Text in English / Although initially dismissed as superficial, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, and Patrick Marber’s Closer use the theme of marital betrayal as a trope to investigate metatheatrical and epistemological issues. This study aims to demonstrate how these three plays define and explore the concept of authenticity within the fictional as well as the actual world; how arbitrary the construction and mediation of the characters’ identities are, not only from their own perspective, but also from the audience’s; the significance of the audience’s role in these plays and how issues of authenticity, fictionality and dishonesty impact on a genre that depends on illusion. This study intends to provide a new interpretation of these three texts through an analysis drawn from postmodern and poststructuralist theories, concerning the concept of authenticity within art and language. This study finds that the fictional worlds in these plays are created through mediation, which includes everyday language as well as complex works of art. Authenticity is shown to be an elusive concept. Language is either unsuccessfully used to force authentic responses from characters, or as a shield. In Betrayal, language functions as a protective barrier, preventing the characters from knowing one another. The Real Thing suggests that although inauthenticity may be established, the inverse is not necessarily true. In Closer, the characters try in vain to access authenticity through different registers of language. Furthermore, neither the body nor the mind is shown to be the locus of authenticity in Closer. Within the postmodern context where originality is impossible, mimicry is not seen as something external and inauthentic, but as inextricably part of human existence. The audience is drawn into the fictional world of these plays as its members are able to identify with the disillusionment of the characters and their inability to form a definitive view of each other. Simultaneously, the audience is ousted from the fictional world by being reminded of the author’s presence through metatheatrical devices. These plays take advantage of the fictional status of theatre to explore issues of authenticity, positioning them in direct opposition to postdramatic and verbatim plays. / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Theory of Literature)

Text in English / Although initially dismissed as superficial, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, and Patrick Marber’s Closer use the theme of marital betrayal as a trope to investigate metatheatrical and epistemological issues. This study aims to demonstrate how these three plays define and explore the concept of authenticity within the fictional as well as the actual world; how arbitrary the construction and mediation of the characters’ identities are, not only from their own perspective, but also from the audience’s; the significance of the audience’s role in these plays and how issues of authenticity, fictionality and dishonesty impact on a genre that depends on illusion. This study intends to provide a new interpretation of these three texts through an analysis drawn from postmodern and poststructuralist theories, concerning the concept of authenticity within art and language. This study finds that the fictional worlds in these plays are created through mediation, which includes everyday language as well as complex works of art. Authenticity is shown to be an elusive concept. Language is either unsuccessfully used to force authentic responses from characters, or as a shield. In Betrayal, language functions as a protective barrier, preventing the characters from knowing one another. The Real Thing suggests that although inauthenticity may be established, the inverse is not necessarily true. In Closer, the characters try in vain to access authenticity through different registers of language. Furthermore, neither the body nor the mind is shown to be the locus of authenticity in Closer. Within the postmodern context where originality is impossible, mimicry is not seen as something external and inauthentic, but as inextricably part of human existence. The audience is drawn into the fictional world of these plays as its members are able to identify with the disillusionment of the characters and their inability to form a definitive view of each other. Simultaneously, the audience is ousted from the fictional world by being reminded of the author’s presence through metatheatrical devices. These plays take advantage of the fictional status of theatre to explore issues of authenticity, positioning them in direct opposition to postdramatic and verbatim plays. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Theory of Literature)

Les chansons populaires grecques sont imprégnées d’une profonde religiosité qui apparaît à la fois comme cadre et comme vecteur d’action. Le poète populaire entretient une relation multidimensionnelle avec le Dieu de la Bible et de l’Ancien Testament et fait des saints et des anges des personnages actifs et récurrents dans les textes ; ils évoluent parallèlement avec les héros et leurs destinées s’entrecroisent. Charos est une figure mythique qui joue un rôle fondamental dans l’ensemble des chansons. Personnage mythologiquement et symboliquement sophistiqué, Charos constitue le pilier des mirologues. Ses relations ambiguës avec la divinité déterminent celles qu’il entretient avec l’homme et fait de lui un être à part. A la fois incarnation du mal et agent de la mort, son riche parcours historique dévoile ses nombreuses facettes, ainsi que ses liens avec certaines figures héroïques ambigües telles que Digenis ou Tsamados. La nature et les animaux détiennent un rôle significatif, caractérisé d’une sacralité profonde, et ils accompagnent l’homme des chansons dans tous les aspects de sa vie personnelle et sociale. Leur capacité de métamorphose et leur rôle d’annonciateurs dans les ballades, placent les animaux sur le devant de la scène et leur accordent un rôle de première importance dans le déroulement de l’action. Le poète accorde une importance particulière à l’aspect social du sacré en explorant la notion de la trahison divine mais également celle de l’obéissance de l’homme à son dieu. La vie monacale et le clergé comme l’altérité religieuse, deviennent l’objet d’une critique d’ordre social et une source d’humour. Les chansons populaires véhiculent en les adaptant un nombre important de mythes qui ont une logue présence sur le territoire hellénique : le mythe de Tantale, de Calypso et d’Adonis en font partie. L’héritage antique de l’expression publique du deuil, du rachat du mort et du tombeau du héros vient former les bases de la philosophie populaire et fait de la mort un véritable croisement de cultures. / Greek folk songs are infused with a profound religiosity that appears both as a framework and as a means of action. The folk poet has a multidimensional relationship with the God of the Bible and of the Old Testament and makes saints and angels active and recurrent personalities in his texts; they evolve in parallel with the heroes, and their destinies intertwine. Charos is a mythical figure that plays a fundamental role throughout the songs. A mythologically and symbolically sophisticated personality, Charos is the pillar of the lament songs. His ambiguous relationship with the divine determines his relationship with man, and makes him a separate being. Both incarnation of evil and agent of death, his rich historical journey reveals his many faces, as well as his links with some heroic and ambiguous figures such as Digenis or Tsamados. Nature and the animals hold a significant role, characterised by a profound sacredness, and they accompany man in all aspects of his personal and social life. Their ability to transform and their role as announcers in the ballads, place the animals on the front of the stage and grant them a major role in the unfolding of the action. The poet attaches particular importance to the social aspect of the sacred by exploring the notion of divine betrayal but also that of obedience of man to his god. Monastic life and the clergy, as well as religious diversity, become objects of social criticism, and a source of humour. Folk songs preserve an important number of myths by adapting them, that have a literary presence in the Hellenic territory: the myths of Tantalus, Calypso and Adonis belong to them. The ancient heritage of the public expression of grief, of the redemption of the dead and of the hero's tomb, forms the basis of folk philosophy and makes death a true crossroads of cultures.

Existing literature identify betrayal as one of the major challenges that former SADF soldiers face in the “new” South Africa, and identify a need for studying the nature and types of betrayal and the effects it has on relationships. This study aimed to describe and interpret former SADF soldier‟s lived experience by focusing on the psychology of betrayal. A cross-sectional qualitative research methodology was used, guided by an interpretive phenomenological approach. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews, and the data was analysed using Heidegger‟s hermeneutical principles. The identified themes are (1) in the belly of the beast, (2) different agendas, (3) volte-face, (4) keeping the score (5) and just carry on. The findings offer deeper insights and understanding into how former SADF soldiers experience betrayal and the impact it has on their everyday lives. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology, with specialisation in Research Consultation)

This MA thesis deals with the text analysis of the Song of Roland. The text analysis focuses in detail on the formal, content, narrative and symbolic aspects of the Song of Roland. All those features are in the context of the literary and historical frame. The Song of Roland is one of the oldest literary pieces of French literature. It is the most famous heroic song belonging to the "Chanson de geste" and it was created in the 11th century. The main characters of the heroic poem are Charles the great, his nephew Roland, loyal friend Olivier, traitor Galeon and pagan king Marsil. The Song of Roland explores not only the family and friend relations, but the important topics are also betrayal and desire for fortune and glory. The Song deals with the matter of faith being asserted in the way which is typical for the middle ages. The story, which takes part in Spain, where the French have been besieging the pagan fort of Zaragoza for seven years, is very interesting from the historical aspects, but were more interested in the narrative - textual aspects, in which we tried to explore the relationships between the narrators. We focused on individual speeches, who speaks to whom and in which way. We asked ourselves three questions, which we have gradually answered. For the need of an analysis of individual speech...

L’exil et le deuil, en relation dialectique, sont très présents dans l’œuvre sombre et peuplée de personnages misanthropes de Linda Lê. La trilogie est nourrie par le traumatisme de la perte du père, du pays et de la langue. La question de la langue affecte profondément l’écrivaine. En effet, son abandon voulu de la langue natale pour celle du pays d’adoption engendre un sentiment de trahison. A partir de son exil du langage, Linda Lê construit un langage de l’exil : celui de l’obscurité, du trouble, de la crise, aggravée par la mort du père abandonné. L’écriture lui est une nécessité pour faire le deuil et un pharmakon contre la folie. Hétérogène dans leur forme, chacun des livres de la trilogie correspond à une étape du deuil. Homogène dans le fond, ils représentent différents aspects de la quête du père. Imprégnée du vécu de l’auteure, la trilogie est néanmoins une œuvre de fiction avec une part d’extravagance et d’onirisme. La construction du récit reflète donc une indécision générique, marquée par la cohérence entre mémoire et imagination, conscient et inconscient. De plus, la trilogie témoigne d’une dualité culturelle : un pan tourné vers le passé vietnamien et l’autre vers le présent européen. Enfin, la dualité sentimentale entre amour et colère fait apparaître une idéologie très lêesque, apparemment paradoxale mais en réalité logique et philosophique : la vie naît de la mort, la mort est cachée au sein de la vie. / Exile and mourning, in dialectical relation, are of paramount importance in Linda Lê’s books which are populated by misanthropic characters. The trilogy is nourished by the traumatic loss of the father, the country and the language. The writer is deeply affected by the issue of the language. In fact, she deliberately abandoned her native tongue for that of her adopted country thus generating a feeling of betrayal. From her “exile of language”, Linda Lê constructs a “language of exile”: one of obscurity, of confusion, of crisis, aggravated by the death of her abandoned father. Writing is necessary for her in order to go through mourning and is a pharmakon against madness. Heterogeneous in their form, each book of the trilogy corresponds to one stage of grief. Homogeneous in their substance, they represent the different aspects of the father’s quest. Steeped in the personal experience of the author, the trilogy is nevertheless a work of fiction with a part of extravagance and onirism. The construction of the story also reflects the generic indecision, marked by the coherence between memory and imagination, conscious and unconscious. In addition, the trilogy is a testimony to a cultural duality with the Vietnamese past on the one hand and the European present on the other. Finally, the sentimental duality between love and anger is a mark of the “lê-esque” ideology: paradoxical in appearance but logical and philosophical in reality: life is born from death and death is hidden within life.

Existing literature identify betrayal as one of the major challenges that former SADF soldiers face in the “new” South Africa, and identify a need for studying the nature and types of betrayal and the effects it has on relationships. This study aimed to describe and interpret former SADF soldier‟s lived experience by focusing on the psychology of betrayal. A cross-sectional qualitative research methodology was used, guided by an interpretive phenomenological approach. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews, and the data was analysed using Heidegger‟s hermeneutical principles. The identified themes are (1) in the belly of the beast, (2) different agendas, (3) volte-face, (4) keeping the score (5) and just carry on. The findings offer deeper insights and understanding into how former SADF soldiers experience betrayal and the impact it has on their everyday lives. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The family trilogy, Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child and True West, presents Sam Shepard's strong bond with his culture and his people, illustrates an intense connection with the land, and reveals a deep longing for the traditions of the past, through the dramatisation of the betrayal of the American Dream. Although obviously part of the American tradition of family drama, Shepard never completely conforms, subverting the genre by debunking the traditional family in order to make a statement about the present disintegration of the bonds of family life and modern American society. In the trilogy Shepard decries the loss of the old codes connecting with his despair at the debasement of the ideals of the past and the demise of the American Dream. Finally, the plays insist on the importance a new set of tenets to supplant the sterile ethics of modern America / M.A. (English)

The family trilogy, Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child and True West, presents Sam Shepard's strong bond with his culture and his people, illustrates an intense connection with the land, and reveals a deep longing for the traditions of the past, through the dramatisation of the betrayal of the American Dream. Although obviously part of the American tradition of family drama, Shepard never completely conforms, subverting the genre by debunking the traditional family in order to make a statement about the present disintegration of the bonds of family life and modern American society. In the trilogy Shepard decries the loss of the old codes connecting with his despair at the debasement of the ideals of the past and the demise of the American Dream. Finally, the plays insist on the importance a new set of tenets to supplant the sterile ethics of modern America / M.A. (English)