Die Afrikaanse Volkskultuur by Abel Coetzee

Die Afrikaanse Volkskultuur (Second Printing of Abel Coetzee's Afrikaans Folklore Study)

A Professor's Foundational Introduction to the Study of Afrikaans Folk Culture and Folklore

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Die Afrikaanse Volkskultuur: Inleiding tot die studie van volkskunde
• Author: Abel Coetzee
• Publisher: A. A. Balkema, Amsterdam / Kaapstad
• Publication Date: 1960
• ISBN: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
• Edition Details: Tweede druk (Second Edition), 1960. First published 1953.
• Binding: Publisher's red cloth boards, gilt lettering to front board and spine, with gilt publisher's monogram to the front board. Issued without a dust jacket in this copy.
• Physical Format: Octavo-sized hardcover, approximately 230 x 155 mm.
• Language: Afrikaans

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: Red cloth boards with bright gilt lettering to the front and spine and a gilt publisher's monogram on the front. Both boards show darker, mottled patches of surface marking or staining in the lower half. The foot of the spine shows slight wear and fraying at the base, and the bottom corner of the back board is slightly bumped. The binding is otherwise square and solid.
• Interior: The text block is sound and clean, though the page examined (p. 59) carries extensive pencil or ink underlining of passages. The front endpapers show rusty-brown offsetting where tape was once applied at two corners, and the endpaper fold is creased, although the hinge remains intact. The rear endpaper has two strips of yellowed adhesive tape at the corners and a ragged torn or cut edge.
• Provenance: Partly legible pencil notes to the upper corner of the front free endpaper, apparently mentioning Stellenbosch and a price of '5.00'.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Present

Synopsis & Historical Value

Die Afrikaanse Volkskultuur: Inleiding tot die studie van volkskunde (The Afrikaans Folk Culture: An Introduction to the Study of Folklore) is an Afrikaans-language introduction to the discipline of folklore studies and to the culture of the Afrikaner people. It examines folk beliefs, tales, songs, sayings and place names. This is the second edition, published by A. A. Balkema in 1960, following the first printing of 1953.

The author, Abel Coetzee, was professor of Afrikaans language and folklore at the University of the Witwatersrand and founded the Genootskap vir Afrikaanse Volkskunde in 1943. The book therefore carries the authority of one of the pioneers of the discipline in South Africa.

The work is still cited in modern scholarship, including studies of Afrikaans storytelling and of Namibian Afrikaans fairy tales. It remains a useful source for collectors and researchers interested in Afrikaner cultural heritage and the early academic study of Afrikaans folk tradition.

Author Profile: Abel Coetzee

Abel Coetzee (1906-1975) was born in Lichtenburg and became professor of Afrikaans Language and Folklore at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was also a writer and poet, and for many years chief editor of the Tydskrif vir Letterkunde. In 1943 he founded the Genootskap vir Afrikaanse Volkskunde and served as its first chairman.

His other works include Die opkoms van die Afrikaanse kultuurgedagte aan die Rand (1938), his doctoral study Die Afrikaanse Volksgeloof (1938), Tokkelossie (1941) and Teenstellings in die taal (1958).

Die Afrikaanse Volkskultuur · Abel Coetzee volkskunde · Afrikaans folklore book · Afrikaner folk culture · Balkema 1960 Afrikaans · Afrikaans folk beliefs and tales · Inleiding tot die studie van volkskunde