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Which poems helped establish Afrikaans as a new literary language in the early 1900s?
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In the early 1900s, following the South African War, two specific poems were instrumental in establishing Afrikaans as a significant literary language:
- "Winternag" (1905; "Winter’s Night") by Eugène Marais1
- "Die vlakte" (1906; "The Plain") by Jan F.E. Celliers1
These works, along with the efforts of language organizations such as the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie, dramatically ushered in this new literary era. During this period, known as the Second Afrikaans Language Movement, poets became the primary figures in elevating the language, eventually leading to its recognition as an official language of the Union of South Africa in 1925.12