The study sets to establish trends with regard to the role of the praise singer, the changes with regard to the traditional praise singer's rendition/performance and the material or content of his/her poetry. Thus the study highlights the distinction observed between the praise singer of the past and the present praise singer. The study also shows that the praise singer's performance, in terms of his/her role and content, is in the state of flux. The study also demonstrates that the singer of the past and the present praise singer have the same role and their chants or poetry or songs have the same effect. It also highlights situations where praises are chanted in modern times. These are graduation ceremonies, weddings, political gatherings and traditional ceremonies, for example, the annual rain making ceremonies. These events or occasions are inextricably linked to traditional praises. The study also highlights the fact that traditional praises present the history and heroic deeds of members of the clan to which the beneficiary belongs. They also express the deep feeling of royalty and loyalty. Like in the past they boost morale. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

The study sets to establish trends with regard to the role of the praise singer, the changes with regard to the traditional praise singer's rendition/performance and the material or content of his/her poetry. Thus the study highlights the distinction observed between the praise singer of the past and the present praise singer. The study also shows that the praise singer's performance, in terms of his/her role and content, is in the state of flux. The study also demonstrates that the singer of the past and the present praise singer have the same role and their chants or poetry or songs have the same effect. It also highlights situations where praises are chanted in modern times. These are graduation ceremonies, weddings, political gatherings and traditional ceremonies, for example, the annual rain making ceremonies. These events or occasions are inextricably linked to traditional praises. The study also highlights the fact that traditional praises present the history and heroic deeds of members of the clan to which the beneficiary belongs. They also express the deep feeling of royalty and loyalty. Like in the past they boost morale. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Comment les traditions orales kanak pourraient-elles agir au-delà de leurs frontières habituelles et influencer les processus de construction identitaire dans la société néo-calédonienne contemporaine ? Notre travail explore les interactions entre la tradition orale kanak et la tradition écrite néocalédonienne, en examinant les textes de réécriture, ces lieux de rencontre entre traditions qui constituent un espace de patrimoine commun. Cette thèse retrace les chemins d’une histoire, Le Chef et le lézard (dont on trouve de multiples versions dans les différentes traditions orales kanak), dans la tradition écrite. Sont élucidés les contextes historiques, politiques et littéraires des processus de production de versions de l’histoire, afin de mettre en évidence les forces en oeuvre, et d’éclairer la manière dont les représentations qui y figurent pourraient participer aux processus de construction identitaire. Les outils conceptuels employés sont la « réécriture », la « vā » (l’espace relationnel océanien d’échange et de rencontre),ainsi que la littérature comme « outil de renforcement communautaire ». La contribution originale qu'apporte notre travail consiste en démontrant le degré et l’étendue de l’intégration d'une histoire kanak dans le polysystème littéraire néo-calédonien ; en soulignant le rôle actif joué par des acteurs kanak dans les processus de réécriture ; en créant une métaphore étendue géographique du paysage littéraire néo-calédonien ; en témoignant de la richesse des traditions orales et écrites de Kanaky/Nouvelle-Calédonie ; et en constituant une passerelle entre les chercheurs/lecteurs non-francophones et la littérature néo-calédonienne. / How might Kanak oral traditions move beyond their usual boundaries and influence identity construction processes in contemporary New Caledonian society? This thesis explores the interactions between Kanak oral tradition and New Caledonian written tradition, by examining the (re)writings that are places of encounter between these traditions, and thus constitute a space of shared heritage. This study traces the pathways taken by a story, Le Chef et le lézard, (a number of versions of which are found in different Kanak oral traditions), as it moves into and within written tradition. The historical, political, and literary contexts of the (re)writing processes that produce versions of Le Chef et le lézard are elucidated, to demonstrate the forces at work and shed light on how the representations that figure in the (re)writings might participate in identity construction processes. The conceptual tools used in the study include: rewriting; vā (the relational space of exchange and encounter found throughout Oceania); and literature as a means of building community. The original contribution of this thesis has been to demonstrate the degree and the extent of the integration of a Kanak story into the New Caledonian literary polysystem; to highlight the active role played by Kanak actors in the rewriting process; to develop anextended geographic metaphor for the New Caledonian literary landscape; to bear witness to the richness of oral and written traditions in Kanaky/Nouvelle-Calédonie; and to create a bridge between non-Francophone researchers/readers and New Caledonian literature (oral and written).

The zombie narrative has seen an increasing trend towards the emergence of a zombie sentience. The intention of this thesis is to examine the cultural framework that has informed the contemporary figure of the zombie, with specific attention directed towards the role of the thinking, conscious or sentient zombie. This examination will include an exploration of the zombie’s folkloric origin, prior to the naming of the figure in 1819, as well as the Haitian appropriation and reproduction of the figure as a representation of Haitian identity. The destructive nature of the zombie, this thesis argues, sees itself intrinsically linked to the notion of apocalypse; however, through a consideration of Frank Kermode’s A Sense of an Ending, the second chapter of this thesis will propose that the zombie need not represent an apocalypse that brings devastation upon humanity, but rather one that functions to alter perceptions of ‘humanity’ itself. The third chapter of this thesis explores the use of the term “braaaaiiinnss” as the epitomised zombie voice in the figure’s development as an effective threat within zombie-themed videogames. The use of an epitomised zombie voice, I argue, results in the potential for the embodiment of a zombie subject. Chapter Four explores the development of this embodied zombie subject through the introduction of the Zombie Memoire narrative and examines the figure as a representation of Agamben’s Homo Sacer or ‘bare life’: though often configured as a non-sacrificial object that can be annihilated without sacrifice and consequence, the zombie, I argue, is also paradoxically inscribed in a different, Girardian economy of death that renders it as the scapegoat to the construction of a sense of the ‘human’. The final chapter of this thesis argues that both the traditional zombie and the sentient zombie function within the realm of a posthuman potentiality, one that, to varying degrees of success, attempts to progress past the restrictive binaries constructed within the overruling discourse of humanism. In conclusion, this thesis argues that while the zombie, both traditional and sentient, attempts to propose a necessary move towards a posthuman universalism, this move can only be considered if the ‘us’ of humanism embraces the potential of its own alterity.