Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2008. Dept. of English. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-115).

Thesis (M. A.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. / Bibliography: p. 89-93.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study explores representations of troubled childhoods in post-1990 African narratives. Defining troubled childhoods as the experiences of children exposed to different forms of violations including physical, psychological, sexual and emotional abuse, the study reflects on depictions of such experiences in a selection of contemporary African fictional texts in English. The study‘s central thesis is that, while particular authors‘ deployment of affective writing techniques offers implicit analysis of troubled childhoods, the knowledge about this reality that such literary texts produce and place in the public sphere resonates with readers because of the narrative textures that both make knowledge concerning such childhoods accessible and create a sense of the urgent plight of such children. They render troubled childhoods grieveable. The study delineates three attributes of the selected texts that explain why such fictions can be considered significant from both social and aesthetic perspectives: namely, their foregrounding of intertwined vectors of violation and/or vulnerability; their skilful use of multi-layered narrative voices and their creation of specific posttraumatic damage and survival tropes. The four main thesis chapters are organised thematically rather than conceptually or theoretically, because representations of troubled childhoods are contextually and experientially entangled. Using Maria Pia Lara‘s notion of ―illocutionary force‖ and specific aspects of trauma and affect theory, the study focuses centrally on how the units of narration construct persuasive and convincing depictions of troubled childhoods while using fiction to convene platforms for reflection on the phenomena of child victims of war violence, abusive parenting, sexual predation and sexual violation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie ondersoek voorstellings van gekwelde kinder-ervaringswêrelde in post-1990 narratiewe deur skrywers van Afrika. Gekwelde kinder-ervaringswêrelde word gedefinieer as die ondervindinge van kinders wat blootgestel is aan verskillende vorms van skending, insluitend fisiese, psigologiese, seksuele en emosionele skending. Met hierdie definisie in gedagte reflekteer die studie op gelselekteerde uitbeeldings van sulke ervarings in hedendaagse Afrika-fiksie in Engels. Die studie se sentrale tesis is dat, terwyl sekere outeurs se ontplooiïng van affektiewe skryftegnieke implisiete analise van gekwelde kinder-ervaringswêrelde bied, resoneer die kennis oor hierdie realiteit wat sulke literêre tekste oplewer en in die publieke sfeer plaas met die leespubliek omdat die struktuur van die narratiewe die verskynsel van kwellende kinder-ervarings onthul en bewustheid van die dringende aard van die verskynsel bemoontlik. Sulke kinderlewens word op hierdie manier treurbaar [grievable] gemaak. Die studie delinieer drie eienskappe van die gekose tekste wat verduidelik waarom hierdie tekste vanuit beide sosiale en estetiese perspektiewe as beduidend beskou kan word, naamlik die verstrengelde vektors van verkragting en kwesbaarheid wat hulle op die voorgrond bring, hul bekwame gebruik van veellagige narratiewe stemme en hul skepping van spesifieke posttraumatiese skade- en oorlewingstrope. Die vier middelste tesis-hoofstukke is tematies in plaas van konsepsueel of teoreties georganiseer, omdat voorstellings van gekwelde kinder-ervaringswêrelde kontekstueel- en ervaringsverstrik is. Met die gebruik van Maria Pia Lara se begrip van illocutionary force en spesifieke aspekte van trauma- en inwerkingsteorie fokus die studie hoofsaaklik op hoe die narratiewe eenhede oorhalende en oortuigende afbeeldings van gekwelde kinder-ervaringswêrelde konstrueer terwyl hulle fiksie gebruik om platforms vir refleksie op die fenomeen van kinderslagoffers van oorlogsgeweld, misbruikende ouerskap en seksuele- predasie en verkragting byeen te bring.

In recent years, the media have publicized the social problem of physical child abuse. This study examined three artifacts of physical abuse: the children's book Robin's Story, the popular song "Luka," and the television documentary Scared Silent: Exposing and Ending Child Abuse. Chapter One described each artifact and provided a literature review which detailed the writings about physical child abuse and artifacts discussing this topic. The chapter then posed research questions about how the artifacts viewed abused children and their abusers, the causes of abuse, and the solutions proposed for ending physical abuse.Chapter One finally discussed the narrative framework of rhetorical analysis used to examine the three artifacts. The narrative method used in this analysis employed three steps: 1) An examination of narrative structure, which discussed the plot of the story, the crucial points of the story and the events which supplemented those points, and the steps of breach, crisis, redress, and reintegration in the narrative; 2) An examination of narrative rationality, which talked about the completeness and true to life quality of the story and evaluated the reasons the rhetors gave for following the course of action endorsed by the story; and 3) An examination of narrative standards, including truth standard or how the narrative compares with what the audience believes is true; aesthetic standard or the grammar, setting, and characterization within the story, and ethical standard or the values expressed within the narrative. Chapter Two applied this framework to the children's book Robin's Story. Chapter Three viewed the popular song "Luka" through the narrative framework. Chapter Four discussed the documentary Scared Silent in terms of narrative analysis.Chapter Five then discussed the conclusions of the analysis for each artifact, artifacts discussing physical abuse, and for rhetoric. Some of the conclusions reached were that artifacts discussing physical child abuse should attempt to make their stories universal, that such artifacts need to distinguish between abuse and physical punishment, and that artifacts dealing with this problem must provide concrete courses of action to end physical abuse. This analysis concluded that, while narrative analysis provided the answers to the research questions, this framework needs to be made into a concrete method of rhetorical analysis to ensure that narratives are effectively evaluated. Narrative analysis was positive in this analysis, however, in that it supported the definitions of rhetoric as value, epistemology, motive, drama, meaning, and argument. This analysis found that, to end the problem of physical child abuse, rhetors must work with experts in this field and tailor artifacts from different perspectives to various audiences using different forms of media. / Department of Speech Communication

There seems to be common agreement among practitioners and researchers in Criminal Justice that youth who are abused often become participants in the juvenile justice system. The current literature finds considerable evidence to support this position. However, some questions concerning the relationship between child abuse and juvenile delinquency remain. Specifically, how direct, or casual, is the link between the two? Are different groups of youth, such as Hispanic famales uniquely affected?

<abstract>'In Two Minds' is a novel of false beliefs. Set in contemporary Sydney, it deals with the relationship between two sisters in their late thirties, Kara and Linda Hille. Told in the second person singular from the point of view of the elder sister, Linda, it is based around the neurological delusion of the younger sibling, Kara. Kara wrongly believes that their mother, Stella, has been replaced by an impostor, 'Mrs. Whitegloves'. For the greater part, the narrative 'you' relates events in the sisters' lives and deals with issues such as the consequences of condoned child abuse, the dilemma of human cloning and the future of 'the brand' in the light of contemporary global marketing. Linda, an advertising executive, struggles with a formidable work-project, an account that is lost to a competitor, and the mistaken belief that she is responsible for her sister's plight. Shocking graffiti about herself, which appears at the same time as she wins an advertising award, proves to be the catalyst that brings beneficial change to her life. Through the tragedy of confronting her sister's devastation and her own challenges, Linda leaves her job, believing this will allow her to start again - differently. In the final chapter, the difference is registered in a shift from the second person to the consolidated first person method of narration. ABSTRACT EXEGESIS The dissertation 'A Singular Voice' documents aspects of authorial, psychoanalytical and literary significance in the creation of a fiction which draws on personal material confrontational to the writer. It also discusses some wider (non-fictional and other) uses of the narrative 'you' in order to establish the literary tradition in which the novel 'In Two Minds' may be situated. This disseration examines the use of the second-person singular pronoun 'you' as narrator, mainly in contemporary fiction. It concentrates on the ways in which the narrative 'you' was employed to achieve a 'cover', mask or persona for the 'I' behind the text in the novel 'In Two Minds', and explains why it was necessary to seek such subterfuge. It describes how certain grammatical and rhetorical resources were used to build and maintain 'cover', while at the same time allowing the narrative 'you' to express a particular aspect of the fictional protagonist, address the reader, and sustain the story of which it is the intradiegetic narratee. Related narrative elements include construction of the characters through the use of the narrative 'you', for example the narcissistic mother, Stella; the phantom double, 'Mrs. Whitegloves'; the sufferer of Capgras' delusion, Kara; and the ultimate bearer of the singular 'you' voice, the protagonist Linda.