In the following thesis, two interrelated arguments are offered: firstly, a re-appropriation of the passing figure from an African-American context to the Anglo-Indian context is suggested, which it is argued, will allow new methods for the study of the hybrid figure in British literature to develop. Secondly, the thesis works to critique the relationship between poststructuralism and postcolonialism, suggesting a move away from a discourse concerned with anti-reality and its linguistic-theoretical focus to a framework with stronger roots in the study of postcoloniality as a real, lived condition experienced by a large number of people. The above arguments are realized through a reading of Anglo-Indian literature which closely aligns both the displaced postcolonial figure and the passing figure through a shared ability to perform multiple identities. In adopting the passing figure, Anglo-Indian literature illustrates the rejection of in culture forms of rigid and constraining essentialisms and the commitment to modernist and contemporary cultural discourses of identity construction in the hybrid figure of postcolonial works. Such cultural discourses of identity presuppose the intervention of performativity in the negotiation of multiple selves. Both the hybrid postcolonial figure and the passing figure display an adoption of performance in identity construction. In a theoretical reflection of the multiplicity offered by the passing figure, a number of diverse critical approaches to these Anglo-Indian texts are introduced. Specifically, the aim is to suggest alternative theoretical approaches to the hegemonic poststructuralist critical view. I will argue that the reliance upon poststructuralist theory can be detrimental to the full exploration of the postcolonial identity, due largely to the tendency to privilege textual fee-play over experiential analysis. I am proposing a modification to the relationship between deconstruction and postcolonialism, whereby certain selected deconstructive techniques are appropriated alongside more existentialist concerns that reflect the real, lived conditions of postcolonial environments. In relocating textual critique within an approach more concerned with the real-life experience of multiplicity, this study advocates a continuing relevance of a more existentialist mode of postcolonialism, as exemplified by Sartre and Fanon, and other adjacent theorists. An example of this is that popular and contemporary authors such as Naipaul, Rushdie, Kureishi and Malkani are read in light of “dialogical self theory”, R.D. Laing’s “false-self system”, Fish’s “interpretive communities” thesis and Goffman’s concept of “front”. Dialogical self theory and the false-self system ensure a firm underpinning of the internal psychological structure of the passing figure’s psyche, establishing a discourse of postcolonialism that is centred on the real experience of multiplicity. The following work on interpretive communities and front allow for the connection of the internal construction of self to the wider social environment through the relocation of the passing figure’s identity in relation to the interpretations of the audience.

No description available.

This thesis examines the depiction of saintly figures within the Latin vitae of twelfth-century England (1066–c.1215). It tests the extent to which these depictions are homogeneous and examines what factors may have shaped representations. Analysis focuses on vitae of twelfth-century saints, a sample of texts that have not previously been examined as a corpus in this way. By encompassing a range of different types of saint, authors and contexts, utilising this corpus allows a comparative examination of how different facets of sainthood could be expressed in hagiography. The textual analysis at the heart of this study aims to unpick individual texts' ideals of saintly behaviour. Whilst hagiographers functioned within a well-established genre, considering a wide range of saints' vitae allows scrutiny of the impact of context in shaping depictions. It will be argued that these portrayals of saintly figures demonstrate thematic harmony which is tempered by individuality and context to form recognisable and yet distinctive depictions of sainthood. The analysis is structured around four common hagiographical themes, each worthy of detailed examination: Outer Appearance, Sexuality and Chastity, Food and Fasting, and Death. Chapter 1 investigates how saintly figures are described in terms of physical appearance, deportment and demeanour, and clothing. Chapter 2 focuses upon sexuality, exploring the manifestations of chastity and virginity within the Lives and testing how this might vary from saint to saint and between the sexes. Chapter 3 examines food and food abstention, previously under-represented in secondary literature on twelfth-century hagiography and on male saints. The thesis ends with a consideration of death, a surprisingly understudied theme in Anglophone scholarship. By examining the process of dying and the moment of mortality, this chapter will fill an important analytical vacuum between lived sanctity and sanctity in death.

Thesis (DPhil (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Steinaecker’s Horse was a volunteer unit who fought on the side of the British during the Anglo- Boer War (1899-1902). The unit mainly consisted of local inhabitants of the Lowveld and were commanded by a former German officer, Lieutenant-colonel FCL von Steinaecker. The unit received little attention from scholars thus far. The main focus of this research is to study the Steinaecker’s Horse military unit, but specifically to determine their everyday circumstances, life style and daily activities. This was done by means of cultural objects which were found on three of the important sites where Steinaecker’s Horse had outposts. In order to place the unit within context, attention was given to the collection of historical information and the identification and documentation of different outposts occupied by Steinaecker’s Horse during the Anglo-Boer War. The state of decay of these sites were monitored and their relation to inter alia research potential, cultural resources management and tourism potential was assessed. Lastly, attention was given to the contribution of Steinaecker’s Horse to the history of the Anglo- Boer War, the Lowveld and the Kruger National Park. The three sites that were studied in depth are the headquarters of the unit at Komatipoort, the Sabi Bridge post close to Skukuza and the Northern outpost in the vicinity of the Letaba rest camp in the park. Cultural objects excavated at these sites were used in this study. In the final chapter an overall impression of the everyday cicumstances, life style and daily activities of Steinaecker’s Horse are formed. It is also shortly compared to general information regarding the life of British soldiers and the Boers on commando during the war. Last mentioned information was obtained from different sources in another way than studying the physical cultural objects. The contribution of this thesis is that it is the first time that a complete reflection is given of the life at Steinaecker’s Horse sites and that it serves as model for similar research with relation to other military sites as well as probably other historical sites. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Steinaecker’s Horse was ‘n vrywilligerseenheid wat tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog (1899-1902) aan die kant van die Britte geveg het. Die eenheid het hoofsaaklik uit inwoners van die Laeveld bestaan en het onder bevel van ‘n voormalige Duitse offisier, luitenant-kolonel FCL von Steinaecker, gestaan. Die eenheid het tot dusver min aandag van vakkundiges ontvang. Die belangrikste fokus van hierdie studie is om die Steinaecker’s Horse militêre eenheid te bestudeer, maar om spesifiek die alledaagse omstandighede, lewenswyse en daaglikse aktiwiteite daarvan te bepaal. Dit is gedoen aan die hand van kultuurvoorwerpe wat by drie van die belangrikste terreine waar Steinaecker’s Horse buiteposte gehad het, gevind is. Ten einde die eenheid in konteks te plaas is ook aandag gegee aan die insameling van historiese inligting en die identifisering en dokumentering van verskillende buiteposte wat deur Steinaecker’s Horse tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog beset is. Die monitering van die staat van agteruitgang van die terreine en die assessering daarvan ten opsigte van onder meer navorsingspotensiaal, kultuurhulpbronbestuur en toerismepotensiaal, is ook gedoen. Laastens is daar aandag gegee aan die bydrae van Steinaecker’s Horse tot die geskiedenis van die Anglo-Boereoorlog, die Laeveld en die Nasionale Krugerwildtuin. Die drie terreine wat in diepte bestudeer is, is die eenheid se hoofkwartier te Komatipoort, die Sabiebrug-pos naby Skukuza en die Noordelike buitepos in die omgewing van die Letaba ruskamp in die wildtuin. Kultuurvoorwerpe wat deur middel van argeologiese opgrawings op hierdie terreine verkry is, is in die studie benut. In die slothoofstuk word ‘n geheelbeeld van die alledaagse omstandighede, lewenswyse en daaglikse aktiwiteite van Steinaecker’s Horse gevorm. Dit word ook kortliks met algemene inligting omtrent die lewe van Britse soldate en die Boere op kommando tydens die oorlog vergelyk. Laasgenoemde inligting is op ander wyses verkry as om die fisiese kultuurvoorwerpe te bestudeer. Die bydrae van hierdie proefskrif is dat dit vir die eerste keer ‘n geheelbeeld van die lewe by Steinaecker’s Horse terreine daarstel en as model kan dien vir soortgelyke navorsing met betrekking tot ander militêre terreine, maar waarskynlik ook ander historiese terreine.

This dissertation argues that Texas, a border region influenced by the disparate cultures of Mexico and the southern and western United States, developed a tri-racial society, economy, and polity in which individuals were designated "Anglo," "Mexican," or "Negro." When the Irish, Germans, and Czechs immigrated to the state in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they did not fit comfortably into these categories. They were always viewed as white, but certain traits kept them from being considered Anglo. Language, religion, the use of alcohol, and a real and reputed willingness to ally themselves with their black and brown neighbors set them apart. The Know-Nothing movement, the Civil War, Reconstruction and an 1887 prohibition referendum brought them significant hostility, even occasional violence. Their experiences in 1887 sparked efforts to "become Anglo," shedding or downplaying their prior identities. Even in the early twentieth century, the idea of Irish, German, and Czech "races" remained current; such thinking contributed to harsh federal immigration restrictions in the 1920s. But in Texas, the extension of Jim Crow-style segregation to Mexican-Americans during that period also extended the Anglo designation to all those who were not black or brown. The two world wars furthered Anglicization, making it undesirable to be identified as German-American and giving all Texans a taste of the wider world. Between the wars, the discovery of oil on land owned by some Irish helped make them Anglo. In the post-World War II era, education reform and other developments sounded the death knell for crucial Czech and German language use, while Mexican-Americans began to seek the privileges of Anglo-ness as a reward for service to their country, without having to become Anglo. Revelations of Nazi atrocities helped change understandings of race and the concept of ethnicity gained in popularity. By about 1960, most Texans considered the Irish, Germans,and Czechs Anglo. During the next decade, as legal restrictions based on race were repealed and black and brown Texans embraced their racial identities, the Irish, Germans, and Czechs not only embraced their Anglo-ness but once again began to celebrate their ethnic attributes as well. / text

Hue de Rotelande, poète anglo-normand dont l'activité littéraire se situe dans le dernier quart du XIIe siècle, est l'auteur de deux romans en vers, Ipomedon et Protheselaus. Souvent interrogés par la critique - bien qu'une étude d'ensemble sur l'œuvre de Hue fasse défaut - ces textes posent problème quant à leur classification et à leur interprétation. En effet, les ouvrages de Hue, que l'on ne peut tout à fait considérer ni comme des romans antiques ni comme des romans arthuriens, semblent n'être composés que d'épisodes empruntés à des récits contemporains. S'il est vrai que l'on retrouve des motifs et des personnages connus par ailleurs, Hue n'organise pas ses textes de la même manière que ses prédécesseurs. Sous un double rapport de dépendance et d'innovation, Hue s'approprie différents matériaux pour recomposer un monde romanesque, qui repose en grande partie sur la répétition et la variation des traditions littéraires. Puisque les textes de Hue empruntent et utilisent sans cesse l'espace et la matière d'autres romans, et se développent sur des codes déjà existants, il nous a paru nécessaire d'étudier la manière dont l'auteur ordonne ses compositions et établit un dialogue avec d'autres œuvres. Se plaçant sous le signe de la translatio studii et présentant ses ouvrages comme de simples traductions, Hue joue avec ses modèles référentiels qu'il vide de toute auctoritas. Il montre que cette tradition qui veut que les textes s'écrivent les uns sur les autres, le nouveau sur l'ancien, est de l'ordre du semblant (chapitre I). S'il construit ses textes sur le moule et les recettes du roman courtois, il remet en question les modalités de celui-ci afin de proposer une nouvelle conception courtoise qui donne à ses romans une tonalité égrillarde (chapitre II). Hue ne cesse de tenir un discours réflexif sur sa pratique d'écrivain de façon à souligner le travail de l'écriture qui s'exerce dans ses textes. Il attire l'attention sur son propre rôle d'auteur, sur l'image qu'il donne de lui-même et de sa fonction dans son œuvre (chapitre III).

This thesis deals with the works of Philip Meadows Taylor, nineteenth-century British administrator and author of six novels on Indian themes. His works, published between 1839 and 1878, belong to the little researched early period of Anglo-Indian literature when popular fiction reflected the confidence and beliefs of British rule in India. Meadows Taylor worked in India as a political agent in various parts of Hyderabad from 1824 until his early retirement in 1860. His work, his close friendships with Indians, and his marriage to an Eurasian woman exposed him to various aspects of Indian life closed to many of his British contemporaries in India. This is reflected in his novels, of which the best known is his first, Confessions of a Thug, published in 1839. Subsequent works include Tippoo Sultaun: A Tale of the Mysore War (1841), Tara (1863), Ralph Darnell (1865), Seeta (1873), and A Noble Queen (1878). All these works present Indian scenery and Indian customs vividly and sympathetically, and are characterised by unusually liberal views on such things as interracial marriage, race relations and Indian religious practices; views at odds with those of many of his contemporaries. This thesis examines Meadows Taylor's works, and the connection between his portrayal of British conceptions of India and its people and the historical development of British rule in India. Ultimately Taylor's works illustrate his view that underneath the surface differences of race and religious creed lies a common human experience shared by both East and West, a view which differentiates him from other nineteenth-century writers on India. Other unusual thematic concerns include his use of Victorian concepts of domesticity in Indian settings, his presentation of strongly idealised Indian characters, and his frequent use as subject matter of "pre-colonial" Indian history.

No description available.

This thesis investigates the dynamics between devadasi women and judges in the Anglo-Indian court in the Madras Presidency of 19th-century colonial India. The thesis focuses on how the devadasis navigated the colonial legal system and the strategies they utilized as well as the role of the judges' preconceived notions and prejudice in determining the decisions they made.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The Anglo-Boer War had a far-reaching impact on the Afrikaner community and on the relationship between the Afrikaners and the English. As a result of the Black segment of the population’s involvement in the war, either as involuntary victims or as collaborators with the English, the relationships between the various population groups was further complicated. For many years there was a distinction between them and us in the South African society. Irrespective of pleas for so-called nation building there remains distance and ignorance between the population groups in the country. This article portrays the relationship between the various population groups as represented in Afrikaans children’s books with the Anglo-Boer War as theme. Although most of the early books show a clear ethnocentricity, there is often also a corrective for the "nobleness" of "our side" and the "evilness" of "their side". Love affairs between people of different cultural groups, for example, were not possible in the early books, but it seems that more recent books want to bring about conciliation - also by means of the portrayal of such affairs. Just as most South African historians ignored the role and fate of blacks in the war for many years, no Afrikaans, and few English authors has really tackled the subject. Black characters usually move on the periphery of the war - usually as factotums of the English, but sometimes also as loyal subjects to the Boers.