The Soul of the White Ant is the title of a famous behavioural field study by South African poet and author Eugène Nielen Marais (1871-1936)[1], as well as a surreal comedy by British playwright Snoo Wilson (1948-2013)[2].

The Soul of the White Ant by Eugène Nielen Marais

A behavioral field study of ants, written and published in Afrikaans under the title Die Siel van die Mier ("The soul of the ant"), initially as a series of articles in Die Huisgenoot, then published in book form by J.L. Van Schaik in in 1934. In 1937 it appeared in English translation as The Soul of the White Ant.

For more on the study and the famous controversy surrounding it, see the entry on Eugène Nielen Marais

The Soul of the White Ant by Snoo Wilson

The original play text

In 1976 Eugène Nielen Marais's scientific study The Soul of the White Ant was used as a thematic stimulus and title by playwright Snoo Wilson for his 1976 surreal comedy about the apartheid system and the racial tensions in South Africa. The play features Marais as one of the characters and the text was published by Samuel French.