Magister Artium - MA / 'n Ondersoek na die armoede-diskoers en die uitings patriargie, bloedskande en apartheid in Triomf van Marlene Van Niekerk. / South Africa

Bibliography: pages 198-207. / In this dissertation, a study is made of two bodies of fiction documenting the South African soldier in Angola. The fiction was limited to Afrikaans short stories, as this genre is believed to best reflect the fragmentary, explosive experience of combat. This demarcation also served as a way of limiting the body of fiction for the study. A cut-off year of 1990 was taken. The rationale for this is that the late seventies and eighties was the golden age for the publication of border fiction, and that Southwest AfricaNamibia gained independence in 1990 with a SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organisation) government, thus largely defeating the purposes of South African military involvement in Namibia and Angola. The collections of short stories that were analyzed in this study, were divided into two categories. The stories published in popular family magazines such as Die Huisgenoot were considered to be popular fiction. These stories are overtly accepting of South Africa's involvement in Namibia and Angola, and are highly propagandistic. The collections Ses Wenverhale (1988) by Maretha Maartens and others, and Verby die wit brug (1978) by Johan Coetzee, were analyzed as examples of this category. In the category of literary short stories, Wie de hel het jou vertel? (1988) by Gawie Kellerman and 'n Wereld sonder grense (1984) by Alexander Strachan were analyzed. It is important to note that the texts were selected thematically i.e. the criterium was that they had to have the South African soldier in South West AfricaAngola as main theme. Analyses of the texts are based on the thesis formulated by H P van Coller in his article "Afrikaanse literatuur oor die gewapende konflik in Suider-Afrika sedert 1963 - 'n voorlopige verslag". In this report, Van Coller mentions that studies comparing the literary border fiction with the popular border fiction, have been left behind. The study aims at examining this unexplored territory and looks extensively at how these two bodies of fiction differ. It was found that two radically different images of the border war emerge from the two bodies of fiction: the popular fiction is uncritical, war is presented more as an exciting game in the popular fiction, whereas it is presented as deadly, yet addictive, in the literary fiction. The ideological backgrounds from which the stories are written, are fundamentally opposed: the popular fiction often sees the war as a continuation of the white man's struggle for survival on a violent continent, and God is assumed to be on the South African side. The literary fiction documents a loss of God and criticises the government, censorship and apartheid. The literary fiction also fulfills a function of reporting - that which has not been said in the media due to censorship by government. The scope of the popular fiction is much narrower than the literary fiction, ignoring issues such as homosexuality in the army, torture and atrocities. Finally, the conclusions differ, with a sentimental "all will be well" in the popular fiction, as opposed to the fundamental pessimism in the literary fiction.

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))—University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between eroticism, violence and death as it occurs in Jeanne Goosen's short story collection, ' n Gelyke kans. The research is based upon the hypothesis that these stories express in a particular manner the transgressive role of eroticism in breaking through social conventions and barriers. As a possible framework for discussion reference is made in the first place to George Bataille's theories on the subversive nature of eroticism, Julia Kristeva's semiotic and pre-Oedipal theories, and Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of the carnivalesque. Subsequently a reading strategy was designed by means of an in-depth analysis of ten stories from the collection in accordance with general formalistic principles. The conclusion is reached that Goosen with non-judgmental sympathy exposes man's inborn, continuous search for the illusion of perfect happiness. This state of bliss is sometimes achieved by the violent "incorporation" of the beloved/desired “other", and the final outcome is a concomitant and inevitable decline into an unwholesome, destructive, and fatal erotic power play.

Thesis (MA)-- Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The establishment of literary festivals as a type of event that is presented both nationally and internationally has expanded tremendously in recent years, but it has not as yet received the necessary attention to fully understand its impact on and sociocultural function in a host community. This thesis attempts to formulate a working definition for the phenomenon, in order to gain more insight in its sociocultural function and impact in a host community and thus to contribute towards a more substantial discourse on the subject. The hypothesis is firstly that literary festivals come into existence due to specific needs in the host society and secondly that the strategic application of rhetorical strategies have a positive sociocultural impact. It is argumented that literary festivals function according to the principles of Aristotle’s rhetoric, by convincing festival visitors that books, reading, writing, debating and freedom of speech are of great aesthetic, moral and educational value. The eventual aim is to cause festival visitors to show greater appreciation for literary texts, as illustrated by their increased participation in reading, writing and other literary activities. The following theories serve as points of departure: the system theory as expounded by Itamar Even-Zohar, Gerard Hauser’s application of rhetorics to the public sphere, the ritual theories of Victor Turner and Jeremy Boissevain, as well as festival theories by Mikhail Bakhtin, Donald Getz, Henri Schoenmakers, Paul Kaptein, William Sauter, Don Handelman, Temple Hauptfleisch and Michael Kamp. The programmes, festival contents and other relevant texts that form part of two selected literary festivals, i.e. the Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Wordfest (Woordfees) and the Amsterdam Weerwoordfestival, are scrutinised in order to prove that these festivals are strategically constructed to have a persuasive effect on festivalgoers. A festival’s survival and sustainability is determinated by its establishment of a strong own character; good management (also in times of crisis); effective networks; and the persuasion of both target groups and interest groups that supporting the festival is to their own advantage. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die literêre fees, as tipe gebeurtenis wat toenemend nasionaal én internasionaal aangebied word, het tot dusver min aandag van navorsers geniet. Ten einde die sosio-kulturele funksie en krag daarvan in ’n gasheergemeenskap te probeer vasstel en te omskryf, asook om by te dra tot ’n meer omvangryke diskoers oor hierdie fenomeen, word bestaande teorieë oor feeste in die algemeen dus in hierdie studie as vertrekpunt gebruik en aangepas by literêre feeste. Die hipotese is eerstens dat literêre feeste ontstaan in reaksie op behoeftes in die gasheergemeenskap en tweedens dat die aanwending van retoriese strategieë in literêre feeste ’n positiewe sosio-kulturele impak tot gevolg kan hê. Na aanleiding van Aristoteles se uitgangspunte oor die retorika word voorgestel dat die funksie en werking van literêre feeste retories van aard is: Die organiseerders wil feesdeelnemers oorreed dat lees, skryf, debattering en vrye meningswisseling esteties, opvoedkundig en moreel waardevol is, om sodoende ’n groter belangstelling in en deelname aan literêre aktiwiteite te probeer bewerkstellig. Die volgende teoretici se uitgangspunte word veral gebruik: dié van Itamar Even-Zohar oor die sisteemteorie, Gerard Hauser se toepassing van die retorika op ’n openbare sfeer, ritueelteorieë deur Victor Turner en Jeremy Boissevain, sowel as feesteorieë van Mikhail Bakhtin, Donald Getz, Henri Schoenmakers, Paul Kaptein, William Sauter, Don Handelman, Temple Hauptfleisch en Michael Kamp. Deur ’n vergelykende studie van die ruimer konteks, feesprogramme en ander relevante tekste wat deel uitmaak van twee literêre feeste, naamlik die Universiteit Stellenbosch Woordfees en die Amsterdamse Weerwoordfestival, word nagegaan hoe hierdie feeste strategies en oorredend funksioneer deurdat beide literêre én nie-literêre elemente geselekteer (inventio) en gekombineer (dispositio) is om ’n sterker positiewe eventiserende betekenis oor te dra as in die alledaagse lewe. Die gevolgtrekking is dat effektiewe retoriese strategieë sterk afhanklik is van die konteks waarbinne feeste plaasvind. Die voortbestaan en volhoubaarbaarheid van literêre feeste word veral bepaal deur die vestiging van ’n sterk eie identiteit; goeie bestuur (ook in krisisse); doeltreffende netwerke, asook deur die oorreding van beide teikengroepe én belanghebbers dat hulle wen deur die fees te ondersteun.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Two separate texts are submitted towards the degree of MA in Creative Writing. The first is this essay, A Reading of Blood Meridian. The second is a novel, The Book of War. Essay The general focus of the essay is the theme of free will in Blood Meridian and the techniques with which the narrative elements of character, story, style and voice are deployed to focus the reader's mind on this theme. The central question: is the meaning, the final message, of Blood Meridian that as individuals human beings lack agency and that as groups they are shackled to a common destiny? The hypothesis is that Blood Meridian contains significant patterns, oppositions and dialectics, designed to place arguments for and against agency in the mind of the reader, but that the book's response to the theme is inherently and structurally ambiguous. Novel The novel was written before the essay. It was written in direct response to Blood Meridian and to the realization that Blood Meridian was a text rooted in history. Like Blood Meridian, The Book of War is based on, grows out of, first person accounts, specifically Stephen Bartlett Lakeman's What I saw in Kaffir-Land (1880) and William Ross King's Campaigning in Kaffirland: Or Scenes and Adventures in The Kaffir War of 1851- 1852 (1853). The novel takes characters devolved from Lakeman and places them in King’s journey through the war. These characters create, around a child called the kid, the social backdrop of a coming of age tale. The novel uses its source texts as a lens through which to view, and tell the story of, the War of The Prophet (Eight Frontier War 1850-53). Readers seeking to answer the question: Why is South Africa a violent society? might find at least part of the answer in the nature of, and the relationships between, English, Xhosa, Dutch, Khoi and Mfengu cultures in the 19th Century.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the way in which the construction of landscape interacts with the development of identity in Tikoes by Henk van Woerden. Taking the metaphor of traveling in Tikoes as vantage point, the coterminous development of the South African landscape and the characters' identities are explored. The study is placed in a theoretical framework by defining space, landscape and place, with specific reference to the interaction of landscape and identity, especially as portrayed in migrant literature. The difference between observation of space and the experiencing of landscape and place out of space through cultural processes are emphasized. It is postulated that these processes not only lead to the development of landscape and place out of space, but also contributes to the development of the characters' identities. Through an in-depth study of Tikoes, it is established that landscape and identity not only develop coterminously in this novel, but that these processes of development are actually interdependent. Tikoes, apparently a mere story about the journey of two lovers, is well constructed regarding the integration of themes and motives, which culminates in the cardinal interaction between observation and experience. The theme postulated by the motto is thus reflected in the structure of the novel: Let shallow people call me frivolous, when it comes to the point I have always been conscientiously precise. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie ondersoek die wyse waarop die konstruksie van landskap in wisselwerking tree met die ontwikkeling van identiteit in Tikoes deur Henk van Woerden. Met die reismetafoor binne Tikoes as uitgangspunt, word die samevallende ontwikkeling van die Suid-Afrikaanse landskap en die karakters se identiteite bestudeer. Die ondersoek word geplaas binne 'n teoretiese raamwerk oor ruimte, landskap en plek, met spesifieke verwysing na die verhouding tussen landskap en identiteit, soos veral verwoord in migranteliteratuur. Daar word onderskei tussen die waarneming van ruimte, en die gewaarwording van landskap en plek na aanleiding van die geografiese ruimte, deur kulturele prosesse. Dit word geponeer dat hierdie prosesse nie net lei tot die ontwikkeling van landskap en plek uit ruimte nie, maar ook bydra tot die ontwikkeling van die karakters se onderskeie identiteite. Deur 'n analise van Tikoes, word gevind dat landskap en identiteit nie net samevallend in dié roman ontwikkel nie, maar dat dié ontwikkelingsprosesse as't ware interafhanklik van mekaar staan. Tikoes, oënskynlik bloot 'n verhaaloor die reis van twee geliefdes, bied 'n deurgekomponeerdheid van temas en motiewe wat kulmineer in die kardinale wisselwerking tussen waarneming en gewaarwording, waardeur die roman die tema wat in die motto aangekondig word ook struktureel waar maak, naamlik: Laat de oppervlakkigen mij lichtzinnig noemen. Als het erop aankwam was ik altijd heel nauwgezet.

Thesis (MA) -- Stellenbosch University, 1998. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis the techniques of defamiliarisation in Gert Vlok Nel's Om te lewe is onnatuurlik (1993) are investigated, especially with the aid of the Russian Formalist concept ostranenie. The introductory chapter expounds the theoretical basis. With reference to some reviews the question is investigated whether the volume can be regarded as worker poetry. After this follows an explanation of the concept ostranenie as understood by the Formalists, especially Victor Shklovsky, and of the concept Verfremdungseffekt as formulated by Bertolt Brecht. These concepts are then compared with the postmodemist notion of de-naturalization as used by, for example, Linda Hutcheon. In addition to Formalist theory other theories will be used in an eclectic fashion: semiostructuralism (Mikhail Bakhtin and Michael Riffaterre), reception theory (Wolfgang Iser) and psychoanalysis (Harold Bloom). Because om te lewe is onnatuurlik was created in postmodemity, the theoretical approach is also predominantly of a poetmodern nature. In the practical part of the thesis seven poems are discussed in order to highlight the principal techniques of defamiliarisation in each one: the use of ellipses and parody ("die dag toe hulle vir Donkie Viviers"); selfreflexivity and metafidional elements (desember & see"); childlike focalisation and register (soeklig" and "boggellug"); typographical experimentation ("landskap"); spatial relativation ("Rita" and "hillside") and retardation ("hillside"). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis word ondersoek ingestel na die vervreemdingstegnieke in Gert Vlok Nel se bundel om te lewe is onnatuurlik (1993), veral met behulp van die Russiese Formalistiese teorie oor die begrip ostranenie. Die inleidende hoofstuk hied 'n uiteensetting van die teoretiese hegrollding. Met verwysing na enkele resensies word daar eerstens ondersoek of die bundel as werkerspoosie beskou kan word. Hierna volg 'n uiteensetting van die konsep ostranenie soos gehanteer deur die Formaliste, veral Viktor Sklovsky, en van die konsep Verfremdungseffekt, soos geformuleer deur Bertolt Brecht. Hierdie begrippe word dan vergelyk met die postmodernietiese begrip de-naturalisasie soos gebruik deur byvoorbeeld Linda Hutcheon. Naas die Formalistiese teorie word ander teoriee op eklektiese wyee in hierdie .tudie betrek: die semio-strukturalisme (Mikhail Bakhtin en Michael Riffaterre), resepsieteorie (Wolfgang Iser) en psigo-analise (Harold Bloom). Omdat die bundel om lewe is onnatuurlik in die post· moclemiteit geskep is, is die invalshoek hoofsaaklik p08tmodernisties van aard. In diepraktiese deel van die tesis word &ewe gedigte bespreek ten einde die belangrikste vervreemdingstegnieke in elk uit te lig: die gebruik van ellipee en parodiering ('"die dag toe hulle vir Donkie Viviers'); selfrefieksie en metapoitiese elemente ("desember & see"); kinderlike fokalisering en register reoeklig" en "boggellug"); tipografiese eksperimentering ("landskap"); ruimtelike relativering ("Rita" en ··hillside");en vertraging ("hillside").

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: J. M. Coetzee se werke ondersoek dikwels op intense en ongewone wyse wat kreatiwiteit is en hoe dit werk, wat die bronne en oorspronge daarvan is, en verwonder sig aan die onvoorspelbaarheid van die voorwaardes en katalisators vir, en die aard en uitkomste van, die kreatiewe proses. Hierdie essay ondersoek eerstens die teoretisering van literêre kreatiwiteit deur veral Derek Attridge, wat hy hoofsaaklik baseer op Coetzee se werk. Tweedens word die komplekse uitbeeldings – of performance – van kreatiwiteit en die kreatiewe proses in Coetzee se oeuvre, spesifiek aan die hand van The Master of Petersburg en die post-Disgrace werke, ontleed. Daar word gefokus op skeppende karakters en alter ego’s, veral skrywers, wat toenemend hul verskyning in Coetzee se prosa maak. Kwessies van skrywerlike mag, die etiek van skryf, die konflik tussen werklikheidsvlakke binne fiksie asook tussen werklikheid en fiksie, soos dit uitspeel in die hibriede en eksperimentele laat werke, kom aan bod. Die essay maak dikwels van stipleestegnieke gebruik in die lees van die betrokke werke. Ander strategieë word egter ook ingespan, veral by die lees van die laat werke. Die siening van kreatiewe impuls wat aldus blyk, is ‘n radikale een. Kreatiwiteit is blind vir moraliteit en dalk selfs etiek. Dit word onder andere gelykgestel aan die epileptiese val. Dit gaan oor die oopstelling vir – en die eksklusiewe verantwoordelikheid teenoor – die onverwagse, die Beckettiaanse/Derridiaanse proses van ‘n produktiewe/onproduktiewe gewag. Dit word vergestalt deur ‘n gebeurtenis wat beslag vind in die onverminderbare eiesoortigheid van die literêre werk. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: J. M. Coetzee’s work often investigates in an intense and unusual manner the nature of creativity and how it works, what the sources and origins of creativity are, and marvels at the unpredictability of the preconditions and catalysts for, and the nature and outcomes of, the creative process. This essay investigates, in the first place, the theorisation of literary creativity by especially Derek Attridge, which he mainly bases on Coetzee’s work. In the second instance, the complex portrayals – or performances – of creativity and the creative process in Coetzee’s oeuvre are analysed, particularly with reference to The Master of Petersburg and the post-Disgrace works. The focus is on creative characters, particularly authors, who are increasingly making an appearance in Coetzee’s prose. Questions of authorial power, the ethics of writing, the conflict of reality levels within fiction as well as between reality and fiction, as it plays out in the hybird and experimental late works, are presented. The essay often uses close reading in the reading of the mentioned works. Other strategies are also used, particularly in the reading of the late works. The view of the creative impulse thus crystallising, is a radical one. Creativity is blind to morality, and perhaps also ethics. It is equated, inter alia, to the epileptic fit. It is about the opening up – and the exclusive responsibility – to the unexpected, to the Beckettian/Derridian process of a productive/unproductive waiting. It is represented by a happening which precipitates in the irreducible singularity of the literary work.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study the genre-theory of the ‘female’ Bildungsroman is utilised as a theoretical lens in the analysis of Annerkant die longdrop [Beyond sanity] by Anoeschka von Meck (1998) and De vriendschap [The friendship] by Connie Palmen. Differences and similarities between these narratives of female development, in comparison to the traditional Bildungsroman and ‘female’ Bildungsroman, are identified. This procédé leads to new insights regarding the female characters and their journeys to selfhood in Annerkant die longdrop and De vriendschap. The ‘female’ Bildungsroman is distinguished from her patriarchal counterpart by the central motifs of the developing female body and sexuality which are inscribed in the discourse. These motifs and the subversion of the traditional Bildungsroman are linked with French feminists’ concept of écriture féminine. By comparing Annerkant die longdrop and De vriendschap as ‘female’ Bildungsromane and examples of écriture féminine new derivations can be made about the genre and narratives of female development. The difference between male and female development is one of the aspects highlighted when the ‘female’ Bildungsroman is utilised as theoretical lens. Furthermore the fluidity and instability of the female subject and of the texts in which she comes to life are emphasized. This study raises new questions about the development and emancipation of the female character in Afrikaans literature from 1960 onwards. Furthermore it demonstrates that the theory of the Bildungsroman opens up new research possibilities, especially regarding identity, and can be utilised in the reading of a variety of Afrikaans texts. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die genre-teorie van die ‘vroulike’ Bildungsroman dien in hierdie studie as primêre teoretiese bril of lens by die analise van Annerkant die longdrop (1998) deur Anoeschka von Meck en De vriendschap (1995) deur Connie Palmen. Die ontwikkeling van vroulike protagoniste in hierdie romans word met die eienskappe van beide die tradisionele Bildungsroman én die ‘vroulike’ Bildungsroman in verband gebring en vergelyk. Dié procédé bring nuwe aspekte oor die ontwikkelende vrouekarakters en ontwikkelingsreise in Annerkant die longdrop en De vriendschap na vore. Die wyse waarop die ‘vroulike’ Bildungsroman die literêre grense van die tradisionele Bildungsroman ondermyn en die ontwikkelende vroulike liggaam en seksualiteit inskryf in die diskoers, word met Franse feministe se teoretiese konsep van écriture féminine in verband gebring. Uit die vergelyking van Annerkant die longdrop en De vriendschap blyk dit dat die genre-teorie van die ‘vroulike’ Bildungsroman en die feministiese tradisie van die écriture féminine nuwe aspekte oor narratiewe van vroulike ontwikkeling na vore bring. So beklemtoon hierdie teorie byvoorbeeld die verskil tussen manlike en vroulike ontwikkeling en wys op sowel die vloeiende, onvaste aard van hedendaagse vroulike subjekte as op die tekste wat die ontwikkeling van hierdie vroulike subjekte verwoord. Nuwe vrae oor die mate waarin Afrikaanse vrouekarakters sedert die sestigerjare ontwikkel het, kan na aanleiding van hierdie studie gestel word. Verder wys die ondersoek op nuwe navorsingsmoontlikhede, veral in terme van die soeke na identiteit, wat die Bildungsroman inhou by die bestudering van die Afrikaanse literatuur.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 1924. / No abstract available.