Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis the possibility of reading the work of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach as extensive social commentary and criticism on a conformist, normative South African society, is investigated. This investigation will be conducted with the aid of theories about marginality and liminality. In an attempt to determine whether Viljoen/Winterbach's work can indeed be read as social commentary and criticism, a number of characters from her whole oeuvre are classified as either marginal, liminal or a combination of both these characteristics. The concepts marginality and liminality are described in chapter 1. In chapter 2 the classification system on which this investigation is built, will be discussed and attention will also be given to problems with the classification system (and problems with classification systems in general). In chapters 3 to 5 Viljoen/Winterbach's work will be discussed, with a chapter devoted to each of the following broad categories: marginal characters (the homeless, the proletariat, the mentally retarded and the insane), characters who are both marginal and liminal (mystics) and liminal characters (fortune tellers, temporary intermediaries, shamans and tricksters). The salient points will be gathered together in the conclusion. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie verhandeling word die moontlikheid ondersoek om die werk van Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach te lees as uitgebreide sosiale kommentaar en kritiek op 'n konformistiese, normatiewe Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing. Hierdie ondersoek sal verrig word aan die hand van teorieë omtrent marginaliteit en liminaliteit. In 'n poging om te bepaal of Viljoen/Winterbach se werk wél as sosiale kommentaar en kritiek gelees kan word, word 'n aantal karakters uit haar hele oeuvre geklassifiseer as marginaal, liminaal, óf 'n kombinasie van beide hierdie kenmerke. Die konsepte marginaliteit en liminaliteit word in hoofstuk lomskryf. In hoofstuk 2 word die klassifikasiesisteem waarop hierdie ondersoek berus, bespreek en word daar ook aandag geskenk aan probleme rondom die klassifikasiesisteem (en rondom klassifikasiesisteme in die algemeen). In hoofstukke 3 tot 5 word Viljoen/Winterbach se werk bespreek, met 'n hoofstuk afgestaan aan elkeen van die volgende breë kategorieë: marginale karakters (haweloses, die proletariaat, swaksinniges en gekke), karakters wat sowel marginaal as liminaal is (mistici) en liminale karakters (sieners, tydelike bemiddelaars, sjamane en trieksters). Die hoofpunte word byeengebring in die samevatting.

Thesis (MDram (Drama))—University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Oral Art (Woordkuns) as a performing art form is a burgeoning independent theatre genre that has developed especially over the last decade with the rise of the national arts festivals. By investigating the literary term word art, the eclectic nature of oral art as a theatre genre, the oral art text and the role of the visual within an oral art performance, we are able to give a paraphrase or definition of oral art as a theatre genre. Oral art as a performing art form can firstly be defined with reference to the origins of the oral art text, namely an existing work(s) that originated as a non-dramatic literary work(s) and that is revisited within a new context; secondly a shift in the dramatic presentation from physical action to the spoken word. The eclectic nature of oral art is a further characteristic of this theatre genre. Oral art has the ability to change in form and function and not only can it be biographical or autobiographical, but it can also be socio-politically intended. The hybrid nature of oral art – oral art texts combine in many cases works from different genres – also shows many similarities with other theatre genres like cabaret and black political protest theatre. Three possible structures are identified within the oral art text, namely an episodic structure, a developing story line or argument and a compilation consisting of a number of short stories or narratives. The oral art text can be compiled from a number of literary genres and the choice of material is determined by the overarching theme and the format of the performance. Visual elements support the oration within an oral art performance. The different types of texts used in the compilation of an oral art program determine the presentation style and stage composition. Physical action is representational rather than realistic. The use of décor, props, costumes and lighting are minimal and multi-functional.

This thesis attempts a comparative study of Conrad and Dostoevsky. In doing so, it proposes a significant relationship between the ideological, political and literary worlds of both authors. The work is undertaken in eight chapters. Chapter One explores Conrad and Dostoevsky's respective national and cultural identities. It reflects on Conrad's recorded reactions to Dostoevsky and his work, and speculates on the latter's likely response to Conrad. Chapter Two challenges established critical formulae that suggest Dostoevsky is a purely 'Dionysian' writer. The view that Conrad is a consummate 'Apollonian' artist is similarly brought into question. Chapter Three considers Conrad and Dostoevsky as major literary innovators. To support my argument, Bakhtin's critical concepts of 'polyphony' and 'monology' are introduced, and applied in a Dostoevskyan and Conradian context. Especially highlighted is my debate on Conrad's 'polyphonic' narrative technique in Lord Jim (1900). The notable fusion of disparate literary genres in Conrad and Dostoevsky's novels is explored in Chapter Four. Elements of 'adventure', 'thriller', 'romance', and 'detective' fiction are identified in each novelist's world. My argument, however, restricts itself to an extensive analysis of the surprising importance of the 'Gothic' elements in both writers' worlds. Chapters Five and Six, concentrate on Conrad and Dostoevsky's profound insights into the fundamental character of the human personality. Chapter Five considers their parallel interpretations of mankind's quintessentially materialist nature. Chapter Six looks at their strikingly similar visions of man's violent and carnal identity, and his primary urge to dominate other weaker individuals. Chapters Seven and Eight consider two central themes in Conrad and Dostoevsky's fiction, that of anarchist politics and nihilism respectively. Their political and ideological responses to these issues are investigated in some detail, and significant interpretive parallels established. Finally, the conclusion undertakes to once again assure the reader of the surprising and unsuspected bonds that exist between these two seemingly alien writers.

This thesis concerns itself with the conjunction of literature and politics in the work and thought of Hugh MacDiarmid and seeks to explore the nature of that conjunction: what is referred to as MacDiarmid's "political aesthetic". The thesis sets out to examine MacDiarmid's nationalism, its basis and its relevance to his writing, arguing that his theory of "National Psychology", as I term it, is central to his creative output and one important aspect of which is his imaginative embodiment of his country's "psychology" in his poetic voice: what I have called the "Representative Personality". As with his nationalism, this thesis also treats of his communism, its roots, nature and influence, and with special regard to his definition of the function of art as "the extension of consciousness" and questions the philosophical viability of his declared materialism. It argues here that, in spite of MacDiarmid's cult of the absolute and the extreme, much of the power and range of his poetry derives from his attempt to reconcile, or compromise between, philosophical idealism and dialectical materialism, and that the resultant tension deriving from his empirio-critical position is a major characteristic in his poetry. Concomitant with his empirio-criticism is the "God-building" mentality (as opposed to Solovievian "God-seeking") that he shared with many contemporaries, not least in the ranks of Lenin's Bolshevik Party. This is dealt with at some depth as is the influence of Slavophilism on his nationalism and Russo-Scottish parallelism. The thesis is, in many ways, a comparative study, and always seeks to relate important issues discussed to the relevant historical conditions and so placing MacDiarmid among British and European counterparts. It is not a blow-by-blow account of the poetry, but ranges widely through MacDiarmid's criticism as well, and attempts to define something of the intellectual and imaginative structures which gave power and ubiquity to the voice of the poet.

No description available.

In her study of the post-independence Zimbabwean music industry, Angela Impey notes that women now constitute a hidden yet sizeable force in the music industry (1992:17). The current study examines the socio-political, cultural and economic factors that have led to the significant increase in the number of female musicians in the post-independence Zimbabwean popular music industry. The study also seeks to bring to the fore the longstanding issue of the dynamics in the relationship between male and female musicians in the industry. Applying a feminist approach to the study of popular music, the current study seeks to shift the focus of research from the presentation of women as victims in the industry to that of celebrating the female successes in the popular music industry. Through a case study approach the study sets out to describe and analyse the careers of Sandra Ndebele and Edith Weutonga who have become successful in the once male dominated industry.

Labor literature is in popular and academic neglect. I argue that labor literature's neglect is unjust, and I provide a way of examining labor literature that can rescue it from neglect. I shall be concerned with labor literature's academic decline due to its apparent lack of value according to traditional standards of literary criticism. I will argue that ethical criticism - criticism of literature that considers the ethics of a work as a part of its literary value - can reveal new complexities in labor literature. An ethical critical analysis of the representation of American labor movements and workers in noncanonical texts will show the distinctive ethical value such texts hold. I will argue that labor texts possess ethical value insofar as they help readers develop awareness of complex ethical issues posed by labor and community, and that the ethical value of labor literature provides a new reason to value such works. / by Rachel McDermott. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

John Crowley’s Little, Big is an innovative piece of fantasy writing. This thesis aims to prove that Crowley’s innovation lays the groundwork for new avenues in which fantastic space can be manipulated and constructed. Deep study in Euclidean geometry, modern physics, and occult astronomy reveal a new fantastic space, and a new concept for the threshold of Faerie. Crowley’s fantastic space is constructed as infundibular; with layers of concentricities that funnels his characters to their final destination of self-actualization and the heaven-like realm of Faerie. Crowley amalgamates the boundaries of Faerie and the primary world in an unusual fashion that is noted as Coalesced Fantasy: a fantasy wherein there is ultimately no dichotomy between Faerie and the primary world, as there is no division between the fantastic and science. This deliberate aim to blend boundaries is to establish an All in One theory. Faerie and the primary world oppose each other as antithetical conical space, and Crowley’s Edgewood house serves as the threshold to allow man to access the divinity and vastness of Faerie. Faerie (Divinity/macrocosm) and man (microcosm) exist in and amongst one another; everything is connected and every path intersects, spinning on a hyperbolic plane in this new, quantifiable space. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis covers the entire range of British and American film adaptations of Emily Brontë’s novel, Wuthering Heights, as no cumulative study on this larger selection has been done thus far. However this will not be the only objective of this thesis, as I create a link between the author’s life to her novel, between the novel to the early criticism, and the criticism to later adaptations, forming a chain of transformation down the ages, to the original novel. By linking the adaptations to the earlier reception of the novel, a change of social interaction will be uncovered as one of its reasons for surviving. These examples of adaptation will be shown to be just as relevant to popular culture history as its original inspiration. This is the result of an unfolding movement of change and mutation, where each adaptation pushes to connect with the past and future. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

As the quotation in the title of this thesis indicates, Douglas Livingstone states that unless humankind can learn to live in mutuality with the rest of the natural world, the human race faces extinction. Using the relatively new critical approach of ecological literary criticism (ecocriticism) this thesis explores Livingstone's preoccupation with "symbiosis or death" and shows that the predominant theme in his ecologically-orientated poetry is one of ecological despair. Countering this is a tentative thread of hope. Possible resolution lies in the human capacity to attain compassion and wisdom through the judicious use of science, creativity, the power of art and the power of love. Livingstone's ecological preoccupation is thus informed by the universal themes which have pervaded literature since its recorded beginnings. The first chapter examines the concepts of ecology and literary ecocriticism, followed by a chapter on the life and work of Douglas Livingstone, and a review of the critical response to the five collections of poetry which predate A Littoral Zone, his final work. The remaining four chapters offer an analysis of his ecologically-orientated poetry, with the majority of the space given to an examination of A Littoral Zone. The following ecological themes are used in the analysis of the poems: evolutionary theory, humankind's relationship to nature, ecological equilibrium, and ecological destruction. The latter two themes are shown to represent Livingstone's view of the ideal and the real, or the opposites of hope and despair. The analysis interweaves an argument with the existing critical response to this collection. This thesis demonstrates that Livingstone's crucial message – the need for humankind to attain ecological sensibility or “the knowledge of right living” (Ellen Swallow) and so obviate its certain extinction – has largely been ignored in previous critical works.