It is commonly felt among literary and theatre-going people today that the Theatre of the Absurd is making a comment on the meaninglessness and formlessness of contemporary life. The way the Theatre makes its comment is new and exciting: it simply places before our eyes meaninglessness and formlessness. And the Absurd is left at that. Directors can concentrate on the bizarre, making the plays, even The Caretaker, into three-hour runs of pointless juxtapositions that leave sophisticated audiences complacent. Too often the plays of Beckett, Pinter and Ionesco are treated as slices of life, without beginning or end. This paper was undertaken in an effort to discover whether there was not more to the Absurd play than imitation of life's daily chaos. Strong ritualistic elements had been noticed during a first random reading of some Absurd plays. A later discovery of Genet and his open experimentation with rituals, led me to suspect that the ritual so obvious in his plays also played a part, though a more furtive one, in the works of Pinter and Beckett. The following close examination of texture and structure has convinced me that the formal element, which distinguishes ritual, makes up the fabric of the Absurd play; and that this studied use of ritual makes the plays of the Absurd the most precise dramatic statements to have been seen on western stages since medieval days. Rather than exemplifying formlessness, the Absurd play often stands witness to the stark purity of formality. . / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

As delineated in the Introduction, the central direction of this thesis is that of determining the nature and purpose of Harold Pinter's-drama, of tracing his relationship to contemporary drama and dramatists in general, and the theatre of the Absurd in particular. Contrary to the popular belief that the concept of the Absurd suddenly burst upon the literary scene within the last decade, the emphasis of the first chapter lies on the evolutionary process of its development. The idea of the Absurd, or better, an intuition of the concept of the Absurd can be discovered in the philosophic, literary, and theatrical expression of the western world since the end of the last century. These manifestations of the Absurd did not reach the mind of the multitude until it began to express itself through the medium of the theatre. Even then, however, it remained somewhat esoteric in its appeal and reception. Harold Pinter enters the scene of the Absurd, not as an innovator but as a playwright with an exceptional sense of theatre. He does not attempt to redefine its basic ideas, the concept itself is already somewhat diffuse in meaning; his, is an expression of an intense and concentrated image of the absurd. He forged a new weapon with which to impress the Absurd on the consciousness of the popular mind. Pinter's variation of the Absurd thus differs from the continental expression of Beckett and Ionesco in emphasis and manner of expression, not in idea. Its area of concentration is not on the human condition, but on the abject apparition of the individual imprisoned in existence and society. Unlike Beckett's his queries are not of a metaphysical nature. Pinter probes into the masked reality of everyday life. What he exposes is the presence of a menace which threatens, intimidates and destroys the individual, yet remains unidentified. Toward the expression of this conception of man's predicament, Pinter has conceived of a dramatic metaphor which is best described as 'latent grotesque' in effect. Thus the grotesque dominates the idea of his drama and is the very essence of his threatrical form. The theatre which can now be identified with Pinter's name is a drama of anxiety which progresses from the comic grotesque to the terrifying grotesque. Laughter which resolves itself in fear is the new instrument with which an awareness of the Absurd is impressed upon the audience. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Text in Afrikaans / Die Afrikaanse poesie van die tagtigerjare toon 'n ryke verskeidenheid deurdat ouer digters soos Eybers, Breytenbach, Cussons, Stockenstrom en Ernst van Heerden voortdig en 'n groot aantal nuwelinge na vore tree. Hoewel die groep digters die grense van "generasie" ver oorskry, blyk dit dat hulle 'n baie li tererbewuste groep kunstenaars is wie se poesie verskeie gemeenskaplike trekke openbaar. Uit die groot verskeidenheid blyk dat sekere temas, soos pyn, aftakeling, dood, liefde, godsdiens asook sosio-kulturele en politieke aktualiteite steeds as die gewildste onderwerpe figureer. 'n Deel van die studie word daaraan gewy om aan te toon hoe hierdie temas in die jonger Afrikaanse poesie vergestalting vind. 'n Terna wat 'n besliste vernuwende aspek in die Afrikaanse poesie bring, is die homoerotiek. Die groter openheid oor homoseksualiteit gee aanleiding tot eksplisiete homoerotiese verse, veral by Joan Hambidge en Johann de Lange. As gevolg van die terroristiese bedrywighede en militere optrede aan die landsgrense gedurende die sewentiger- en tagtigerjare beleef die Afrikaanse literatuur die opkoms van die sogenaamde grensliteratuur as 'n vernuwende aspek van die tema van oorlog en geweld wat van die vorige dekade af oorspoel. Verder word aandag gegee aan die verskynsel van inter(-)tekstualiteit, wat weens die omvang daarvan in die kreatiewe en beskouende literatuur, perspektiefverandering in die Afrikaanse poesie teweegbring. 'n Verdere vernuwende aspek wat aangetoon word, is die wegbeweeg van die beoef ening van die loss er, vryer versvorm van die sestiger- en vroee sewentigerjare na 'n strenger vormbeheer en - dissipline. Die skryf van 'n meer tradisionele tipe poesie word by verskeie digters aangetoon. Die bydrae van tydskrifte en tydskrifverse tot die Afrikaanse poesie word ondersoek. Saam met die verskyning van talle bundels populere poesie, waar die klem veral op die volkskwatryn, sonnet en limerick val, speel die tydskrifte 'n besondere rol om Afrikaanse poesie vir 'n breer leserspubliek toeganklik te maak. Daar word tot die gevolgt~ekking gekom dat die digters van die tagtigerjare die "demokratisering" van die Afrikaanse letterkunde veel verder gevoer het en dat die reikwydte van Afrikaans daardeur uitgebrei is / The rich diversity of Afrikaans poetry of the eighties is displayed by the fact that many of the older poets, such as Eybers, Breytenbach, Cussons, Stockenstrom and Ernst van Heerden, have continued writing poetry, while a large number of newcomers have appeared on the scene. Although these poets far exceed the "generation" boundaries, they are evidently a very literary-aware group of artists, whose work has a number of traits in common. Certain themes, such as pain, decadence, death, love and religion, as well as socio-cultural and political realities, remain popular topics. Part of this study is to show how these themes are expressed in contemporary Afrikaans poetry. A decidedly new aspect of Afrikaans poetry is homo-eroticism. The more open approach to homosexuality gives rise to explicit homo-erotic poems, especially those of Joan Hambidge and Johann de Lange. As a result of terrorist activities and military action on our borders during the seventies and eighties, Afrikaans literature saw the beginning of the so-called border literature as a renewal of the war and violence theme, a relic from the previous decade. Inter(-)textuality is explored, which, due to its influence on creative and reviewing literature, has brought about a change in the perspective of Afrikaans poetry. A further renewal highlighted, is the moving away from the unstructured and freer verse form of the sixties and early 4 seventies to a stricter, controlled and disciplined form. The more traditional type of poetry written by various poets is discussed. The contribution by periodicals and poems in periodicals to Afrikaans poetry is explored. Together with the numerous volumes of popular poetry published, emphasizing the national quatrain, sonnets and limericks, periodicals play an important role in making Afrikaans poetry more accessible to a broader reading public. The conclusion is reached that the poets of the eighties promoted the "democratization" of Afrikaans literature, thereby extending its influence / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

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published_or_final_version / Chinese / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Chinese Language and Literature / Master / Master of Arts