Abstract:
In this article, written on request, the author reviews his more than forty years in the academic world. The overview is based
on his personal and institutional memory, and although its focuses on the Department of Afrikaans at the University of
Pretoria and more specifically on the teaching of literature, it also affords a wider perspective. Attention is paid to inter alia
developments and changes in Afrikaans and Dutch literature and literary theory and the implications thereof, publication
initiatives, subject societies and the situation and the roles of personnel and students. Intermingled with general information
are references to the author’s own teaching and research as well as his viewpoints on aspects of university life.