Boris Gorelik
Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Sub-Saharan Africa, Faculty Member
University of Cape Town, The Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research, Honorary Research Associate
History of cross-cultural encounters and interactions between Russia and South Africa. South Africa in the Russian historical consciousness.
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Деятельность транснациональных преступных сообществ, практикующих гендерное насилие, началась в колониальной Южной Африке в последние десятилетия XIX в. А столетие спустя, в 1990-е гг., подобные сообщества проникли в демократическую ЮАР. Внедрению китайские триад, нигерийской мафии, пакистанских группировок, а также преступных организаций с участием граждан СНГ способствовали устранение международной блокады ЮАР, отмена чрезвычайного положения и других суровых мер безопасности внутри страны, действовавших до первых нерасовых выборов 1994 г.
На рубеже XIX–XX, а затем и XX–XXI вв. десятки российских иммигрантов подвергались сексуальной эксплуатации в Южной Африке. С другой стороны, десятки подданных Российской империи, а столетие спустя и граждан стран СНГ были причастны к вовлечению женщин в проституцию и к торговле людьми.
During his lifetime, Tolstoy’s work and personality were discussed extensively in Russia and abroad, including South Africa. He was one of the most influential and authoritative
writers in the world and remained the best-known Russian author in South Africa. Tolstoy was the only writer of Imperial Russia who, for decades, received letters and guests from South Africa. His statements on the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 (also known as the South African War) attracted international attention which none of his Russian colleagues could match. Tolstoy wrote on South Africa, and his work was widely read there. Thanks to his erudition, ability to discern global trends, and interest in world culture and philosophy, Tolstoy had a profound understanding of political events in countries that he never visited and inspired leaders of liberation movements that he never met. His influence on South African realist literature can be traced throughout the twentieth century.
This study of Tolstoy’s and South Africans’ views of each other focuses on Afrikaners, because in the last ten years of his life the Russian author often wrote and spoke about them,
as is evident from his published works, correspondence and the archival material in the Tolstoy museums in Moscow and Yasnaya Polyana in Russia that were used for this paper. Furthermore, Afrikaner authors seem to have referred to Tolstoy’s work remarkably often. By exploring these references, one can ascertain why Tolstoy’s writing remained relevant to Afrikaners and other South Africans for more than a century. In the 1890s and 1900s, Tolstoy continued to develop his doctrine of not resisting evil with violence. He used information on the Anglo-Boer War to test his radical pacifist ideas. His protest against British imperialism in Africa echoed that of other world-famous humanist writers, such as Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Theodore Dreiser, Anatole France, Romain Rolland, Bernard Shaw, Bertha von Suttner and Mark Twain. But, unlike most of them, Tolstoy refused to support the Boers unconditionally. He sympathised with the defenders of the Boer republics, but as a principled opponent of violence he condemned those Christian people for engaging in armed struggle and killing, which he regarded as a mortal sin.
During the transitional and guerrilla phases of the war, Tolstoy came to regard the continued Boer resistance to British invasion as a triumph of moral strength over immorality.
He viewed the South African military conflict in a global context, as a typical war of a new era. Reflecting on the news from South Africa, he concluded that such wars were characterised by immoral goals and methods of warfare, and by non-participation in hostilities by those who directly benefitted from the hostilities (big entrepreneurs manipulating the government). Tolstoy argued that European governments were not interested in eradicating militarism, but nonviolent protest by ordinary people could well put an end to war. However, Tolstoy believed Russians, unlike participants in mass pro-Boer campaigns, were not to concern themselves with such protest because instead their main tasks were moral self-improvement and tackling injustice in their homeland. His concern with affairs in South Africa was limited to the Anglo-Boer War and the Indian civil rights campaign of the 1900s led by Gandhi, whose doctrine of satyagraha was partly based on Tolstoy’s ethical teachings. Still, Tolstoy’s influence on Afrikaner culture has been evident for over a century. Apart from direct contact, such as visits and letters to the Russian writer, Afrikaner cultural figures promoted his work, translated his fiction into Afrikaans and published their translations in almost every decade up to the 1990s.
Along with other distinguished novelists of the late Imperial Russia, Tolstoy was viewed by Afrikaans authors as an exemplary realist writer who set standards that they aspired to but often regarded as unattainable. It only applied to his fiction, because Tolstoy’s confessional writings and philosophical treatises did not seem to be recognised by Afrikaans authors, especially not after the Second World War. For these authors, Tolstoy was primarily a fiction writer. Tolstoy’s work featured in South African literary debates with regard to resistance to abusive state authority and grappled with censorship. His fiction reminded South Africans of the humanist ideals that were meant to guide those who wanted to bring about positive change in an unjust, deeply divided society. Tolstoy’s work stimulated introspection and reflection on literary mastery, the ethical standards of a writer and one’s purpose in life.
The main aim of the study was to identify the factors which shaped their perceptions of a war fought on another continent and the belligerent parties by exploring children’s and adolescents’ diaries and art, memoirs and autobiographical works by Russians who sympathised with or took part in pro-Boer campaigns, and contemporary Russian publications for young audiences. The goal was to relate these representations, as well as the ideas of the society, culture and conflicts in southern Africa adopted or developed by young Russians, to their attitudes towards pro-Boer movements.
Their notions of southern Africa were rooted in colonial adventure novels, in which the Boers were usually protagonists. When the South African War broke out, the prevailing Anglophobia led children and adolescents to perceive the British as amoral antagonists of republican heroes. Another factor that drew young Russians to pro-Boer movements was the relative weakness of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. The culturally important motif of a fight between the weak and the strong, the small and the big was easily discernible in contemporary Russian narratives of the South African War. With regards to the unequal confrontation in South Africa, children and adolescents identified themselves with the ‘small and weak’ but ‘morally superior’ Boers.
For 750 days, South Africa remained in a national state of disaster because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The imposition of lockdown in 2020 increased hunger and poverty, deprived more South Africans of their income and access to education, placed a heavy burden on the healthcare and public health sector, sparked off protest and looting of shops, caused excessive use of violence by security forces and worsened the recession. The pandemic exacerbated the disparities in health, living conditions and access to professional medical services.
Epidemics affect all spheres of people’s lives and lead to noticeable social change. The study of epidemics puts the past in a different perspective by foregrounding historically important tendencies and processes. Therefore, the popular media in South Africa sought the opinion of the leading experts in this field, such as Howard Phillips, on the coronavirus disease throughout the state of disaster period.
The impact of the public scholarship by Phillips and his colleagues during the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa demonstrates that knowledge gained from historical research can help people to make sense of the present, which is crucial ‘in a time of plague’. That is, historical knowledge can be useful in solving today’s problems. Uncovering patterns of responses to epidemics by previous generations of South Africans throughout the centuries, medical historians helped the nation realise that it had already been in dangerous waters before, survived, recovered and might do it again.
Деятельность транснациональных преступных сообществ, практикующих гендерное насилие, началась в колониальной Южной Африке в последние десятилетия XIX в. А столетие спустя, в 1990-е гг., подобные сообщества проникли в демократическую ЮАР. Внедрению китайские триад, нигерийской мафии, пакистанских группировок, а также преступных организаций с участием граждан СНГ способствовали устранение международной блокады ЮАР, отмена чрезвычайного положения и других суровых мер безопасности внутри страны, действовавших до первых нерасовых выборов 1994 г.
На рубеже XIX–XX, а затем и XX–XXI вв. десятки российских иммигрантов подвергались сексуальной эксплуатации в Южной Африке. С другой стороны, десятки подданных Российской империи, а столетие спустя и граждан стран СНГ были причастны к вовлечению женщин в проституцию и к торговле людьми.
During his lifetime, Tolstoy’s work and personality were discussed extensively in Russia and abroad, including South Africa. He was one of the most influential and authoritative
writers in the world and remained the best-known Russian author in South Africa. Tolstoy was the only writer of Imperial Russia who, for decades, received letters and guests from South Africa. His statements on the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 (also known as the South African War) attracted international attention which none of his Russian colleagues could match. Tolstoy wrote on South Africa, and his work was widely read there. Thanks to his erudition, ability to discern global trends, and interest in world culture and philosophy, Tolstoy had a profound understanding of political events in countries that he never visited and inspired leaders of liberation movements that he never met. His influence on South African realist literature can be traced throughout the twentieth century.
This study of Tolstoy’s and South Africans’ views of each other focuses on Afrikaners, because in the last ten years of his life the Russian author often wrote and spoke about them,
as is evident from his published works, correspondence and the archival material in the Tolstoy museums in Moscow and Yasnaya Polyana in Russia that were used for this paper. Furthermore, Afrikaner authors seem to have referred to Tolstoy’s work remarkably often. By exploring these references, one can ascertain why Tolstoy’s writing remained relevant to Afrikaners and other South Africans for more than a century. In the 1890s and 1900s, Tolstoy continued to develop his doctrine of not resisting evil with violence. He used information on the Anglo-Boer War to test his radical pacifist ideas. His protest against British imperialism in Africa echoed that of other world-famous humanist writers, such as Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Theodore Dreiser, Anatole France, Romain Rolland, Bernard Shaw, Bertha von Suttner and Mark Twain. But, unlike most of them, Tolstoy refused to support the Boers unconditionally. He sympathised with the defenders of the Boer republics, but as a principled opponent of violence he condemned those Christian people for engaging in armed struggle and killing, which he regarded as a mortal sin.
During the transitional and guerrilla phases of the war, Tolstoy came to regard the continued Boer resistance to British invasion as a triumph of moral strength over immorality.
He viewed the South African military conflict in a global context, as a typical war of a new era. Reflecting on the news from South Africa, he concluded that such wars were characterised by immoral goals and methods of warfare, and by non-participation in hostilities by those who directly benefitted from the hostilities (big entrepreneurs manipulating the government). Tolstoy argued that European governments were not interested in eradicating militarism, but nonviolent protest by ordinary people could well put an end to war. However, Tolstoy believed Russians, unlike participants in mass pro-Boer campaigns, were not to concern themselves with such protest because instead their main tasks were moral self-improvement and tackling injustice in their homeland. His concern with affairs in South Africa was limited to the Anglo-Boer War and the Indian civil rights campaign of the 1900s led by Gandhi, whose doctrine of satyagraha was partly based on Tolstoy’s ethical teachings. Still, Tolstoy’s influence on Afrikaner culture has been evident for over a century. Apart from direct contact, such as visits and letters to the Russian writer, Afrikaner cultural figures promoted his work, translated his fiction into Afrikaans and published their translations in almost every decade up to the 1990s.
Along with other distinguished novelists of the late Imperial Russia, Tolstoy was viewed by Afrikaans authors as an exemplary realist writer who set standards that they aspired to but often regarded as unattainable. It only applied to his fiction, because Tolstoy’s confessional writings and philosophical treatises did not seem to be recognised by Afrikaans authors, especially not after the Second World War. For these authors, Tolstoy was primarily a fiction writer. Tolstoy’s work featured in South African literary debates with regard to resistance to abusive state authority and grappled with censorship. His fiction reminded South Africans of the humanist ideals that were meant to guide those who wanted to bring about positive change in an unjust, deeply divided society. Tolstoy’s work stimulated introspection and reflection on literary mastery, the ethical standards of a writer and one’s purpose in life.
The main aim of the study was to identify the factors which shaped their perceptions of a war fought on another continent and the belligerent parties by exploring children’s and adolescents’ diaries and art, memoirs and autobiographical works by Russians who sympathised with or took part in pro-Boer campaigns, and contemporary Russian publications for young audiences. The goal was to relate these representations, as well as the ideas of the society, culture and conflicts in southern Africa adopted or developed by young Russians, to their attitudes towards pro-Boer movements.
Their notions of southern Africa were rooted in colonial adventure novels, in which the Boers were usually protagonists. When the South African War broke out, the prevailing Anglophobia led children and adolescents to perceive the British as amoral antagonists of republican heroes. Another factor that drew young Russians to pro-Boer movements was the relative weakness of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. The culturally important motif of a fight between the weak and the strong, the small and the big was easily discernible in contemporary Russian narratives of the South African War. With regards to the unequal confrontation in South Africa, children and adolescents identified themselves with the ‘small and weak’ but ‘morally superior’ Boers.
For 750 days, South Africa remained in a national state of disaster because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The imposition of lockdown in 2020 increased hunger and poverty, deprived more South Africans of their income and access to education, placed a heavy burden on the healthcare and public health sector, sparked off protest and looting of shops, caused excessive use of violence by security forces and worsened the recession. The pandemic exacerbated the disparities in health, living conditions and access to professional medical services.
Epidemics affect all spheres of people’s lives and lead to noticeable social change. The study of epidemics puts the past in a different perspective by foregrounding historically important tendencies and processes. Therefore, the popular media in South Africa sought the opinion of the leading experts in this field, such as Howard Phillips, on the coronavirus disease throughout the state of disaster period.
The impact of the public scholarship by Phillips and his colleagues during the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa demonstrates that knowledge gained from historical research can help people to make sense of the present, which is crucial ‘in a time of plague’. That is, historical knowledge can be useful in solving today’s problems. Uncovering patterns of responses to epidemics by previous generations of South Africans throughout the centuries, medical historians helped the nation realise that it had already been in dangerous waters before, survived, recovered and might do it again.
Gorelik, B, South African Rooibos Council, The Story of Rooibos. Stellenbosch: SA Rooibos Council, 2020. 165 pages.
Avgustus and his companions joined the Krugersdorp Commando, and their experiences in the field are portrayed in vivid detail. The central part of this gripping account covers the Battle of the Tugela Heights in February 1900 and the Boers’ subsequent retreat. The immediacy of Avgustus’s writing captures his trepidation and excitement as he approaches the battlefield for the first time, as well as his experience of life on commando.
The keen eye of this foreign volunteer brings to life a turning point in South African history. Avgustus is a gifted writer, and his narrative offers both acute observation and thoughtful introspection.
A gripping portrayal of human frailty and courage in the face of mortal danger, A Russian on Commando highlights both the strange attraction and the absurdities of war.
For two decades he was the most famous painter in the world. Millions of people in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa flocked to see and buy his exotic pictures. Celebrities queued up to be painted by him and to buy his works. Paintings such as Chinese Girl the Green Lady quickly became iconic images, reproduced countless times and appearing everywhere from suburban living rooms to blockbuster films. Vladimir Tretchikoff was the first popstar artist. He lived a life as colourful as his instantly recognizable paintings. Born to a deeply religious Siberian family, he fought poverty, tragedy, captivity and near death to become one of the most celebrated artists of his time. Loathed by the critics yet loved by the public, he defied misfortune and a dismissive art establishment to enjoy phenomenal success across the English-speaking world.
The Russian view of the Cape as represented in this volume may be unique.
During the period in question, Russia had no cultural, political or economic ties with South Africa. Russians saw the Cape only as a convenient stopover en route to the Far East, to their country’s distant domains that could not be reached by sea otherwise. The Cape was one of the ‘exotic’ lands they would visit on such journeys, their first and only introduction to the African continent.
Although amazed and perplexed by the ‘entirely different world’ they found here, Russian travellers would often draw unexpected parallels between life in their motherland and the realities of the Cape Colony.
The selections include memoirs of such important Russian personalities as Yuri Lisyansky, Vasily Golovnin, Ivan Goncharov and Konstantin Posyet. Most of the texts appear in English for the first time.
This new, revised edition features an epilogue written by Grinker in 2014. It also contains rare photos from the author’s collection.
David Grinker. Inside Soweto: Memoir of an Official 1960s-80s. Edited and introduced by Boris Gorelik. Johannesburg: Eastern Enterprises, 2014. ISBN 1291865993, 9781291865998
Как сложились отношения вновь прибывших иммигрантов с предшественниками? Как наши соотечественники адаптировались к жизни в ЮАР? Оправдались ли их надежды? Что представляет собой российская диаспора в этой стране сегодня?..
Это первая монография по истории российской иммиграции в Южную Африку.