This paper utilizes poststructuralist theory to investigate the polysemic nature of the eponymous character Beloved in Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel Beloved. The ghostly, anachronistic presence of Beloved renders the text open to multiple interpretations and this essay sets out to explore the ways in which meaning is created and communicated. From a poststructuralist perspective, considering that the meaning is in a state of flux, a text weaves its system of meaning around an assumed center in order to provide so-called stability. Peripheral meanings are repressed by the center to secure the meaning system. However, the periphery, which has a constructive function in the organization of the text, also has the deconstructive potential. Hence, the deconstructive dynamics are already inherent in the text. In Beloved, Toni Morrison addresses, among other things, the act of speaking the unspeakable and the process of constructing a new subjectivity out of the ghost of the past. Her text deconstructs the dominant narratives that have marginalized the black motherhood experience, explores the horrors of slavery through horror elements, and eventually exposes the inadequacy of language to depict such horrors. While the textual periphery is enabled to speak louder than the center, the textual subconscious flows freely. The reader is forced to participate actively in meaning-making in order to make sense of the fragmented narrative imbued with deliberate ambiguity. Beloved, as the abject other, defies the phallogocentric symbolic order. A counter-discourse emerges from the maternal, semiotic chora and empowers the otherized heroine Sethe to construct her subjectivity. Delving into the interrelationship between traumatic memory and the act of creating one’s own narrative, the text finds reparative elements in ancestral connection and thereby blends the psychological with the historical and the micro-level with the macro-level of meaning. This paper employs deconstructive key concepts from Jacques Derrida, psychoanalytic key concepts from Julia Kristeva, and seeks to unravel the dynamics in Morrison’s text that enable Beloved to be read polysemically.

Poststructuralism may be broadly characterized as a move away from traditional Western foundationalist thinking. Such thinking is exemplified by post-enlightenment transcendentalism, humanism and subject-centredness. This study aims to contribute to the poststructuralist decentering of the subject by means of the application of the critical practice of deconstruction – a type of analysis named and popularized by Jacques Derrida, who is himself frequently classified as a poststructuralist, in which the ruling logic of the text is undermined and the meaning of the text is therefore shown not to be fully present within it – to four texts by a writer who is arguably among the most prominent within the English literary canon: William Shakespeare. The first deconstructive reading centres around the court scene at the climax of the bond story in The Merchant of Venice. Here the apparent contrast between the restrictive law – which views Shylock’s claim of a pound of Antonio’s flesh as valid – and justice and mercy – which regard adherence to this bond as contrary to the spirit of the law – is collapsed, and justice is shown to be capable of being as restrictive as the law, while mercy becomes embroiled in all the trading that occurs in The Merchant of Venice, and demonstrates the capacity to be mercenary. The Tempest is examined next: the starting point is the apparent Nature/Culture distinction within the play. The reading is influenced by Derrida’s use of the notion of supplementarity in his examination in “… That Dangerous Supplement …” of the Nature/Culture distinction in Rousseau. Particular attention is given first to the wedding masque, where the central figure of Ceres, who is goddess of agriculture and marriage, and also the source of seasonal changes, is shown to problematize any absolute distinctions between Nature and Culture. Such distinctions are further collapsed with reference to Prospero and Miranda’s teaching of language to Caliban, as the latter, who supposedly is representative of natural man, is shown to have had his thought supplemented by language before Prospero’s arrival on the island. Hamlet is approached with a reading that again draws from Derrida – this time his exploration of Mallarmé’s “Mimique” in “The Double Session”. Plato’s theory of forms also becomes involved as this chapter plays with the distinction between Being and imitation, destabilizing this distinction within Hamlet and problematizing Hamlet’s question: “To be, or not to be”. And finally, the chapter on Measure for Measure is concerned with the ideas of restraint and freedom, inspecting Lucio’s suggestion that his restraint arises from “too much liberty”, as well as many other instances in the play where restraint, as well as freedom – which seems at times to function in the same way as restraint – seems significant. The reading draws attention to its own impulse to restrain the reader with the truisms it presents by being written in the form of thirty-four aphorisms, and thus alludes to Derrida’s “Aphorism Countertime”. / Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Modern European Languages / unrestricted

The aim of this diploma thesis is an analytical comparison and deconstruction of views of social historians on labouring men. The object of my interest will be views of Czech and East German historians from the period of the socialist dictatorship, and the views of Czech and German historians from the period of post-socialism. Using the methods of poststructuralist approaches, I will place the comparison and deconstructions in the contextual analysis of ideological determinations. At the same time, I will pay special attention to the changes in the determinations and epistemological breaks, with the help of which I will analyze the changes in the position of workes's research in relation to science and society. Key words: labouring men, comparison, deconstruction, historiography, ideology, epistemological break, science, socialist dictatorship, post-socialism

Magister Artium - MA / The focus on space and spatiality is relatively new in literary studies and also not unproblematic. Problems arise from the way in which these concepts are constructed, described, defined and interpret~. It is possible to derive numerous kinds of space, such as historical space, physical space, metaphysical space and religious space, to name a few, from the structure or thematics of a novel. This in itself presents a problem, since the literary scholar must differentiate between these spaces in order to determine which will be most useful for study of a particular aspect. There does not seem to be a coherent theoretical position in literary scholar regarding space, and thus various views of theorists will be considered. Gullon (1975:21), in a seminal article on space entitled On Space in the Novel provides a possible definition of space, with reference to another seminal article, this time by Joseph Frank when he states that "Frank calls 'spatial' the form of those works that at a given instant in time concentrate actions that can be perceived, but not related, simultaneously". This definition denotes a further complication engendered by space, namely the notion that different spaces intersect and interrelate with each other, and consequently that it is very difficult - if not impossible - to separate the various kinds of literary spaces in order to analyse the occurrence of a single space in a text. It also seems bound to time, but in a sense bridges the temporal gaps in a novel since it brings together parts that are not necessarily adjacent to each other temporally. Time becomes spatialized by treating events in the novel as separate chunks which can be rearranged and linked to each other. 1bis creates a more coherent and comprehensive picture of events in a text. namely the notion that different spaces intersect and interrelate with each other, and consequently that it is very difficult - if not impossible - to separate the various kinds of literary spaces in order to analyse the occurrence of a single space in a text. The main point in this regard seems to be creating patterns. This brings together more elements for the reader to be viewed at once, allowing him or her to attain a broader perspective on the text.

Dissertation thesis "How to think Architecture in a new way. Late though of Peter Eisenman and his critical theory of architecture" tries to summarise and analyse the key thoughts of architect and thinker Peter Eisenman in his late oeuvre. The point of departure of his theoretical thinking seems to be refusal of any timeless essence of architecture and a will to "dislocate" architecture from influence of metaphysics. The way to this is "criticality", a notion constituted with three basic terms: interiority (the interiority of architecture defines the discipline, what it is that makes architecture singular), exteriority (external concepts that change architecture by being internalised into the discipline and changing it) and anteriority (anteriority is the sedimented history of architecture; history of interiority). These three terms are according to Eisenman connected in a notion of "undecidability" that serves as a central criterium to criticality and in a "diagram" that is a mean to overcome metaphysical implications of architecture. At the end of the thesis there is a summary of Eisenman's theoretical work and its importance and an attempt is made to set so conceived whole in its entirety to the thought of "end of metaphysics". In this context is Eisenman seen to be in a position similar from...

With the recent emergence of copious and diverse scholarship that considers the discursive valence of the term "human", posthumanism has emerged as a timely and powerful interdisciplinary discourse. This study is a critical analysis of three dominant strains of the technologically oriented segment of this discourse; namely "scientific" (Ollivier Dyens), "humanist" (N. Katherine Hayles), and "organismic" (Mark B. N. Hansen) constructions of technological posthumanism. In each case, the study desublimates (and often deconstructs) the particular ideological claims that underwrite a given perspective, emphasizing the specific elements that such presumptions enable or foreclose. To this end, particular emphasis is given throughout the essay to the critical capacity of performativity, a perspective that is enacted through analyses of selected new media artworks. / 10000-01-01

Denna kandidatuppsatts behandlar hur demonteringsbara byggnationer påverkar byggbranschen. Syftet är att ta reda på totalentreprenörernas syn på Design for Deconstruction (DfD), eller som det kallas på svenska projektering för demontering, i den svenska byggsektorn. Vidare undersöks utmaningar och problem som DfD ger upphov till och vad som krävs för att införa DfD i byggsektorn. Studien baseras på en kvalitativ metod då vi genomförde åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med totalentreprenörer. Resultatet grundas på respondenternas svar som innehåller deras erfarenhet, uppfattningar, reflektioner om DfD. Studiens resultat visar att det råder fortfarande okunskap bland totalentreprenörer gällande ämnet men samtidigt ett växande intresse för ämnet. Det krävs större ambitioner från politiker och internationella myndigheter för att utveckla styrmedel som möjliggör projektering för demontering i byggsektorn. Respondenterna ansåg att fördelarna med DfD är möjlighet att förflytta en byggnad, flexibla planlösningar som förenklar renoveringsarbete/ombyggnation, kortare byggtider, återanvändning. Detta kan skapa en ny marknadsföringsstrategi och höja kostnadsvärde för fastighetsägare. Den ekonomiska aspekten visade sig vara det främsta hindret för införande av DfD eftersom respondenterna ansåg projektering för demontering som en icke prövad metod. Dagens byggmodell är inte lämplig för DfD och innovationer krävs. Andra utmaningar som framkom är skepticism till återanvändning av byggmaterial och svårigheter att se de ekonomiska möjligheterna som kommer efter 50–70 år. Anledningarna är bland annat estetik och lastupptagningsförmåga av element samt förvaring. Det behövs också ekonomisk vinning för att fastighetsägare ska välja DfD. De förutsättningar som behövs för att DfD ska införas är ett gemensamt standardiseringssystem, utveckling av BIM-verktyg som stödjer DfD, nya innovationer, öppna byggsystem. Informationsflöde och interaktion mellan entreprenörer och materialleverantörer behöver förbättras för att uppnå den tekniska utformningen med avseende på återanvändningen. Det krävs att staten genomför förmåner i form av subventioner och ekonomiskt stöd för att stimulera införandet av Design for Deconstruction i byggsektorn. Intervjustudien visade att totalentreprenörer utför DfD om efterfrågan och begäran finns hos beställaren. Däremot behöver entreprenörer visa engagemang visas valet av en byggmodell. / This bachelor thesis is about how deconstruction of buildings affect the Swedish construction industry. The purpose with study is to explore how turnkeys’ contractors view of Design for Deconstruction (DfD). This study examines the challenges and problems linked to DfD and what is needed to introduce DfD into the construction sector. The research approach chosen is a qualitative method with semi structured interviews where eight turnkey contractors were interviewed. The result is based on the respondents' experiences, perceptions, and reflections on DfD. The results show that there is a potential for further competence development among the turnkey contractors. More ambitions are required from the politicians and international authorities to develop instruments that enable development DfD in the construction sector. Respondents saw the possible benefits of DfD are opportunities for relocation of the buildings, flexibility that simplifies renovation work, shorter construction times, re-use. This can create a new marketing strategy and increase the value for property owners. Current building model is not suitable for DfD and new innovations are required. Other challenges that emerged is scepticism of turnkeys’ constructors for the recycling of building materials and difficulty to see financial possibilities that will be after 50-70 years. Subsidies and financial support coming from the state may be beneficial for establishment of DfD in the construction sector.

Cette thèse étudie la question de l'idiomaticité dans la pratique musicale de l'improvisation libre. Notre enquête débute avec une discussion sur les difficultés qu'implique toute tentative de délimiter cette activité ou de la définir en termes positifs. En effet, le produit d'une performance improvisée émerge au moment de la prestation et s'évanouit immédiatement. Ce fait a poussé de nombreux musiciens et chercheurs à classer cette pratique comme étant « non-idiomatique » (et donc comme étant résistante à l'analyse sémiotique), une désignation qui a été popularisée par Derek Bailey dans son oeuvre pionnière Improvisation. Cependant, malgré son apparent caractère insaisissable, le genre a été capable de subsister depuis plusieurs décennies et continue a se propager à de nouvelles scènes musicales à travers le monde, supporté par un ensemble relativement consistant de préoccupations idéologiques et esthétiques quiunissent et habilitent ses praticiens et admirateurs. En utilisant un modèle sémiotique triadique dans la tradition de C.S. Peirce et en considérant les différents aspects de l'improvisation libre à la lumière de sa théorie des catégories, nous sommes capables d'élaborer une analyse sémiotique des aspects émergents/évanescents de l'improvisation libre, ainsi que de ses propriétés plus durables/idiomatiques. L'improvisation libre n'est pas du tout, comme aiment l'affirmercertains, libre de toutes conventions. Un des accomplissements de cette thèse est de déconstruire de mythe de la non-idiomaticité de l'improvisation libre et de démontrer que les engagements idiomatiques particuliers de cette pratique ont tout simplement été déplacés, abandonnant pour la plupart les idiomes formels (tels des approches génériques, codifiées et reconnaissables à la tonalité et au rythme) pour privilégier des codes de conduite qui rendent l'activité cohérente et signifiante à ses participants. Les témoignages d'improvisateurs révèlent qu'ils sont largement motivés par des préoccupations et principes similaires. Quant à la valeur momentanée reconnue de n'importe quel aspect formel d'une performance improvisée, c'est grâce à l'implémentation soudaine de conventions localisées et habituellement de trèscourte durée (que nous appelons « entente ») que les musiciens arrivent à cette reconnaissance mutuelle (mais toujours contingente). Les improvisateurs tendent à vouloir déconstruire ces conventions formelle émergentes assez rapidement. Ils comptent ne laisser aucun engagement formel se solidifier au delà d'un certain caractère liminaire qu'ils jugent désirable dans le cadre de leur activité. Finalement, n'importe quel indicateur pour mesurer le succès d'une performance improvisée doit se référer soit aux principes unificateurs qui soutendent la pratique et représentent le coeur de sonidiomaticité, soit aux exigences momentanées imposées par l'entente. / This thesis studies the question of idiomaticity in the musical practice of free improvisation. Our enquiry begins with a discussion on the difficulties of delineating this activity and of defining it in positive terms. The production of improvised performances indeed emerges at the moment of its delivery and is immediately fleeting. This has led many musicians and writers to classify the practice as "non-idiomatic" (and thus resistant to semiotic analysis), a designation popularized by Derek Bailey in his pioneering book Improvisation. Yet despite its apparent elusiveness, the genre has been able to endure for several decades and keeps spreading to new music scenes throughout the world, supported by relatively consistent ideological and aesthetic preoccupations that unify and enable its practitioners and fans. By using a triadic semiotic model in the tradition of C.S. Peirce and by considering the different aspects of free improvisation in the light of his theory of categories, we are able to give a semiotic account of both the emergent/evanescent and the enduring/idiomatic aspects of free improvisation. Free improvisation is not at all, as some would hope, free from all conventions. One of the accomplishments of this thesis is to deconstruct the myth of free improvisation's non-idiomaticity and demonstrate that the practice's particular idiomatic commitments have merely been shifted away from formal idioms (such as generically codified and recognizable approaches to tonality and rhythm) and onto codes of conduct that keep the activity coherent and significant for its participants. Musician testimonies reveal that the practices of free improvisers are indeed motivated by similar underlying concerns and principles. As for agreements on the momentary value of any of the improvised performance's formal aspects, they find mutual (if contingent) recognition through short-lived localized formal conventions that we call "entente". Improvisers, however, typically playfully deconstruct these emergent formal conventions rather expeditiously; they are intent on not letting any formal commitments solidify beyond a desired liminal capacity. In the end, any gauge for the success of an improvised performance must refer either to the underlying unifying principles that make up the core of its idiomaticity or to the momentary exigencies of entente.

Doctor Legum - LLD / According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, women account for 48% of the refugees globally. "Persecution" is the central tenet in the refugee definition, but the ensuing jurisprudence was initially developed from the male experience. Therefore, the phallocentric nature of international and domestic refugee regimes mean that women's experiences of persecution are often marginalised, first, in their country of origin, and secondly, by the States from whom they seek refuge. Thus, the patriarchal conceptualisation of persecution exists in the content, interpretation and application of refugee law. The critical analysis of international refugee law, together with a comparative study between South Africa and Canada's refugee regimes, confirms that this conceptualisation impacts negatively on the manner in which gender-related asylum claims are assessed. This thesis argues for a reconceptualisation of refugee law through feminist scholarship, to investigate, question and expose the patriarchy residing in refugee laws and processes, and to theorise how gender-related persecution should be determined. Refugee jurisprudence has generally established that gender is socially constructed and based on sex which is biological and unchangeable The arrangement of sex and gender as immutable constructs enable the subordination of women, and within the refugee discourse, underpins gender related persecution specifically. Therefore, the reconceptualisation of sex and gender into malleable and dynamic concepts facilitates a paradigm for the protection of refugee women. The dominance theory and the deconstruction theory, together with feminist methods are used to conceptually explore the construction of sex and gender, recognising how the intersection with other identities, such as race and class, influence the understanding of sex and gender in refugee discourse. This thesis argues that the current construction of sex and gender together with the strategies that are increasingly used by governments to prevent refugees from crossing the borders, mean that asylum-seekers generally, and women, specifically are not receiving adequate protection. The xenophobic rhetoric of officials together with the enactment of restrictive refugee legislation, collectively result in South Africa and Canada creating and maintaining the illegal status of asylum-seekers.

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