaap

Adamastor: Gees van die Stormkaap ondersoek een van die kragtigste mites wat uit die Portugese ontdekkingsreise ontstaan het, en koppel dit aan die geskiedenis en verbeelding van Suider-Afrika. In hierdie pragtig geïllustreerde, drietalige studie (Afrikaans, Engels en Portugees) vertel die welbekende historikus en skrywer O.J.O. (Cobus) Ferreira hoe Luís de Camões die reus Adamastor in "Os Lusíadas" geskep het, en hoe hierdie skrikwekkende "gees van die Kaap" sedertdien spook op kaarte, in skilderye, operas en die literatuur.

Ferreira begin by Bartolomeu Dias en Vasco da Gama se stormgeteisterde omseiling van die Kaap en beweeg dan na die maniere waarop Adamastor later "her-ontwerp" is — as simbool van gevaar, mag, slawerny, rassistiese ideologie en, in meer onlangse tye, kritiek op kolonialisme. Hoofstukke oor die verhaal van Adamastor, sy plek in die Suid-Afrikaanse letterkunde, die beeldende kunste en musiek, en die menigte skepe, rotse, besighede en boeke wat sy naam dra, ontsluit ’n hele kulturele wêreld rondom hierdie mitiese figuur.

Die insluiting van die Engelse weergawe, Adamastor, Spirit of the Cape of Storms, is te danke aan Ferreira se noue medewerkers Schalk W. le Roux en Roger C. Fisher: Fisher verskaf die Engelse vertaling, terwyl le Roux die eerste Afrikaanse versvertaling van die Adamastor-gedeelte in "Os Lusíadas" lewer. Le Roux is ook verantwoordelik vir die elegante ontwerp.

Lesers wat belang stel in die Portugese omseiling van Afrika, in die Adamastor mite en toepassing daarvan aan die Kaap, of in die diep geskiedkundige bande tussen Portugal en Suid-Afrika, sal hierdie bondige maar omvangryke gids tot die stormreus wat steeds oor die Stormkaap troon van besondere waarde vind.

Bladsye:   98 (Afrikaans, Engels en Portugees)
Formaat: Aflaaibare PDF (±11Mb)

Adamastor: Spirit of the Cape of Storms

Adamastor: Spirit of the Cape of Storms explores one of the most powerful myths to emerge from the Portuguese voyages of discovery and binds it firmly to the history and imagination of southern Africa. In this richly illustrated, trilingual study (Afrikaans, English and Portuguese), highly-regarded author and historian O.J.O. Ferreira traces how Luís de Camões created the giant Adamastor in "Os Lusíadas" and how this terrifying "spirit of the Cape" has haunted maps, paintings, operas and literature ever since.

Ferreira moves from the storm-lashed rounding of the Cape by Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama to the ways in which Adamastor was later reimagined – as a symbol of danger, empire, slavery, racial ideology and, more recently, critique of colonialism. Chapters on the story of Adamastor, his place in South African literature, the fine arts and music, and the many ships, rocks, businesses and books that bear his name, open up a whole cultural world around this single mythical figure.

The inclusion of the English version is a result of Ferreira’s close collaboration with Schalk W. le Roux and Roger C. Fisher. Fisher provides the English translation, while Le Roux offers the first Afrikaans rendition of the Adamastor episode from "Os Lusíadas". Le Roux is also responsible for the elegant design.

For readers interested in the Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa, in the myth of Adamastor, or in the deep historical ties between Portugal and South Africa, this compact but wide-ranging guide to the stormy giant who still broods over the Cape of Storms will be of great value.

Pages:   98 (Afrikaans, English and Portuguese)
Format: Downloadable PDF (±11Mb)