Thesis (MDram)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The productions of Breyten Breytenbach's dramas created unprecedented (negative) reaction amongst the audience members. The themes and the representation of these themes through the use of language and images caused the alienation of many audience members. One of the main causes of alienation was the problem the audience had in understanding the text. The two Afrikaans dramas, Boklied and Die Toneelstuk will be placed in the postmodern theatrical tradition to give a methodology for the reading of the texts. The study also examines the nature of intertextuality to show how the use of intertextuality helps to create meaning. The theatrical productions bring the texts to life and therefore the study will also refer to the productions of these texts. The experience of a postmodern theatre piece does not imply that no meaning can be attributed to language and action. The attribution of meaning in production and texts like Boklied and Die Toneelstuk is not always based on the use oflanguage. The audience/reader of these texts becomes the cocreators of meaning. This study tries to show a range of interpretations and possible meanings of these texts. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die dramas van Breyten Breytenbach het met die produksie daarvan ongekende en negatiewe reaksie onder die Afrikaanse gehore ontlok. Die temas en die uitbeelding van hierdie temas in produksie en in die taal wat Breytenbach gebruik het, het tot vervreemding by die gehoor gelei. Een van die hoofredes vir die vervreemding by die gehoor was dat hulle probleme gehad het om die teks te verstaan. Die twee Afrikaanse dramas, Boklied en Die Toneelstuk word in hierdie tesis binne die postmoderne teaterstroom geplaas om aan te toon hoe dié tipe teatertekste gelees kan word. Die studie ondersoek ook die aard van intertekstuele verwysings in die dramas- om aan te toon hoe hierdie verwysings help met die skepping van betekenis by die kyker/leser van hierdie tekste. Die geskrewe dramateks kan eers ten volle in die lewe geroep word in die produksie van die teks en daarom word daar in die bespreking van die tekste ook na die opvoerings verwys. Die belewing van 'n postmoderne teaterstuk beteken nie dat daar nie betekenis aan aksie en taal toegeskryf kan word nie. Die toeskrywing van betekenis is, in gevalle soos die produksies van Boklied en Die Toneelstuk, nie altyd tekstueel gebaseer nie. Die toeskouer/leser van hierdie tekste is medeskepper van betekenis. Die studie poog om die vele moontlikhede van interpretasie en die betekenis van hierdie tekste uit te lig.

This study examines carnival and ritual in Breyten Breytenbach's dramatic oeuvre and focuses on his Afrikaans drama texts Boklied (1998) and Die toneelstuk (2001). Seeing that these dramas had their debut performances at the Afrikaans national arts festival, the Afrikaans festival phenomenon, as well as Breytenbach's texts will be discussed as framed Events, within a carnival environment, as defined and described by Russian philosopher Bakhtin. The study evolves around three critical questions: 1. How does Bakhtin define the term "carnival" and could Afrikaans national arts festvals be seen as platforms for carnavalesque expression? 2. How does Professor Temple Hauptfleisch define an Event and why can the Afrikaans national arts festivals, as well as the drama texts under discussion, be seen as such Events? 3. How does Breyten Breytenbach's texts link up with Bakhtin's carnival theory and the ritual nature of the Dionysos festivals? / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

This study examines carnival and ritual in Breyten Breytenbach's dramatic oeuvre and focuses on his Afrikaans drama texts Boklied (1998) and Die toneelstuk (2001). Seeing that these dramas had their debut performances at the Afrikaans national arts festival, the Afrikaans festival phenomenon, as well as Breytenbach's texts will be discussed as framed Events, within a carnival environment, as defined and described by Russian philosopher Bakhtin. The study evolves around three critical questions: 1. How does Bakhtin define the term "carnival" and could Afrikaans national arts festvals be seen as platforms for carnavalesque expression? 2. How does Professor Temple Hauptfleisch define an Event and why can the Afrikaans national arts festivals, as well as the drama texts under discussion, be seen as such Events? 3. How does Breyten Breytenbach's texts link up with Bakhtin's carnival theory and the ritual nature of the Dionysos festivals? / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

Thesis (DLitt (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation studies the depiction of character subjectivity in two text series of Alexander Strachan and Breyten Breytenbach. Strachan’s first three prose works are dealt with as a trilogy wherein one main character, Lenka, traverses three texts. Breytenbach’s five autobiographical prose works about visits to South Africa are also dealt with as a text series wherein one main character, Breytenbach, is depicted. In both instances the subjectivity, as portrayed by these authors, is read as a nomadic subjectivity, a term borrowed from the French thinkers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. The study assumes the form of a Deleuze-Guattarian reading of Strachan and Breytenbach’s work with a sustained focus on the depiction of the nomadic subject in the works of both authors. During the course of the study many philosophical concepts, developed in the work of Deleuze and Guattari, are explained and implemented as thinking and reading instruments whereby the prose texts are read in a new perspective. Although a Deleuze-Guattarian reading of prose texts is a relatively uncharted territory in circles of Afrikaans literary theory, this study purports to indicate that when a schizo-analytical view of subjectivity is used to analyse the functioning of character subjectivity within literary works, the texts gain new life in interesting ways. Using the concept of the nomadic subject empowers me to establish a useful reading strategy for the reading of a character who refuses to become wholly subjected to the text and the world within which he lives and who rather experiences an existence of perpetual becomings. Eventually it is suggested that the creation of a nomadic character is not only dependent upon a different grasp of subjectivity as indicated in the text, but that the writing of a particular, revolutionary form of literature, a minor literature, is implied. The nomadic subject’s being implies perpetual becomings, and a successful literary portrayal of this subject must depict such becomings at stylistic and formal levels. This study moves systematically from an analysis of nomadic subjects in literary texts to the more general question of how a minor literature functions so that the nomadic being of the character is also kept alive in the form and style of the text.

A Translation project submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (Translation). / This case study investigates and analyses the transfer of the socio-political elements of meaning, in the translated text, A Season in Paradise (1985). The study attempts to discover and account for any factors which may have impacted on the transfer of the socio-political elements from the source text. to make the study as systematic and as objective as possible, an adaptation of the model of analysis proposed by Lambert and Van Gorp is used. Lambert and Van Gorp are theorists who fall within the branch of translation studies called Descriptive Translation studies. The adaptation of the Lambert and Van Gorp model takes into account the factors which could have influenced the translator's reading of the literary text and which could have impacted on her translation strategy. The macro-analysis establishes the background to the translation and compares the physical features and the publishing circumstances of the target text with that of the source text. It contains a discussion on any similarities or differences found. On the micro-level, specific extracts with a socio-political theme are compared using selected linguistic concepts from Halliday's An Introduction to Functional Grammar as interpretive tools. The shifts discovered here were linked to the discoveries made in the macro-level analysis. It: was determined that prevalent reading strategies at the time did to a limited extent influence the transfer of the socio-political elements of meaning present in the text. This study is done to shed more light on the process of translating a literary work and the factors which may influence this process. / Andrew Chakane 2018

In hierdie studie ondersoek ek die ek-spreker in Breyten Breytenbach se debuutbundel. Om hierdie doel te verwesenlik, het ek 'n verteenwoordigende aantal gedigte uit die drie afdelings van die bundel in die ondersoek betrek en die ek-spreker in die gedigte nagegaan. Daar bestaan verskil van mening deur die kritici oor die "ek" in hierdie bundel. In Hoofstuk 1 wys ek hierop deur kort aanhalings. F.I.J. van Rensburg en R. Schutte beskou Die ysterkoei moet sweet as ekshibisionisties; N.P. van Wyk Louw meen daar is 'n bietjie te veel "ek-Breyten-rig-heid" in hierdie verse; A.P. Grovè oordeel dat die ek in hierdie gedigte hom soms opdring aan die leser en dit kan die gevaar inhou dat die gedig as afsonderlike struktuur aangetas kan word; Andrè P. Brink en Rob. Antonissen is van mening dat dit 'n ek-bundel sonder ekkerigheid is; D.J. Opperman meen dit is poësie wat 'n voorliefde het vir selfportrettering en selfspot, maar die verse is soms gesog en ekshibisionisties. In Hoofstuk 2 gaan ek literêr-teoreties in op die ek-spreker in die gedig. Ek probeer veral - deur bekende kritici en teoretici se uitsprake te beredeneer - antwoorde vind op o.m. die volgende vrae: Watter rol speel die ek in die gedig? Is daar 'n verskil tussen die poëtiese ek en die persoonlike ek in die gedig? Dit is ou vrae in die literatuur wat op voorbeelde af al bevredigend beantwoord is deur verskillende kritici, maar Breytenbach se poësie dwing mens om jouself opnuut rekenskap hiervan te gee - soos die verskillende oordele in Hoofstuk 1 gegee, bewys. Vanaf Hoofstuk 3 ontleed ek die bundel sistematies, dit wil sê afdeling vir afdeling en in sy samehang, met besondere aandag aan die rol van die ek-spreker in die gedig. In hierdie hoofstuk konsentreer ek slegs op die eerste gedig van die bundel, "Bedreiging van die Siekes". Dit is 'n heel ongewone gedig vir Afrikaans, 'n voorstellingsgedig waarin twee markante ek-sprekers hulle verskyning maak: 'n spottende seremoniemeester wat "Die maer man met die groen trui"- "Breyten Breytenbach" - aan 'n gehoor voorstel. Laasgenoemde figuur dra dan, vol angs en vrees, 'n gedig voor, 'n gedig wat sy problematiek openbaar: die feit dat hy vasgevang sit in 'n wêreld wat hom bedreig. Hierdie wêreld word in sterk visuele beelde voorgestel. Dis 'n surrealistiese wêreld waarin die reën wat oor alles uitsak die strate in bloed verander. Die ek-Breytenbach van die gedig sien profeties sy eie onafwendbare begrafnis: hierin móét sy gehoor 'n aandeel hê, want hy beveel hulle om hom eers te wond en dan in die grond te "plant". Intussen sal hy - in die gedig uitgewys as 'n sieke - bly praat oor die saam- en naasbestaan van uiter-stes: dood en ontbinding, en "leeubekkies" en "prewelende monnike". In die slotstrofe lewer die seremoniemeester weer spottend kommentaar op die Breytenbach-van-die-gedig: hy meen hy is skadeloos en die gehoor moet hom genadig wees. Hierdie gedig kan gesien word as opdraggedig van die bundel, in besonder van die eerste afdeling, die maer man met die groen trui - 'n titel ontleen aan hierdie gedig: veral deur die besondere procédé van selfspot en die deurlopende motiewe van angs, bedreiging, dood, verrotting én groei, ensovoort, wat telkens deur die gedigte sirkuleer. Hierdie gedig is ook net 'n "voorbeeld" - in ander "voorbeelde" word hierdie motiewe sterker uitgewerk en/of gewysig. In Hoofstuk 4 bespreek ek gedigte uit genoemde eerste afdeling. Die maer man met die groen trui - duidelik 'n bepaalde masker of karikatuur van die ware Breytenbach - het in hierdie afdeling telkens 'n wisselende aard. Hy tree op as digter, malle, sieke, vreesvolle mens, eensame, reisiger, digter-kind, ensomeer. Selde kry ons in die gedig 'n direkte oop belydenis. Breytenbach skep verskillende gestaltes van Die maer man met die groen trui in hom word dikwels houdinge en gesindhede geprojekteer wat die moderne mens in die algemeen raak. Ook in die tweede afdeling, Kopatlas - waarop ek in Hoofstuk 5 ingaan - draai die gedig nog (alhoewel in mindere mate) om ek en wêreld. Ons kry nou veral verbeeldingsreise. Zen laat hom veral sterk geld. Die openingsgedig, "nirvana", waarin Gautama Boeddha sy ek opeet, werk deur in die gedigte van hierdie afdeling. Dit vind 'n mooi hoogtepunt in "Blomme vir Boeddha", waarin die ek verdwyn en een word met al die elemente van die gedig. Hierdie eenwording in die gedig van ek en wêreld geld ook vir die derde afdeling, die mond is te geheim om pyn nie te voel nie, 'n reeks liefdesverse. (Hoofstuk 6) Veral in die liefde, in die eenwording tussen man en vrou, bestaan die moontlikheid dat hiërargieë opgehef kan word. Selfs hier het die spreker 'n wisselende aard: dit wissel van 'n nederige dankbare mens oor die gawe van die liefde en die kosbaarheid van die geliefde, van die wonderlike eenwording tussen man en vrou, van die besondere spreker wat die ongenaakbare wêreld omtower - deur sy woord - tot 'n sprokieslandskap waarin hulle gelukkig woon, tot by die 'groot figuur' ('n god) van "verwoesting, die wrak", die skepper van sy geliefde en sy wêreld. In die meerderheid liefdesverse skuil die elegiese en verwordende, tog is in die liefde die wonder van metamorfose moontlik - 'n belangrike kenmerk van hierdie poësie. Dit is uit hierdie studie duidelik dat die ek-spreker in Die ysterkoei moet sweet 'n wisselende aard het. Alhoewel die spil van die gedig in die meerderheid gedigte draai om ek en wêreld, is dit oor die algemeen nie 'n ekkerige, selfopdringerige poësie nie. Dit is digwerk wat dikwels 'n korrektief van bv. selfspot op die ek bied en binne 'n Zen-sfeer trag om ek en wêreld te versoen. / ENGLISH : In this study I examine the I-speaker in Breyten Breytenbach's first volume of poetry. In order to do this a representative number of poems were selected from the three sections in this book and the role and function of the I-speaker in these were traced. Critics differ as to how the I manifests itself in these poems. In the first chapter this is pointed out by briefly quoting a few of these differences, e.g.: According to F.I.J. van Rensburg and R. Schutte Die ysterkoei moet sweet (The iron cow must sweat) is exhibisionistic; N.P. van Wyk Louw is of the opinion that the poet is somewhat too much involved with himself (" 'n bietjie te veel ek-Breyten-rig-heid"); A.P. Grové judges that the I in some of these poems enforces itself upon the reader with the danger of impairing the ontic status of the work of art; André P. Brink and Rob. Antonissen consider these poems as being poetry of the I without an egotistic tone; for D.J. Opperman this is poetry with a preference for selfportrayal and mockery of the self; however, he finds some of the poems forced and exhibisionistic. In Chapter 2 I deal theoretically with the I-speaker in the poem. By referring to and commenting on various critics I try to arrive at answers on among others the following questions: What rôle does the I fulfil in the poem? Is there a difference between the poetic I and the personal I? These questions have been satisfactorily answered in theoretical writings, but Breytenbach's poetry forces one to answer these questions anew. From Chapter 3 onwards I analysed the selected poems. The first poem "Bedreiging van die Siekes" (Threatening of the Ill) is dealt with at length. This is a most unusual poem for Afrikaans. In this introductory poem there are two conspicious I-speakers: a jeering master of ceremonies who introduces to an audience ,"Die maer man met die groen trui" (The thin man with the green sweater) - "Breyten Breytenbach ". This Breytenbach then recites a poem which is revealing of his anxiety and fear: he is entangled in a world which threatens him. This world is portrayed through strong visual images - a surrealistic world in which the streets are transformed into blood by the rain. This speaker prophetically describes his inevitable burial in which his audience shall play a part, since he demands them to wound him first and then plant him in the ground. But he - an invalid - will continue talking about the coexistence and togetherness of extremes: death and decomposition on the one hand, "leeubekkies" (snapdragons) and "prewelende monnike" (muttering monks) on the other. In the last stanza the master of ceremonies again comments jeeringly on the Breytenbach in the poem: He is harmless, have mercy on him. This poem can be read as a dedication to the remainder of poems in the volume, and in particular to those in the first section, Die maer man met die groen trui (the thin man with the green sweater) - a title taken from the poem: particularly through the precédé of selfmockery and the continual recurrence of the motives of anxiety, threat, death, decomposition and rebirth, etc. This poem is merely an "example" - in other "examples" the same motives are more thoroughly elaborated on and/or altered. In Chapter 4 I discuss certain poems taken from the first section. The thin man with the green sweater - a mask or caricature of the real Breytenbach - takes on a changing rôle: as a poet, madman, invalid, a terrified man, one who is lonely, a traveller, a poet-child and so forth. Seldom is there a direct open confession. Breytenbach creates differing portrayals of the thin man with the green sweater; he is one with fixed likes and dislikes, and attitudes which resemble modern man in general. Also in the second section Kopatlas (mind atlas) - which is dealt with in Chapter 5 - the poems revolve around the I and the world. We find for the most part imaginary journeys. Zen asserts itself strongly. In the first poem, "nirvana", Gautama Buddha devours his I. This process dominates the remainder of the poems in this section. It culminates in "Blomme vir Boeddha" (flowers for buddha) when the I disappears and is assimilated in all the elements of the poem. This unification of the I with the world also occurs in the third section, die mond is te geheim om pyn nie te voel nie (the mouth is too secret not to feel pain) - a series of love poems. (Chapter 6) In love, in the unification between man and woman lies the possibility of hierarchies being uplifted. Even here the speaker has a changing nature: it varies between being modest, thankful for the gift of love and the beloved; the wonder of man and woman becoming one; he who with the gift of the word transforms this unkind world into a fairyland in which they live happily; to the 'important speaker' (a god) in "verwoesting, die wrak" (destruction, the wreck), the creater of his beloved and his world. In most of the love poems we find the elegiac; however, in love the wonder of metamorphosis is possible - an important characteristic of this poetry. An analysis of the poems shows the I-speaker to be of a changing nature. Although the majority of the poems focus on the I and the world, in general they do not become egotistic and self-assertive. Rather it is poetry in which we find correctives towards the I and which, within Zen, aims at reconciling the I with the world. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 1977. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

This dissertation examines Breyten Breytenbach‟s memoir Dog Heart, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong‟o‟s novel Matigari, with particular attention to the use of a mother tongue or another language in the texts, and whether these reflect or impact on the writers‟ sense of personal, cultural and political identity. It compares and contrasts the authors‟ views on, and experiences of, culture, language, translation and exile, and whether these aspects appear in the two primary works. Dilemmas associated with the authors‟ choice of language in their creative works, preferred audiences, and affiliations to their mother tongue speech communities are also explored. By drawing on Breytenbach‟s and Ngũgĩ‟s diverse stances on these issues, and following their respective publishing decisions, it is hoped an interesting conversation is created between these significant political activists and their writing. / English Studies / M.A. (English literature)

This dissertation examines Breyten Breytenbach‟s memoir Dog Heart, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong‟o‟s novel Matigari, with particular attention to the use of a mother tongue or another language in the texts, and whether these reflect or impact on the writers‟ sense of personal, cultural and political identity. It compares and contrasts the authors‟ views on, and experiences of, culture, language, translation and exile, and whether these aspects appear in the two primary works. Dilemmas associated with the authors‟ choice of language in their creative works, preferred audiences, and affiliations to their mother tongue speech communities are also explored. By drawing on Breytenbach‟s and Ngũgĩ‟s diverse stances on these issues, and following their respective publishing decisions, it is hoped an interesting conversation is created between these significant political activists and their writing. / English Studies / M.A. (English literature)

Thesis (PhD) -- Stellenbosch University, 1988. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: no abstract available / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: geen opsomming

This thesis compares the later poetry of Breyten Breytenbach and Lucebert from the phenomenological approach of landscape as dwelling. The metaphor of landscape as dwelling is derived from the art philosophy of Martin Heidegger, which emphasises the importance of truth as aletheia (or “disclosure”), the cultural geography of John Wylie, which illuminates the notion of landscape as tension, and the anthropology of Tim Ingold with reference to the dwelling perspective, adopted from Heidegger’s philosophy on dwelling. The thesis destructs the Cartesian idea of landscape, which relates to the constructivist description of landscape as a way of seeing. The destructive reading shows that mortals’ dwelling on earth is inherently part of the landscape, which means that landscape opens up as an expression of Dasein’s fundamental being-in-the-world, rather than a scene looked upon from afar. Furthermore, this thesis uses Ingold’s distinction between the landscape and the taskscape (Ingold, 2000:195), and Heidegger’s notion of the fourfold (Heidegger, 1989:172), to make a desctructive reading of the poets’ work, with specific reference to William Spanos’s destructive criticism. It investigates a number of poems from Breytenbach’s Nine landscapes of our time bequeathed to a beloved (Nege landskappe van ons tye bemaak aan ʼn beminde, 1993), Paper flower (Papierblom, 1998), The wind-catcher (Die windvanger, 2007), The principle of dust (Die beginsel van stof, 2011) and Catalects (Katalekte, 2012), and Lucebert’s Harvests in the roaming garden (Oogsten in de dwaaltuin, 1981), The swamp rider from paradise (De moerasruiter uit het paradijs, 1982), Console the hysterical robot (Troost de hysterische robot, 1989), Of the malt-like profligate (Van de maltentige losbol, 1993) and Of the motionless agitator (Van de roerloze woelgeest, 1994). The analyses focus specifically on the destruction of the traditional landscape idea by emphasising Dasein’s everyday activities, and his/her dis-covering approach toward the elements of the fourfold. The thesis concludes with a comparison of the work of the poets in terms of their destruction of the notion of landscape, the temporality of the taskscape, the taskscape as an ensemble of tasks, and a systematic reading of dwelling. / PhD (Afrikaans en Nederlands), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015