Nie net die onmiddellike apartheidsverlede het onder die loep gekom nie maar ook die vroeere geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika. Daar het baie werke verskyn waarin die geskiedenis herskryf is. Die einde van apartheid het aanleiding gegee tot 'n euforiese stemming maar al gou is die eerste entoesiasme getemper. Daar is ook duidelike tematiese ooreenkomste tussen die Engelstalige en die Afrikaanstalige werke. Die politieke en maatskaplike ontwikkelings kry natuurlik hulle beslag in die prosa van die afgelope dekade. Met die eerste demokratiese verkiesings het 'n nuwe era aangebreek. Hierdie artikel skets 'n oorsig van die Suid-Afrikaanse Engelstalige en Afrikaanstalige prosa wat na 1994 gepubliseer is.
Both in English and in Afrikaans prose the hope is expressed that the transformation process will ultimately lead to a better South Africa. But these problems are sometimes seen as catalysts for change as they can bring the races closer together.
And then there are all the other seemingly insoluble problems such as the crime wave and the aids epidemic. The changes which have taken place are not always regarded as improvements. This realisation often leads to a crisis of identity. The whites have lost their political power. Moreover a lot of attention is paid to the new South Africa. The past is demythologised and the previously hidden sides of history are exposed. Not only the immediate apartheid past but also the earlier history of South Africa is highlighted. A number of works appeared in which history was rewritten. The demise of apartheid led to a euphoric mood but very soon a new realism set in. There are striking thematic parallels between the literary works in English and Afrikaans. The political and social changes are obviously reflected in the prose that was written in the previous decade. With the first democratic elections a new era began. This article surveys South African prose in English and Afrikaans published after 1994.
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