Boom bomer boomste en die idiolek van Elsabe Steenberg

Abstract

Boom bomer boomste and the idiolect of Elsabe Steenberg. Elsabe Steenberg’s oeuvre,consisting among others of 42 narratives in book format, is richly textured and represents a notable depth of insight into the complexities of life. It is clear that, from an intertextual point of view, considering the entire body of her work is a way of accumulating evidence in order to discern aspects of her distinctive idiolect. This idiolect, however, also emerges when contemplating a representative work from her oeuvre. The text selected for this article, a youth novel in which the symbolism of trees manifests itself in various semantic permutations,communicating the author’s intrinsic life and world view, is Boom bomer boomste, also available in English under the title Tree-more, tree-most. The tree as object and how it functions in the narrative to become part of the theme, as well as the vision of life in this youth novel, can be scrutinised minutely if the effort is aimed at finding frequent recurring signs that maybe regarded as representative of the author’s idiolect. The use of the tree symbolism in the narrative worlds of Elsabe Steenberg points toward the most prolific sign contributing to this author’s idiolect: God is the Origin and the regenerating Force in the universe of Elsabe Steenberg’s life and work.