Kaaps

Literally the “language of the Cape”, it is a name given to the very distinctive variant or dialect of Afrikaans spoken primarily in the Western Cape, principally by the so-called “coloured” or “brown” population of the region, though its distinctive intonation patterns and rhythms are occasionally found among white speakers from the region as well. Distinguished by both pronunciation and vocabulary, in later years it was often strongly influenced by and mixed with English slang. An alternative to the more racist “kleurling Afrikaans” [“coloured Afrikaans”] formerly used to distinguish it (and literature in it) from “proper” Afrikaans. With a few prominent exceptions (Mikro, Uys Krige, Cosmo Pieterse, ***), most earlier writers tended to use the form for solely comic purposes (from Bain and Rex’s Kaatjie Kekkelbek and Stephen Black’s Love and the Hyphen and Helena’s Hope to André P. Brink’s Bobaas van die Boendoe and Kinkels innie Kabel). Numerous traditional songs (“moppies”) from the region utilized the form as well. The specific term “Kaaps” derives from the late 1970’s, when this form of Afrikaans was (re-) appropriated by authors such as Adam Small, Peter Snyders and the writers and theatre companies from the Cape Flats, who began to use it a distinctive and serious literary and political tool, particularly in poetry and drama. Small’s Kanna hy kô Hystoe and his personal influence as philosopher and highly regarded poet had much to do with this new acceptance, while Snyders coined the term???**. By the late 1990’s it had become an accepted and eloquent form of Afrikaans utilized by many writers and performers following up on and reinterpreting the older taditions of entertainment, including stand-up comedians such as Marc Lottering and popular bands such as Brasse van die Kaap. ***??