Introduction to Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert, is regarded as one of the most important proponents of the concept of literary realism. This is a belief that authors should attempt to describe issues as they are or as realistically as possible. He was a French novelist that lived over the period of 1821 to 1880.
key works
- Firstly, Rêve d’enfer (1837);
- Secondly, Memoirs of a Madman (1838);
- Also, Madame Bovary (1857);
- Salammbô (1862);
- Sentimental Education (1869);
- Le Candidat (1874);
- The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874);
- Three Tales (1877);
- Le Château des cœurs (1880);
- Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881);
- Dictionary of Received Ideas (1911); and
- Finally, Souvenirs, notes et pensées intimes (1965).
RELEVANCE OF HIS FAMOUS QUOTE TO THE DRAKENSBERG
The Drakensberg is the most significant escarpment or mountain range in Southern Africa. It was almost declared a World Heritage site on a third count as it is one of the world’s best examples of an erosional mountain. Moreover, the Drakensberg is an escarpment. It borders the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho and three South African provinces namely, parts of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga. It stretches for some one thousand kilometres. The most extensive section of more than 300 km can be found in KwaZulu-Natal. The highest peaks in Southern Africa are found in the Drakensberg, For example the highest peak is Thabana Ntlenyana in Lesotho. This peak rises to 3,482 metres. The highest peak in South Africa is Mafadi at 3,450 metres.
The Origins of the drakensberg
A volcanic plume under southern Gondwanaland caused bulging of the continental crust in the area that would later become southern Africa, some 180 million years ago, Rift valleys formed on either side of the central bulge approximately 20 million years ago. These became flooded to become the proto-Atlantic and proto-Indian oceans. The stepped and steep walls of these rift valleys formed escarpments. These surrounded the newly formed Southern African subcontinent. Southern Africa then became tectonically quiet. Earthquakes seldom occur.