The aim of this study is to compare and contrast isiZulu and Sepedi detective narratives, a genre which has not been fully embraced by literary scholars and authors in the African languages. The intention is to compare and contrast isiZulu and Sepedi detective narratives for the development of criteria and evaluating methods, which can be used in all the African languages. Detective narratives form part of a genre that has a rigid plot and follows a pattern similar to a puzzle. In the detective narrative, a crime is committed, which usually involves a murder taking place. The person who has committed this murder is unknown to the readers or the detective, who might be a professional detective or an amateur. The main duty of the detective is to investigate the case so that he/she can find the culprit. In this study, various literary theories are applied to analyse detective narratives, namely narratology, structuralism, the comparative method, intertextuality and intratextuality theories. The isiZulu detective narratives that are analysed, are M.M. Masondo’s Isigcawu Senkantolo (1990) and C.T. Msimang’s Walivuma Icala (1996). The Sepedi detective narratives that are analysed, are H.D.N. Bopape’s Lenong la Gauta (1984) and M.A. Kekana’s Nnete Fela (1989). The content, topic, plot, characterisation, setting/milieu, theme, style and atmosphere are explained in relation to the general structure of a detective narrative, indicating the differences between their structures and that of the mainstream narrative. The characteristic features of a general detective narrative are discussed and are used to determine how successfully the authors of isiZulu and Sepedi detective narratives have managed to apply them. Mystery as the main feature of detective narratives is discussed in detail. It is also explained in relation to how it is used by authors to mislead readers or to hide certain information from them in order to create mystery. Tension and suspense are also exemplified in these detective narratives as the main creators of mystery. The five elements of mystery, as the main characteristic features of detective narratives, are also discussed and each element is exemplified in the isiZulu and Sepedi detective narratives. The two isiZulu detective narratives and the two Sepedi detective narratives are compared and contrasted to see their similarities and differences. The next step in the study is to deduce the commonalities and dissimilarities, which can be observed between the detective narratives. The end product is the results of the comparison and contrast between the detective narratives in the different language groups. The results of this method indicated the characteristic features of detective narratives in the isiZulu and Sepedi detective narratives, which can be applicable to other African languages. The findings arrived at through the use of intertextual and intratextual approaches suggest that scholars and authors of African languages could adopt the same methods in studying and writing detective narratives. In this way, the number of detective narratives in African languages has the potential of increasing. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / African Languages / DLitt / Unrestricted

偵探敘事在台灣文學場域上的發生與形成，其意義指涉著一種新興通俗文類的移植與開展、深化與轉化的現象。偵探敘事的範圍，涵括的不只是由作家創作的虛構小說，也可能是西方偵探小說的翻譯介紹、強調真人實事的筆記體裁、對西方偵探小說的臨摹改寫，甚且可能是反偵探敘事的仿諷等等。偵探敘事作為一種通俗文類，尤其是其敘事成規與意識型態原是以西方偵探小說為主要源流的情形下，如何進入台灣的文學場域?進而在台灣「發生」?如何「形成」?彼時台灣的大眾，如何接受、消化、吸收、甚至享受這種新興文類?偵探敘事雖是新興文類，其與過去的種種文學創作傳統有所承繼?偵探敘事的興起，至偵探小說的完成，與彼時台灣人們的精神生活、娛樂生活有何關聯?塑造出怎麼樣的文化圖景?偵探敘事在台灣的發生點與關鍵點的摸索，都是本文主要關懷所在。 本文共計六章。第一章緒論，為全文框架說明。第二章偵探敘事生成的社會╱文學脈絡，由外緣與內緣進行偵探敘事發生空間的建構，說明大眾媒體、通俗文化、社會版新聞與偵探敘事形成的關聯，以中國傳統公案小說與日本的犯罪小說作為台灣偵探敘事的內在源流及期待視野的意義。第三章偵探敘事的起點，討論台灣文學場域上的偵探敘事發生的開端。這開始並非固著性的起點，而是每一次文本敘事取徑的參考點。本章分別就日治初期報紙上漢文、和文的偵探敘事、「實話」系統的寫作及西方偵探小說譯介的情況加以考察。第四章偵探敘事的小說化，日治時期台灣偵探敘事由實向虛、由翻譯到創作，呈現小說化的進程。由翻譯改寫到「連作」合寫、以及俠義章回化小說的偵探敘事，標誌了偵探敘事文類在台灣的實踐已臻成熟，乃至於滑稽模仿與兒童故事的再呈現，是其敘事成規反向思考及向外滲透，由此考察偵探敘事虛構化的進程。第五章偵探敘事生成的文化圖景，由作者、文本、讀者三個面向，分別討論偵探敘事的生成中所呈現的文化意義，殖民性、現代性與通俗性在敘事文本中的展現。第六章結論，總結全文，並且開啟未來研究的可能性。 / In my thesis on detective narrative in Taiwan under Japanese colonization, I focus on the emergence and evolvement of the new popular genre to clarify how people accept, adapt and appropriate the western-stemmed genre into local fiction. The era under Japanese colonization between 1895 and 1945 was a beginning of novelty and innovation; however, it was not the end of tradition and convention. Both cultures of late Qing China and late Meiji Japan, as well as western modern civilization introduced into Taiwan by China and Japan, all made colonial Taiwan an arena of modernity, coloniality and traditional values. I drew attention to popular literature and culture, another dimension different from the elite or high literature and was buried under the canonized discourse of resistance and decolonization in Taiwanese literary studies. The popular fiction in Taiwan reveals the subconsciousness hidden in the society at the turning point of modernization and colonization. First of all, I start my survey from the social and literary context of emergence of detective narrative in Taiwan by mentioning the formation of modern mass media in nineteenth century Taiwan as well as the literary tradition of Chinese and Japanese literature, Gongan fiction and crime fictions. This part helps me to clarify the literay field of the emergence of detective narrative. Secondly, I pinpoint three starting-points of the emergence of detective narrative: Japanese and Chinese detective fictions in newspapers in early Japanese colonization, the police procedural, as well as the translation and introduction of modern western detective fiction. Thirdly, I point out some milestones of fictionization of detective narrative in Taiwan, including the form of “translation-rewriting”, the collaboration of several writers, the chivalric novelization, the children’s stories and the parody of western detective convention. Finally, I examine the cultural visions in the emergence and evolvement of detective narrative in Taiwan during Japanese ruling period through three aspects: the writers, the texts and the readers’ aspects and explore the coloniality, modernity and the popularity of the new popular genre in Taiwan.

Foreshadowing and flashback are two techniques that look alike because they share certain features, namely repetition and experience. These two techniques nevertheless differ in many ways and this research study thus intends differentiating between the two. Existing descriptions of the two techniques provided by critics such as Irwin and Morson do not clearly indicate the differences between them. Terminology pertaining to foreshadowing and flashback is confusingly similar. This makes the identification of these techniques in literary texts difficult, and indeed no theorist explains clearly how to go about such an identification procedure. In order to achieve the aim of this research study, the descriptive, interpretive and comparative methods are used. In addition, an adapted narratological model is employed. In this model, a text is seen as having three levels, namely content, plot and style. In the analysis of content, the topic is emphasised, while theme and atmosphere are emphasised in plot and style analysis respectively. The concept 'technique' has been explained by placing emphasis on its functions and types. With regard to types, the emphasis is on structural techniques with the focus on the second level of a text, i.e the plot, because the two techniques under study, namely foreshadowing and flashback are part of the plot. Foreshadowing is described as a technique whereby an author uses details to suggest the ultimate outcome of the plot or to meaningfully precede the appearance of other details in a literary work. The functions and types of this technique are explained. Forms of this technique include knucklebones, dreams, language, character's name, shadow, conscience, beliefs, etc. Flashback is defined as the author's interruption of the chronological sequence of events in a work of literature. The importance of this technique is also emphasised. The different types of flashback are (a) external retrospection, (b) internal retrospection, and (c) mixed retrospection. A problem with regard to the types of this technique is the fact that not all types have been identified in existing research. This study has thus added two more types of flashback, namely (a) events that have been complicated and (b) events made similar to one another. There are two ways of complicating events, namely (a) changing the chronological order of events and (b) inserting events. Differences between the above-mentioned techniques that have not received attention from theorists are identified as follows in this study: <ul> <ol>In the case of foreshadowing, an unusual event appears, while in flashback, a known event is encountered, i.e. a common, everyday event. With foreshadowing, the event itself seems to be amazing.</ol><ol> In the case of flashback, however, the event may not seem amazing in itself at first, but only causes suprise later when the reader realises that his notion of what has happened and what he thinks he has understood so far is undermined.</ol> <ol>Foreshadowing whets the reader's interest, while this does not happen in the case of flashback. Foreshadowing emphasises coming events. Flashback on the other hand reveals the origin of the problem.</ol> The application of foreshadowing has been analysed by examining its forms in various Sepedi literary works. On the other hand, the application of flashback has been analysed by investigating the use of its different types rather than its forms. In the concluding chapter, the relationship between flashback and the structure of a detective narrative has been looked into. It has been realised that there is a relation between the two concerning (a) the secret and (b) the revelation/unveiling of the secret. / Thesis (DLitt (African Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / African Languages / unrestricted