A Dry White Season
First edition English cover
AuthorAndré Brink
Original title’n Droë wit seisoen
CountrySouth Africa
LanguageAfrikaans
English
GenreFiction
PublishedAugust 1979 (Afr)
September 1979 (Eng)
PublisherTaurus
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages261 (Afr)
336 (Eng)
ISBN9780620040242

A Dry White Season (Afrikaans: ’n Droë wit seisoen) is a fictional novel written by Afrikaner novelist André Brink and first published by Taurus in 1979. The title quotes a line from the struggle poem For Don M. - Banned by Mongane Wally Serote.[1] The novel focuses on the death during detention of a man wrongly suspected of being a black activist.[2] The novel challenges apartheid, depicting the transformation of a ruling class Afrikaner's opposition to the governing, white supremacist regime.[3] The novel was initially banned in South Africa, though Brink had 3,000 copies published through an underground press.[3]

The novel was adapted into a 1989 film which starred Donald Sutherland, Zakes Mokae and Susan Sarandon. The film was subsequently banned in South Africa.[4]

Reception

Reception of the novel was generally positive, and praising the novel's critique of apartheid, The Christian Science Monitor was generally positive about the book, though noted that it has elements of being a "white book."[3] The New York Times called the novel "both an exposé and a passionate appeal for social justice" and an excellent piece of work which "demonstrates André Brink's continuing refinement of his fictional technique".[5]

The novel was awarded the 1980 Martin Luther King Memorial Prize.[6]

References

  1. ^ "A Giant of Literature: Mongane Wally Serote Pays Tribute to Andre Brink".
  2. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (7 February 2015). "André Brink, anti-apartheid novelist and campaigner, dies aged 79". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Goodwin, June. "Novel for foreigners who want to understand the Afrikaner; A Dry White Season, by Andre Brink. New York: William Morrow & Co. $10.95". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger. "A Dry White Season," Chicago Sun-Times (Sept. 22, 1989).
  5. ^ Watkins, Mel (23 March 1980). "A Novelist's Impassioned Indictment". New York Times Books.
  6. ^ Carolyn Turgeon, "A Dry White Season" at encyclopedia.com.


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