No Witchcraft for Sale

Doris Lessing utilizes language from a South African language called Afrikaans to enhance the reader’s experience of time and place while reading the story. Though no definitions for these words are provided, the meanings can generally be gleaned from context clues. Examples of these words are “baas,” which means “master”; “veld,” which means undeveloped land similar to the word “field”; “kraal,” which means “village”; and “picannin,” which is a slur referring to young Black children. This last word is a derogatory term that Teddy uses when referring to Gideon’s son, shedding light on the racism embedded in apartheid culture. These words are derived primarily from Dutch and Portuguese but also have similarities with English words (Dictionary Unit for South African English, 2023. “Dictionary of South African English”). The use of Afrikaans dialect in the story also provides a concrete setting since Lessing does not otherwise name the country where the story takes place.

The story’s setting is mainly on the Farquar’s compound, which consists of their home, living quarters for Gideon and other servants, and quite a lot of land for farming.