Relying on Lucien Goldmann's theory of genetic structuralism, this study examines the relationship between ideology (world vision) and the autobiographical form in South African writing. The five autobiographers selected for discussion represent different social groups in the South African social formation. The central argument of this thesis is that there is a relationship between autobiographical self-portraiture and the collective interests, values and attitudes of particular social groups in South Africa. Therefore, most South African autobiographies are more concerned with the articulation of collective consciousness than with the celebration of individual talents and achievements. Chapter 1 on Peter Abrahams explores the values underpinning the ideology of liberal humanism and their influence on the process of self-representation within the mode of autobiography. The second chapter examines the apparently contradictory conceptions of self-identity in Bloke Modisane's autobiography. Chapter three focuses on the conflict between Naboth Mokgatle's ethnic loyalty to the Bafokeng tribe and his newly acquired radical working class consciousness. The fourth chapter examines the liberal-Christian ideology in Alan Paton's two volumes of autobiography. The fifth and final chapter explores counter hegemonic modes of self-definition in Sindiwe Magona's two-volumed autobiography. In all the five chapters there is an attempt to link the authors' self-presentation to specific social classes or groups. The thesis argues for a literary-sociological approach to the analysis of autobiography and seeks to challenge the deconstructive theoretical perspectives on autobiography which, by rejecting the validity of humanist assumptions regarding human subjectivity, deny any possibility of meaningful socio-political action. / English Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (English)

Klaas van Oostveen is best known in South Africa for his Six Miniatures, published by UNISA in the Grade 6 piano album, list D. What is not that well-known is the fact that between 1936 and 1982 he had composed more than 80 pieces, encompassing a multitude of different genres and instrumental combinations. The method of composition Van Oostveen employed can be described as melodically based and to that end he had written an unpublished work entitled The Art of MelodyWriting. As teacher of Harmony, Counterpoint and Composition at the University of the Witwatersrand, Van Oostveen ·left as legacy a number of leading South African music educators that today impart his methods of composition to numerous students in these subjects. This thesis broadly attempts to quantify the extent to which Van Oostveen's compositional theories correlate with his actual compositions, and to that end some of his best known works were analysed from a mainly melodic viewpoint. The compositions included in the study spans a wide array of musical genres demonstrating Van Oostveen's control of all these different musical formats. A CD compilation of recorded works has been included to give the reader a practical insight into the music of Klaas van Oostveen. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / D. Mus.

This thesis seeks to investigate the ecological theme in German-Swiss prose of the last thirty years. The role of nature has understandably always been significant in Swiss literature. In a nation that has eked out its living, in such an impressive and violent landscape, there is of necessity a highly developed awareness of the environment. Furthermore, the close relationship between mankind and the environment is inherently ambiguous, with each acting alternately as curse and blessing to the other. The bond between people and geography is made all the more vital in the Alps, where existence is under the constant threat of avalanches and landslides. In light of this heightened environmental sensibility, it is unsurprising that, with the growing profile of ecological debate in general, Swiss writers should demonstrate an acute cognisance of the significance of ecological problems. The notion of an ecological voice takes the discussion further. The question is posed whether these works merely represent a reflection of societal concern for the environment, or whether literary responses may constitute solutions. This investigation therefore contributes both to literary criticism on Swiss writing and to the understanding of the role of conceptualisation in finding solutions to ecological problems. To explore and analyse these ideas, this thesis considers a representatively broad spectrum of differing responses to ecological crisis. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of recent Swiss ‘Öko-Literatur', but instead to be an investigation of the variety of narrative strategies employed in this period of growing ecological awareness.

This thesis examines awkwardness between characters in Marcel Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu. It offers the first full-length study of awkwardness in literary fiction, and provides a new prism through which to analyse many major characters in Proust's novel, and, crucially, their interactions. While the word "awkwardness" poses translation challenges, the thesis identifies a rich lexicon of French terms used by Proust to denote various aspects of the phenomenon: through close analysis of passages containing these terms, a coherent vision of awkwardness and its importance in the novel emerges. Awkwardness occurs in very different types of relationship - family, social, friendship and love - because, Proust stresses, human interaction is rarely easy. This latter point is not a new argument, but by focusing directly on the feelings of awkwardness which arise, original insights can be made about the specific challenges of communication, cohesion and desire in the Recherche. The thesis explores the degrees of togetherness and separation Proust depicts, and compares well-known scenes and neglected moments to their mutual illumination. We find that awkwardness is essential to the novel's depiction of society in a state of rapid flux - the consequence of accelerated social change is escalated awkwardness - and that uncomfortable encounters with other people develop the protagonist's relation with his own mind.

This dissertation discusses and analyses Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin's conscious strategy of self-fashioning and reinvention, which is realised in his life and supported by the theoretical constructs contained in his Collected Works. It addresses the ambiguities and uncertainties in Bakhtin's life and work and uses two aspects of his philosophical approach and constructs to explicate these inconsistencies: his theory of identity and his theory of language. The analytical tools used to arrive at this conclusion include the notion of reflexivity (using Bakhtin's own theoretical constructs to analyse incidents in his life, and in turn, using those incidents to illustrate the concepts he developed). Theoretical support for Bakhtin's self-fashioning is provided by Fitzpatrick's theory of reinvention through impersonation and imposture in Revolutionary Russia. Bakhtin's theory of identity (expressed in his Nietzsche-influenced concept of the mask and its associated concept of travesty) supports this reinvention. Bakhtin's notion of double-voicedness, supported by his linguistic theories of interdiscursivity, heteroglossia and the utterance reinforce these two lines of thought. Bakhtin's two figures of speech: the word with a 'backward glance' and the word with a 'loophole' encapsulate this convergence of theory and life. These two constructs are brought into sharp relief when illuminated by Wittgenstein's theory of language-games, Austin's concept of performativity and Benveniste's formulation of deixis. The overarching metaphor for this dissertation is the Classical Greek concept of metis, or 'cunning intelligence', a concept that is instantiated in the way in which Bakhtin framed the narrative of his life and the manner in which he performed his work. The dissertation concludes that Bakhtin evolved a multi-threaded philosophy which was self-consistent in the way in which it addressed the creation of identity, the expression of language and the performance of life and work through the metaphor of metis.

The present work deals with the literary-theoretical work of the Petrograd Formalists - those who participated in the OPOiaZ in the 1910s and early 1920s - with a focus on that oflurii Tynianov. It attempts to unpack the representation of their literary-theoretical work as 'science' [nauka] by exploring how that category was constructed in dialogue with their evolving conception of literature. It is argued in the first chapter that, for the duration of their project, they conceptualized the 'language of nauka' - and their own prose by association - in accordance with the laws of their theory of language. It is argued in the second chapter that, as the Formalists developed a theory of literary history as an endless succession of 'revolutions' in the period 1919- 24, they tried to make their theorization of that process take a correspondingly revolutionary form, one in which the sciences of nature and those of history would become one. It is argued in the third chapter that, as the Formalists came to theorize the connection between literature and life in the period 1924-30, they practised a new 'type' of nauka in the form of the authorial collection of articles, one in which their own work was historicized in a 'literary' manner. It is concluded that, for the OPOiaZ, nauka came into being as a function of its object: as the Formalists transformed their conception of literature, their realization of nauka was correspondingly transformed. The conclusion then problematizes the categorization of Formalism as a purely 'scientific', extra-'literary' movement, since emphasis is placed on their authorship of that categorization, and raises broader questions about the origin of modem 'literary theory'.

Poetry, like every other form of art, reflects the values of the artist himself as well as the values of the age in which he lives. "I would say that the poet may write about anything provided that the thing matters to him to start with, for then it will bring with it into the poem the intellectual or moral significance which it has for him in life". (Louis MacNeice). This thesis sets out to uncover some of the things which, in the long pageant of English poetry, have "mattered" to poets to such an extent that they have felt compelled to voice their protest against any violation of such things perceived by them in life around them. The basic study has been a search for the different kinds of values and codes of conduct, in social, political and moral spheres, which have been unacceptable to some of the major poets in English, and to examine particularly the manner and the tone of voice in which each one has expressed his disapproval. "Poetry was the mental rattle that awakened the attention of intellect in the infancy of civil society." (T.L.Peacock). English poets who have protested against whatever they regarded as worthy of protest have continued up to the maturity of civil society to be rattles (some soft and mellow, others loud and harsh), to awaken both the intellect and the conscience of their readers.

From Verantwoording: By die ondersoek na die rol wat die aktualiteit in die poësie van A. Roland Holst speel, wou ons veral nagaan of die gedigte waarin elemente van die aktualiteit aanwesig is, in wese van sy orige werk verskil. Hoofstuk II, “Teen die Wereld” gaan veral sover dit die inhoud betref, op hierdie vraag in. In die derde en vierde hoofstukke is na aanleiding van ‘n aantal verteenwoordigende gedigte getrag om meer in besonderhede, en ook wat die vorm aangaan, die saak van nader te beskou, en die resultate van die ondersoek is in die Slotbeskouing saamgevat.

M.A. / Although critics have acknowledged the work of Wilma Stockenstrom and have responded favourably, and although she has received four awards and prizes for her poetry up to the publication of Monsterverse, no all-embracing study of her poetry has been undertaken. Many of the reviews and critical analyses have failed to give proper recognition to her first two volumes of poetry. Consequently the process of development in her work has been largely overlooked, and Monsterverse, although acclaimed, has been assessed as "problematic" and totally "foreign". This study therefore attempts to determine the tendencies which figure in Wilma Stockenstrom's poetry, and examines in particular the iconicity of thematics and prosody as it has developed throughout successive volumes. Most of the themes developed in the later volumes are introduced in her debut work, Vir die Bysiende Leser. Some of the themes explored in this volume, however, lose their significance in later volumes. Although the prosody is still somewhat uncertain in some of the poems, a few poems already suggest her unique and individualistic application of this aspect of style. In this early work it is already apparent that her real power lies in the writing of free verse. She exploits this verse form with rich variety throughout her four volumes. Vir die Bysiende Leser clearly functions as a unit. The intratextuality of the poems is a striking structural aspect of. this work. Unity is also emphasized in the following three volumes, but progressively more attention is given to intertextuality. Stockenstrom's work clearly links up with the intertextual tradition which N. P. van Wyk Louw's Tristia and D.J. Opperman's Komas uit n Bamboesstok have established in Afrikaans literature.

This study constitutes a single strand of a wider argument for a thorough-going reassessment of the place of fantasy literature within the canon. In particular, it aims to redress a marked lack of critical attention paid to the distinct movement towards fantastic modes of representation in the mid-twentieth century.