Call for Papers: Inter-Breyten – Breytenbach in Context
The Ghent Centre for Afrikaans and the Study of South Africa (www.afrikaans.ugent.be) warmly invites submissions for a two-day conference on Breyten Breytenbach in Context, to be held in Ghent on 26–27 November 2026.
Using a plural research lens, the symposium examines the prismatic nature of the creative and reflective oeuvre by Breyten Breytenbach (1939-2024). It takes a contextual approach to seek to understand the artist-philosopher in relation to the complex of aesthetic, ideological, and philosophical ideas in which his voice resonates. Various frames of reference will be scrutinized, such as pan-African thought, surrealist and other modernist cultural discourses, Afrikaans within the South African context, political resistance to apartheid, and so forth. Possible themes include:
- international reception and connections
- intertextual and intermedial references
- interpersonal networks
- inter-African ideas
The symposium highlights various facets of Breytenbach’s public persona, exploring connections with other writers (e.g. texts, poetics), philosophers, visual artists, and political thinkers. Attention may also be given to the afterlife or Nachleben of Breytenbach’s stature and work. This includes the formation and preservation of archives relating to a productive and multidisciplinary artist such as Breytenbach. His work will be discussed against the background of the aesthetic and political climate in which he was active for decades, with particular interest in (intercultural) connections to other linguistic and intellectual traditions, as well as his positioning in debates on Afrikaans.
Breytenbach in Context builds on transnational and analytical research by scholars who have studied the poet's literary and visual oeuvre, his political-ideological, linguistic, and cultural-philosophical views—such as pan-African thought, language-political issues surrounding Afrikaans, and Zen Buddhist frames of reference—as well as his. Abstracts of approximately 250 words (including bibliography) are expected by 15 April 2026 and should be submitted to the following email address: inter.breyten@gmail.com. The symposium will take place in person and online.
