Olive Schreiner

The Story of an African Farm

Dreams

Ein bewegendes Meisterwerk über weibliche Emanzipation und Selbstbestimmung in der kolonialen Männerwelt «The Story of an African Farm» gilt als das südafrikanische «Wuthering Heights». Der autobiografisch inspirierte Roman der deutsch- und englischstämmigen Autorin, erschienen 1883, schildert das Schicksal einer eigenwilligen Heldin namens Lyndall. Schon als junges Mädchen lernt sie die Bigotterie und Ignoranz der Menschen kennen und erfährt, wie beschränkt die Lebensperspektiven für ihresgleichen sind. Doch dank einer großen inneren Stärke verteidigt sie in der Farmerswelt der südafrikanischen Karoo ihre Unabhängigkeit und verliert dabei das Ziel nie aus den Augen: weibliche Selbstbestimmung bis zuletzt. Schreiners Erzählkunst fasziniert nicht nur durch ihren einfühlsamen Ton und ihre große künstlerische Sensibilität, sondern widmet sich auch emanzipatorischen Themen wie Sexualität, voreheliche Schwangerschaft sowie die unrühmliche Rolle des Christentums bei der Bevormundung des «schwachen Geschlechts». Das Buch, seinerzeit ein Welterfolg, erscheint anlässlich des 100. Todestags der Feministin und Menschenrechtlerin am 11.12.2020 nun in einer Neuübersetzung.

Die Geschichte einer afrikanischen Farm

Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland

The magnum opus and most famous work of brilliant writer and story-teller Olive Schreiner. The book comprises of eleven short stories based on her own dreams. Each story represents her thoughts and views on life. Captivating!...

A Novel

"From Man to Man" is a feminist novel by the first South African-born novelist Olive Schreiner. The story tells of two white women, Rebekah and Bertie. They are sisters born into the racist and sexist society of mid-nineteenth-century South Africa. One of them remains in the Cape, marries, and has children. The other becomes a kept woman and a prostitute in London's East End. The novel's main question is, how far are marriage and prostitution apart in a world where women are valued mainly for their bodies?

From Man to Man

in large print

Dreams is a collection of beautifully written short stories based on author's dreams and life on a farm in South Africa. In Dreams depicts Olive Schreiner her fascinating looks on the world. Olive Schreiner (1855 –1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. Since the late 20th century, scholars have also credited Schreiner as an advocate for the Afrikaners, and other South African groups who were excluded from political power for decades, such as indigenous Blacks, Jews and Indians. Although she showed interest in socialism, pacifism, vegetarianism and feminism amongst other topics, her views escaped restrictive categorizations. Her published works and other surviving writings promote implicit values such as moderation, friendship, and understanding amongst all peoples, and avoid the pitfalls of political radicalism.

Elisabeth Jay

Three Works Dreams, Dream Life and Real Life, Stories, Dreams and Allegories (Late Victorian and Early Modernist Women Writers)

And , A Paper on the Ostrich...

Angora Goat...

From Man to Man; Or Perhaps Only ...

In that clamour which has arisen in the modern world, where now this, and then that, is demanded for and by large bodies of modern women, he who listens carefully may detect as a keynote, beneath all the clamour, a demand which may be embodied in such a cry as this: Give us labour and the training which fits for labour! We demand this, not for ourselves alone, but for the race. ....... Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 - 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm which has been highly acclaimed since its first publication in 1883 for the bold manner in which it deals with some of the burning issues of the day, including agnosticism, existential independence, individualism, the professional aspirations of women, and the elemental nature of life on the colonial frontier. In more recent studies she has also been identified as an advocate for those sidelined by the forces of British Imperialism, such as the Afrikaners, and later other South African groups like Blacks, Jews and Indians - to name but a few. Although she showed interest in socialism, pacifism, vegetarianism and feminism amongst other things, her true views escape restrictive categorisations. Her published works and other surviving writings promote implicit values like moderation, friendship and understanding amongst all peoples and avoid the pitfalls of political radicalism which she consciously eschewed. Although she may be called a lifelong freethinker, she continued to adhere to the spirit of the Christian Bible and developed a secular version of the worldview of her missionary parents, with mystical elements. Karel Schoeman, the South African historian and leading authority on Schreiner's life in South Africa, has written that she was an outstanding figure in a South African context, albeit perhaps not quite the same abroad. Schoeman acknowledges that while The Story of an African Farm is by no means perfect, it is still unique and gripping even to the modern reader. He also outlines the basic pattern of her life which may serve as a useful guide to both this article and the pursuit of further interest in the subject: From a chronological viewpoint, Olive Schreiner's life shows an interesting pattern. After she spent the first twenty-five thereof in South Africa ... she was in England for more than seven years, and also lived during this time in Europe. After this she lived in South Africa for twenty-four years, the time of her friendship with Rhodes, the Anglo-Boer war and her growing involvement in issues like racism and the lot of women, after which another exile followed in England for seven years; it was only shortly before her death in 1920 that she returned to South Africa. (Olive Schreiner: A Life in South Africa 1855-1881, Human & Rousseau, Cape Town, 1989) Schreiner should also be remembered for the novel of her mature years, FROM MAN TO MAN OR PERHAPS ONLY, which she did not complete revising before her death. It was published posthumously in 1926, in an edition produced by her husband, Samuel Cronwright-Schreiner, and has recently been re-edited and published by University of Cape Town Press (edited and introduced by Dorothy Driver). This edition corrects the editorial and proofreading errors that marred previous editions. It also provides another ending to the novel, in Schreiner's own words, besides the one her husband summarised. FROM MAN TO MAN OR PERHAPS ONLY was Schreiner's favourite among her novels. From exploring white women's confinement to domesticity in late 19th century South Africa and England, the novel expands its gaze to include black women and girls whose presence gradually informs the central character's struggle to re-create herself and educate her children against the racism and sexism of the time.............

Genre: Sociology

Woman and Labour

The Letters of Olive Schreiner, 1876-1920

Offers a brief profile of the South African writer, and gathers her stories and essays about racism and feminism

Writings on Women and South Africa

An Olive Schreiner Reader

These letters, certain to satisfy the reawakened interest in Schreiner, give a full and rounded picture of the novelist's life and work. Containing 550 letters--some newly discovered, many unknown to general readers--this first of two volumes spans the years 1871 to 1899, when Schreiner worked as a governess on Eastern Cape farms; lived in England and Europe; formed a circle of friends including Havelock Ellis, Karl Pearson, Edward Carpenter, and W. T. Stead; published The Story of an African Farm; and married S.C. Cronwright, with whom she involved herself in the growing South African political crisis.

Olive Schreiner

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