THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICAN FICTION: DAVID BOSCH'S MISSIOLOGICAL LEGACY

The South Africa post-apartheid context in which missiology and literature intersect is an interesting and inspiring framework for which to observe theological topics that exist in today's fiction and that have shaped the narratives of reconciliation, identity, and social transformation. David Bosch, who in his book Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission assigned a different meaning to the term missiology, was the first to propose the significance of a contextual and dialogical approach to religion, a perspective that can be seen in the books of Zakes Mda, Phaswane Mpe, and K. Sello Duiker. Also, it was demonstrated by Allan Boesak in his Dare We Speak of Hope? Searching for a Language of Life in Faith and Politics that theology must relate to the everyday experiences of the voiceless, similarly shared in the work of Antjie Krog who wrote Country of My Skull, a story in which the narrative technique of the story connects historical evidence to personal reflections that aim to raise questions about the authenticity of truth and reconciliation. This article aims to show how Bosch's missiological vision forms an excellent vehicle to discover the zeitgeist of post-apartheid literature and this in the context of, among other things, themes of faith, relocation, and moral recovery in a society still grappling with its historical wounds.