Die Soldaat as Metafoor in Twee Van Hennie Aucamp Se Kabarettekste / the Metaphorical Use of the Soldier in Two of Hennie Aucamp's Cabaret Scripts

War is a consistent theme throughout the European cabaret. It is also familiar to the Afrikaans cabaret form and occurs regularly in Hennie Aucamp's writing. The nature thereof can be gauged by a detailed analysis of two war sequences from Oudisie! (Audition!) and Met permissie gesê (By your leave). The first example is the final scene from Oudisie!: a monologue, “Die laaste soldaat” (“The last soldier”), leading into a song, “Die afwaartse spinal” (“The downward spiral”) and concluding with a projection. Aucamp formulates his argument firstly by a statement veiled as an example (the monologue), followed by a commentary on the example (the song) and men a synthesis of the two using the words of a Black philosopher with a projection. This clearly captures Aucamp's vision of life as reflected in his work: death, decadence and the imperfection of our earthly existence. He protests against the insensitivity of those denying the soldier his humanity by exposing him to violence. It is also reminiscent of “Die lewe is 'n grenshotel” (“Life is an hotel on the border”), where soldiers are regarded as mere cannon-fodder, obeying orders. The soldier becomes the victim of the imperfection and transcience of humankind. In the second text, “Lied van die verminktes” (“Song of the maimed”) from Met permissie gesê, the tale of soldiers at war, and what is left of them, is told: a crippling of body and spirit. The specific war itself is never mentioned, implying that it could be any war. In Aucamp's work the soldier becomes a metaphor for South Africa and its citizens with their history, politics and all that this implied. The soldier is also a metaphor for the violation of eroticism, which in turn exposes the image of (political) chaos. The music for “Lied van die verminktes”, written by Lettie Pretorius, makes an important contribution to extending this idea. Aucamp's consistent use of themes of war and a further example of just how successfully his writing relates to the international cabaret world, is his translation of the song made famous by Marlene Dietrich, namely Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind (Where have all the flowers gone) by Colpet and Seeger

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  B Mch, Linda Hutcheon et al.•Poetics Today•1991

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