For the readers of White Noise, the first issue he or she has to deal with is the relationship between the society and the individual. But DeLillo was never straightforward in Jack¡¦s narrative. From time to time, the reader is asked to judge by themselves about the authorial intention and the narrator¡¦s attitude toward the characters¡¦ suffering. As both the narrator and a character, Jack Gladney typifies the tension of locating the hope of resistance in a seemingly hopeless situation. As the narrator, Jack¡¦s attitude toward the corrupting force of the society would seem to vacillate among indifference and affirmation. Yet, his indifference would appear to be sarcastic or even accusatory if one remembers that he or she is reading one of DeLillo¡¦s novels. The interpretive deadlock, then, can be summarized into the following question: if DeLillo intended to posit the possibility of resistance through the process of writing and reading, how can it be realized in the protagonist with whom the reader is invited to identify? Numerous approaches are adopted by the critics, and yet the enigmatic ending of the novel continues to challenge the results of their efforts. With ease, Jack Gladney returns to his normal routine after he nearly kills a man, but it is indicated that he is never the same person as exhibited in the previous chapters. To determine the nature of transformation and its implication for the existence of hope, this thesis sets out to dissect the important elements in the last chapter. As the novel ends in Jack¡¦s shopping, the chapter two of this thesis traces the influence of capitalism on the characters. It is found that the characters¡¦ enjoyment of the consumerism is correlative with a fundamental imperfection in their sense of self. In narrating the stories about him, Jack Gladney cannot hide his anxiety for failing to be a good professor, husband and father. From a Lacanian perspective, the disjointedness reveals the failure of the system to provide all his needs. Still, Jack and others are spurred to immerse harder in the ever-revolutionizing mode of enjoyment, endlessly deferring from confronting the void inherent in all their pursuits. Before Jack returns to shop for the last time in the novel, however, he is infected by toxic substance that causes him to eye the capitalist system with suspicion. During the outbreak of the disaster, the New Age belief system, painful enjoyment and environmental crisis are associated with the oppressive force of capitalist development. They all reappear in the end of the novel, yet they are no longer threats for Jack; instead, he finds them enjoyable. In the chapter three of this thesis, my analysis recounts how the characters¡¦ reluctance to depart from their routine of enjoyment contributes to their intentional disavowals of the injuries the system brings to them. In Jack¡¦s case, the biopolitical control that results in the elevation of the status of medical science and enjoyment causes him to resubmit himself more violently to the system. He becomes a killer and enjoys seeing himself as such who seems to contribute to all the subjects in the capitalist society. It is after such sad transformation that the final chapter begins, suddenly deflating the emotional turbulences accumulated throughout the previous chapters. The enigmatic vacuum is still accompanied by signs of Jack¡¦s transformation. However, the omnipresence of death in the chapter seems to weaken the certainty for a pessimistic future of suffering in the capitalist system. Waiting before the checking out point, Jack is in fact facing to the end of vicious circle symbolically. The unfathomable death corresponds with the impossibility the reader encounters when interpreting the text. As the readers cannot determine what will happen after the terminal, they are actually freed from chopping the text for constructing hopes that will be contradicted by the remaining paragraphs at one point or another, while they have to put down the novel and go on living with the similar situations the novel portrays. Herein resides the hope: externalizing the deadlock of life for the reader, the end of White Noise testifies the ongoing procession of human history that cannot be anticipated beforehand.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The definition and function of Socratic irony has been much disputed in contemporary scholarship. This thesis identifies some methodological difficulties in interpreting and defining Socratic irony and attempts to narrow the field of interpretation in order to facilitate the formulation of a new definition of the concept. With reference to the primary texts of Plato, Xenophon and Aristophanes, as well as some fragments, the different types of irony as employed by Socrates are identified as verbal, in the form of self-deprecation and knowledge disavowal, and physical. A review of late 18th, 19th and 20th century philosophical scholarship on the topic is done in order to gain a better understanding of the perceived functions of Socratic irony. On the basis of this, as well as the opinions of prominent classical scholars, it is argued that the function of Socratic irony in its verbal form is primarily heuristic, while the physical form is a political mode of being designed to criticise 5th-century Athenian politics. Socratic irony is then redefined to allow for these forms and functions, which are shown to be much more complex than previously thought. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar word baie gedebatteer oor die definisie en funksie van die Sokratiese ironie in die onlangse navorsing. Hierdie tesis identifiseer sommige metodologiese probleme in die interpretasie en die definisie van Sokratiese ironie en poog om die veld van interpretasie te beperk ten einde die formulering van 'n nuwe definisie van die begrip te fasiliteer. Met verwysing na die primêre tekste van Plato, Xenophon en Aristophanes, asook 'n paar fragmente, word die verskillende vorme van ironie soos deur Sokrates gebruik, geïdentifiseer as verbaal, in die vorm van self-afkeuring en ontkenning van kennis, en fisies. ʼn Oorsig van die laat 18de-, 19de- en 20ste-eeuse filosofiese navorsing is gegee ten einde 'n beter begrip te verkry van die waargenome funksies van Sokratiese ironie. Op grond hiervan, asook die menings van vooraanstaande klassici, word aangevoer dat die funksie van die Sokratiese ironie in sy verbale vorm hoofsaaklik heuristies is, terwyl die fisiese vorm 'n politieke bestaanswyse is, met die doel om die 5de-eeuse Atheense politiek te kritiseer. Teen hierdie agtergrond word Sokratiese ironie dan herdefinieer om voorsiening te maak vir bogenoemde vorme en funksies wat blyk baie meer kompleks te wees as wat voorheen gemeen is.

What meanings have formerly engaged (radicalized) Salafists ascribed to their disengagement and how have they become embedded in their everyday lives? There are two narratives that can explain this question. On the one hand, there is a central inclusive narrative that suggest the institutionalization of the religious terrain in Morocco through the Institution of the Commander of the Faithful (mou’assassat imarat al mou’minine) or ICF, which allows the Monarchy to play the king-religious role as the guarantor of religion and other faiths. On the other hand, Salafi Jihadists represent the second exclusive narrative through a religious concept that has taken a violent understanding called “loyalty and disavowal” (Al Wal’a wal Bar’a) or WB. The power of this narrative lies in the ability to divide society into a near and far enemy. Put it another way, to ask how those very meanings affect their everyday lives, a change in Salafi worldview for example allows them to live lives that seemed not possible before far from violence. As a result, there is no one picture of disengagement. Disengagement happens very differently in each case. Specifically, we argue that Salafi Jihadists’ disengagement has been informed, and shaped, by the meanings they attribute to their experiences in the everyday life. As such, this thesis is not about process, or pathways, or models of engagement and disengagement it is about meanings each one assigns to his or her experience. In addition to advancing theories of violent radicalization and disengagement from violence, this thesis makes a methodological contribution to the study of the meanings of disengagement through an ethnographic fieldwork in Morocco and Jordan.

Jonathan Lethem’s 2009 novel Chronic City and Colum McCann’s 2009 novel Let the Great World Spin can each be read as unique forms of the post-9/11 novel. In this study, I take up the argument that much of the established scholarship analyzing post-9/11 fiction often examines the same set of texts and frequently employs similar theoretical lenses, more often than not a specific form of trauma analysis. I argue that McCann and Lethem’s novels can each be read as unique forms of the post-9/11 novel for the way each work incorporates the Freudian processes of fetishism and disavowal into their respective narratives. In two close readings, I analyze each text to demonstrate how these processes function and what they offer both the authors and readers of the novels.

Arabic text / الحمدُ لله الذي أكْرَمَنَا بِنُورالعلمِ المُبَدِّدِ للظُلمات, وعصَمَنا به من الأهواءِ المُرْدِية والآراءِ المُضلة رافع الإصْرَ عنَّا, جاء بالدين الوَسَطِ وحَذَّرَ من الوَكْسِ والشَطَطِ وبعدُ : فإنَّ أحقَ العلومِ بالتَّسْطِيرِ وأنفَسهَا عند الجَمْعِ والتَّحْبِيرِ , تِبْيَان وجهِ الحقِّ فيما تتعَاورهُ الأفهام بالجهلِ تار ة , وتار ة بما عرض لها من الأَوْهَامِ , ومن المهم تَجْديد وتَرْسِيخِ المفاهيم السياسية في ضوء نظام الشريعة الإسلامية, مِفْتَاح الهداية ونَهْجِ السعادة, بل وتصحيحها مما اعْتَراهَا من التشويه والزَّيفِ إذ ذاك من أفضل النوافل وأعظمها نفعا وعائدة, وأوفرها خيرا وفائدة. واعلم أن الناس أصنافٌ مختلفون وأطوارٌ مُتباينون يتقاطعون بالإيثار تابعا ومتبوعا ويتساعدون على أعمالهم آمِرا ومَأْمُور ا , فكان لزاما أن أحرر بحثا للرسالة, وانْصَبَّ الإختيار على السياسة ليوافق المقال الحال, فالإنتفاضات والثورات الشعبية تَتْرَا في دولنا الإسلامية, والمرحلةُ تستلزم المشاركة وتوضيح المفاهيم الشرعية, وجلاء الحقائق وإسْقَاطها على الواقع وتصحيح المسارات, فالرأي العام بين مُوجِبٍ ومُبيحٍ للثورات, وسَاكتٍ ومُطيعٍ لهذه الحكومات. لذلكَ ارتأيتُ أن أُبْحِرَ في خِضمِّ هذه الأمواج الفكرية المُتلاطمةِ , وأُشَمِرَعن ساعدي راجيا أن أبلغ الحقيقة الصائبة, وأُرْشِد القارىء الكريم إلى فَهْمِ السياسةِ الراشدة / Recent political turmoil and developments in the Muslim World have motivated me to present this dissertation aimed at renewing, correcting and deepening an understanding of political concepts in light of the Islamic code. It is thus my endeavour to relate them to current reality as I perceive it. A primary concern that I address herein are debates revolving around political rebellion; namely, their permissibility or the need to remain sycophantic towards prevailing political authorities. / Religious Studies & Arabic / M.A. (Islamic Studies)

Arabic text / الحمدُ لله الذي أكْرَمَنَا بِنُورالعلمِ المُبَدِّدِ للظُلمات, وعصَمَنا به من الأهواءِ المُرْدِية والآراءِ المُضلة رافع الإصْرَ عنَّا, جاء بالدين الوَسَطِ وحَذَّرَ من الوَكْسِ والشَطَطِ وبعدُ : فإنَّ أحقَ العلومِ بالتَّسْطِيرِ وأنفَسهَا عند الجَمْعِ والتَّحْبِيرِ , تِبْيَان وجهِ الحقِّ فيما تتعَاورهُ الأفهام بالجهلِ تار ة , وتار ة بما عرض لها من الأَوْهَامِ , ومن المهم تَجْديد وتَرْسِيخِ المفاهيم السياسية في ضوء نظام الشريعة الإسلامية, مِفْتَاح الهداية ونَهْجِ السعادة, بل وتصحيحها مما اعْتَراهَا من التشويه والزَّيفِ إذ ذاك من أفضل النوافل وأعظمها نفعا وعائدة, وأوفرها خيرا وفائدة. واعلم أن الناس أصنافٌ مختلفون وأطوارٌ مُتباينون يتقاطعون بالإيثار تابعا ومتبوعا ويتساعدون على أعمالهم آمِرا ومَأْمُور ا , فكان لزاما أن أحرر بحثا للرسالة, وانْصَبَّ الإختيار على السياسة ليوافق المقال الحال, فالإنتفاضات والثورات الشعبية تَتْرَا في دولنا الإسلامية, والمرحلةُ تستلزم المشاركة وتوضيح المفاهيم الشرعية, وجلاء الحقائق وإسْقَاطها على الواقع وتصحيح المسارات, فالرأي العام بين مُوجِبٍ ومُبيحٍ للثورات, وسَاكتٍ ومُطيعٍ لهذه الحكومات. لذلكَ ارتأيتُ أن أُبْحِرَ في خِضمِّ هذه الأمواج الفكرية المُتلاطمةِ , وأُشَمِرَعن ساعدي راجيا أن أبلغ الحقيقة الصائبة, وأُرْشِد القارىء الكريم إلى فَهْمِ السياسةِ الراشدة / Recent political turmoil and developments in the Muslim World have motivated me to present this dissertation aimed at renewing, correcting and deepening an understanding of political concepts in light of the Islamic code. It is thus my endeavour to relate them to current reality as I perceive it. A primary concern that I address herein are debates revolving around political rebellion; namely, their permissibility or the need to remain sycophantic towards prevailing political authorities. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic Studies)