This research comprises a comparative examination of the transformation of Afrikaans and Dutch youth narratives into drama texts. Attention has been paid to the story elements embodied in various narratives and dramas, and, in addition, to aspects related to narrative and drama. By means of the comparison of the constants and variants with regard to the four texts, the possibility of creating a transformation model has been examined. The transformation model derived from the research, is applicable, firstly, to the narratives and drama texts upon which this study has been based. It is therefore presented as a conception for the conversion of a narrative text into a drama text, but the uniqueness of each separate narrative is taken into consideration; hence the model is not prescriptive, and it is assumed that the model may be adjusted in line with each adaptation. The comparison is effected between Afrikaans and Dutch texts, in view of the existence in the Low Countries of an established culture of bookshops, publishers and theatrical companies, focused on youth literature and theatre. Some publishers and bookshops, moreover, exclusively publish and sell youth narratives and dramas. Theatre productions aimed at children and young adults are plentiful, and attract a large percentage of young people. Should the fact that some theatres specialise in youth theatre productions be taken into account, also, the contrast and the gaps pertaining to the Afrikaans literary system are marked. The research in respect of the transformation of prose texts into drama texts has identified those procedures employed to adapt the narrative aspects (narrator, focalization, character, event, time and space) in such a way that it is reconcilable with the unique nature of the dramatic aspects (didascalia, dialogue, character, action, time and space). By virtue of the transformation of youth narratives into drama texts (with the purpose of the eventual performance thereof), the adolescent reader is made aware in a different manner of the value of narrative. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

This research comprises a comparative examination of the transformation of Afrikaans and Dutch youth narratives into drama texts. Attention has been paid to the story elements embodied in various narratives and dramas, and, in addition, to aspects related to narrative and drama. By means of the comparison of the constants and variants with regard to the four texts, the possibility of creating a transformation model has been examined. The transformation model derived from the research, is applicable, firstly, to the narratives and drama texts upon which this study has been based. It is therefore presented as a conception for the conversion of a narrative text into a drama text, but the uniqueness of each separate narrative is taken into consideration; hence the model is not prescriptive, and it is assumed that the model may be adjusted in line with each adaptation. The comparison is effected between Afrikaans and Dutch texts, in view of the existence in the Low Countries of an established culture of bookshops, publishers and theatrical companies, focused on youth literature and theatre. Some publishers and bookshops, moreover, exclusively publish and sell youth narratives and dramas. Theatre productions aimed at children and young adults are plentiful, and attract a large percentage of young people. Should the fact that some theatres specialise in youth theatre productions be taken into account, also, the contrast and the gaps pertaining to the Afrikaans literary system are marked. The research in respect of the transformation of prose texts into drama texts has identified those procedures employed to adapt the narrative aspects (narrator, focalization, character, event, time and space) in such a way that it is reconcilable with the unique nature of the dramatic aspects (didascalia, dialogue, character, action, time and space). By virtue of the transformation of youth narratives into drama texts (with the purpose of the eventual performance thereof), the adolescent reader is made aware in a different manner of the value of narrative. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

This ethnographic study is located in the field of literary didactics, covering an intersection of the subjects of Swedish and theatre. It investigates construction of text understanding while its participants work with staging Molière’s The affected ladies (Les précieuses ridicules, 1659). Studies of classroom interaction connected to reading drama text are rare in the Swedish field of literary didactics. The main research interest is the participants’ use of interwoven semiotic resources, including spoken language, body, voice and various artifacts. Based on a general need to understand how Swedish students develop reading skills (related to decreasing results internationally) and a growing research interest in the field for embodied knowledge connected to literacy competencies the study sets out to answer the following questions: How do the participants construct text understanding using semiotic resources with a focus on: a) matching of repertoires b) in-role re-presentation c) negotiations. The first aspect draws on theories used in literary didactics including McCormick’s (1994) literary and general repertoires and Langer’s (1995) envisioning literature. The second aspect draws on aesthetic learning and embodied knowledge  (Molander, 1996; Saar, 2005) and theatre semiotics (Heed, 2002). The third aspect draws on sociocultural theory (Vygotskij, 1978; Säljö, 2014) and sociocultural theory applied in the field of drama and theatre (Davis, Clemson & Ferholt, 2015). Seven upper secondary school students, a teacher of Swedish and a teacher of theatre were observed over a period of seven months, starting with the students’ first encounter with the drama text, lasting to the final performance of a one-hour theatre production. The researcher occasionally became participant in the creative process. Analyzed data include field notes, video and sound recordings. Major findings are that: a) Students continuously match their own repertoires with the repertoires of the drama text by references to popular culture, language and body expressions, thereby gradually constructing new understanding. b) By becoming co-creators of a fictional text in a process of aesthetic learning the students developed several perspectives on the literary text, which is one of the main goals in studies of literature in the subject of Swedish. c) The participants’ negotiations involving a number of semiotic resources showed a development of text understanding on an advanced level. It also showed knowing as something emerging out of social interaction where teachers play an essential role by providing aesthetic as well as traditional scaffolding. A central conclusion is that exploring ways of learning where various semiotic recourses are given focus in the process of shaping a final product, e.g. a theatre show, host potential for students’ development of text understanding. The potential for learning seems to relate to producing knowledge rather than reproducing. Verbal and physical expressions of text understanding form new understanding in an on-going spiral. A contribution of the study to the field is showing the potential of embodied knowledge in literary didactics without a master-servant relationship between school subjects. It is suggested that increased focus on embodied knowledge and aesthetic learning might help students to develop reading skills.

This thesis is focused on a study of translation strategies in Guillaume Oyono Mbia's plays. By using the sociological, formalistic and semiotic approaches to literary criticism to inform the analysis of the source texts and by applying descriptive models outlined within the framework of descriptive translation studies (DTS) to compare the source and target texts, the study establishes the fact that in his target texts Oyono Mbia, self-translating author, has produced a realistic and convincing portrait of his native Bulu culture and society depicted in his source texts by adopting the same default preservation and foreignizing strategy employed in his source texts. Oyono Mbia's works, his translation strategies and translational behaviour are situated in the context of the prevailing trend and attitude (from the sixties to date) of African writers writing in European languages and it is posited that this category of writers are in effect creative translators and that the strategies they use in their original compositions are the same as those outlined by translation scholars or effectively used by practitioners. These strategies enable the writer and the translator of this category of African literature to preserve the "Africanness" which is the essence and main distinguishing feature of that literature. Contrary to some scholars (cf. Bandia 1993:58) who regard the translation phenomenon evident in the creative writings of African writers writing in European languages as a process which is covert, semantic and secondary, the present study of Oyono Mbia's translation strategies clearly reveals the process as overt, communicative and primary. Taking Oyono Mbia's strategies as a case in point, this study postulates that since for the most part, the African writer writing in a European language has captured the African content and form in his original creative translation, what the translator simply needs to do is to carry over such content and form to the other European language. / Linguistics / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

This thesis is focused on a study of translation strategies in Guillaume Oyono Mbia's plays. By using the sociological, formalistic and semiotic approaches to literary criticism to inform the analysis of the source texts and by applying descriptive models outlined within the framework of descriptive translation studies (DTS) to compare the source and target texts, the study establishes the fact that in his target texts Oyono Mbia, self-translating author, has produced a realistic and convincing portrait of his native Bulu culture and society depicted in his source texts by adopting the same default preservation and foreignizing strategy employed in his source texts. Oyono Mbia's works, his translation strategies and translational behaviour are situated in the context of the prevailing trend and attitude (from the sixties to date) of African writers writing in European languages and it is posited that this category of writers are in effect creative translators and that the strategies they use in their original compositions are the same as those outlined by translation scholars or effectively used by practitioners. These strategies enable the writer and the translator of this category of African literature to preserve the "Africanness" which is the essence and main distinguishing feature of that literature. Contrary to some scholars (cf. Bandia 1993:58) who regard the translation phenomenon evident in the creative writings of African writers writing in European languages as a process which is covert, semantic and secondary, the present study of Oyono Mbia's translation strategies clearly reveals the process as overt, communicative and primary. Taking Oyono Mbia's strategies as a case in point, this study postulates that since for the most part, the African writer writing in a European language has captured the African content and form in his original creative translation, what the translator simply needs to do is to carry over such content and form to the other European language. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)