Dan Roodt

Dan Roodt is an Afrikaans writer from South Africa. He is one of the most prominent authors, intellectuals and commentators of his generation. Among his most recent works are a novel, Moltrein (2004), a book of essays, Aweregs (2006), as well as a political polemic in English, The Scourge of the ANC (2005). Dan Roodt is cited in both Kannemeyer (1983: 241) and Van Coller (1998: 83), being the two most recent and authoritative literary histories on Afrikaans literature.

Childhood and education

Daniel François Roodt was born on 26 May 1957 in the mining town of Springs, east of Johannesburg. His father was an accountant but with strong literary interests and his maternal grandfather was an amateur poet. Also on his mother's side, his great grandfather fought on the Boer side during the Second War for Independence (Second Anglo-Boer War) and was wounded in the battle of Rooiwal on 12 April 1902. He kept a war diary, Met ryperd en Mauser (With horse and Mauser), which was later published.

From an early age, Roodt was an avid reader. He attended the Laerskool Christiaan Beyers in Springs where he also became head boy. His high school years were spent at the Hoër Seunskool Helpmekaar, the most famous Afrikaans school in Johannesburg where he took Afrikaans, English, Mathematics, Science, Biology, Latin and some French. As an athlete, he excelled in the high jump and became a provincial champion who participated in the junior South African championship in Bloemfontein.

After his matric or school-leaving examination in 1974, Roodt enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand, also in Johannesburg. Initially he studied law, but soon abandoned his legal studies in favour of literature, philosophy and political science, obtaining two B.A. Honours degrees in Afrikaans and in Comparative Literature, an M.A. in Literary Theory, as well as a Ph.D. in Afrikaans.

Professional life

During 1985, he lectured at the University of Durban-Westville in Afrikaans literature, but left for Paris where he studied philosophy under some of the most famous philosophers in that city, including Gilles Deleuze, Jean-François Lyotard and René Scherrer, obtaining a D.E.A. (Diplôme des études approfondies) in modern French philosophy.

Back in Johannesburg in 1992, he worked as a derivatives trader in various bank dealing rooms in Johannesburg. In 1999 he resigned from Citibank to devote himself to writing and PRAAG (the Pro-Afrikaans Action Group) which also has a publishing arm.

He is editor of the PRAAG [1] website which is one of the few independent Afrikaans media not belonging to either the government or Naspers. His bi-weekly column on PRAAG[2] is widely read by journalists, academics and the online public.

He is a member of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns [3].

Works

Sonneskyn en Chevrolet, novel (1980)

Kommas uit 'n boomzol, poetry (1980)

Twee sinne, prose (1985)

Om die waarheidskommissie te vergeet, essay (2001)

Moltrein, novel (2004)

The Scourge of the ANC, essays (2005)

Aweregs, essays (2006)

Internet writings

He has written copiously on the internet and many of his essays are available on http://www.praag.org

References

Kannemeyer, J.C. Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse literatuur, vol. 2. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, 1983. Van Coller, H.P, ed. Perspektief en profiel - 'n Afrikaanse literatuurgeskiedenis, vol. 1. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik, 1998.