72 Volume 34 Nommer 1 2022 ISSN: 1013-4573 Spookagtige verledes: Literêre verwerkings van Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) en Stalker (1979) in Suid- Afrikaanse romankonteks Sonja Loots Universiteit van Kaapstad sonja.loots@uct.ac.za Abstract Haunting specters from the past : The literary reworking of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Stalker (1979) in the context of Afrikaans fction This article explores references to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979) and Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) in two post-apartheid Afrikaans novels. I consider the diferent meanings that these flms, which date from the same period, generate in Triomf (1994) by Marlene van Niekerk and Die Derde Spoel (2017) by S. J. Naudé. I argue that both novels, like both movies, can be considered hauntological. The novels feature characters who are haunted by specters from the past in the presence. These spectral hauntings force them to consider their historical and cultural heritages. They also fnd that the return of the past in the present have implications for their future trajectories. Triomf reworks the plots and themes of Raiders of the Lost Ark to compare secrets from South Africa’s apartheid past with the dangers surrounding the lost Ark in the movie. Die Derde Spoel references Stalker to depict the strangleholds of the past on the present, with specifc attention to the legacy of apartheid, other totalitarian regimes and the damages wrought by Aids during the 1980’s. Both novels portray the past as poisonous and still active in the present, with the power to derail the future. Hoe om na hierdie artikel te verwys: Loots, S. 2022. Spookagtige verledes: Literêre verwerkings van Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) en Stalker (1979) in Suid-Afrikaanse romankonteks. Stilet, 34(1):72-97.