Dramatic works from America with AIDS as subject matter have evolved over the past twenty years. In the early 1980s, dramas like Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, William Hoffman's As Is, and Robert Chesley's Night Sweat educated primarily homosexual men about AIDS, its causes, and its effects on the gay community while combating the dominant discourse promoted by the media, government, and medical establishments that AIDS was either unimportant because it affected primarily the homosexual population or because it was attributed to lack of personal responsibility. By the mid-eighties and early nineties, playwrights Terrence McNally (Love! Valour! Compassion!)and Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey)concentrated on relationships between sero-discordant homosexual couples. McNally's "Andre's Mother" and Lips Together, Teeth Apart explored how families and friends face the loss of a loved one to AIDS. Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America epic represents living beyond AIDS as a powerful force. Without change and progress, Angels warns, life stagnates. Angels also introduces the powerful drugs that help alleviate the symptoms of AIDS. AIDS is the centerpiece of the epic, and AIDS and homosexuality are inextricably blended in the play. Rent, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical by Jonathan Larson, features characters from an assortment of ethnic and social backgrounds - including heterosexuals, homosexuals, bi-sexuals, some with AIDS, some AIDS-free, some drug users - all living through the diverse troubles visited upon them at the turn of the millennium in the East Village of New York City. AIDS is not treated as "special," nor are people with AIDS pandered to. Instead, the characters take what life gives them, and they live fully, because there is "no day but today" ("Finale"). Rent's audiences are as varied as the American population, because it portrays metaphorically what so many Americans face daily - not AIDS per se, but other difficult life problems, including self-alienation. As such, Rent defies the dominant discourse because the community portrayed in Rent is the American community.

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Text in Afrikaans / The concepts of parody and pastiche are oftell employed by leading theoreticians to offer definitions of the elusive term "Postmodernism". One is led to conclude that parody and pastiche are direct1y linked to Postmodernism. This is especially valid in the case of pastiche. Indeed, it appears, therefore, that the continllous assumption of the appellation "pastiche" in the Postmodernist discourse could reveal its link to Postmodernism and Postmodernity in general. While parody and pastiche are not new phenomena, the question is why, ill our time, these concepts should be so acutely present in the discourse of literary theory - especially in theoretic contributions on Postmodernism and/or Postmodernis! texts. However, an investigation of the studies done on Postmodernist drama/theatre reveals a distinct lack of reflection about the role of parody and pastiche and a disturbing absence of publication on the the subject. This state of affairs reveals a conspicuous delay in terms of theoretical deliberation when compared to other investigat1ve practices, i.e. literary criticism and philosophy. This study, then, is essentially interested in transposing the present emphasis on parody and pastiche found in contemporary literary theory to Postmodernist drama/theatre. The final objective of this study is to explore the impact of the concepts of parody and pastiche on twentieth century drama/theatre and their possible contribution to a better understanding of the elusive term "Postmodemist drama/theatre". / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Literature)

Text in Afrikaans / Spieel, kamer van spieels, mise-en-abyme, representasie, ensovoorts, is almal begrippe wat met die nosie van selfrefleksiwiteit in verband gebring word. Hoewel selfrefleksiwiteit nie 'n nuwe verskynsel is nie, is die vraag waarom dit juis vandag so akuut in die literer-teoretiese diskoers neerslag vind. Dit geld veral teoretiese bydraes oor die Postmodernisme en/of Postmodemistiese tekste. Hieruit kan 'n mens aflei dat daar 'n direkte verband tussen selfrefleksiwiteit en die Postmodernisme bestaan. Hierdie studie is dan primer gemteresseerd in die wyses waarop die Postmodernistiese dramafteater die nosie van selfrefleksiwiteit in die enkoderingsproses in diens neem. Daarbenewens word ondersoek ingestel na die invloed wat die konsep van vervreemding in die twintigste-eeuse dramajteater op die verskillende beskouings van selfrefleksiwiteit gehad het. Die uiteindelike oogmerk is om aan te toon dat selfrefleksiwiteit in die Postmodernistiese dramafteater gevestigde aannames oor kuns as spieelbeeld van die werklikheid omverwerp. / Mirror, hall of mirrors, mise-en-abyme, representation, et cetera are all concepts associated with the notion of self-reflexivity. While self-reflexivity is not a new phenomenon, the question is why, in our time, it should be so acutely present in the discourse of literary theory - especially in theoretic contributions on Postmodernism and/or Postmodernist texts. One is lead to conclude that self-reflexivity and Postmodernism are directly linked. This study, then, focuses primarily on how Postmodernist drama/theatre employs the notion of self-reflexivity in the encoding process. It also explores the impact of the concept of alienation in twentieth century drama/theatre on the various views of self-reflexivity. The fmal objective is to show that self-reflexivity in Postmodernist drama/theatre challenges ftxed suppositions about art as a reflection of reality. / Afrikaans, Theory of Literature / M.A. (Theory of Literature)

Text in Afrikaans / The concepts of parody and pastiche are oftell employed by leading theoreticians to offer definitions of the elusive term "Postmodernism". One is led to conclude that parody and pastiche are direct1y linked to Postmodernism. This is especially valid in the case of pastiche. Indeed, it appears, therefore, that the continllous assumption of the appellation "pastiche" in the Postmodernist discourse could reveal its link to Postmodernism and Postmodernity in general. While parody and pastiche are not new phenomena, the question is why, ill our time, these concepts should be so acutely present in the discourse of literary theory - especially in theoretic contributions on Postmodernism and/or Postmodernis! texts. However, an investigation of the studies done on Postmodernist drama/theatre reveals a distinct lack of reflection about the role of parody and pastiche and a disturbing absence of publication on the the subject. This state of affairs reveals a conspicuous delay in terms of theoretical deliberation when compared to other investigat1ve practices, i.e. literary criticism and philosophy. This study, then, is essentially interested in transposing the present emphasis on parody and pastiche found in contemporary literary theory to Postmodernist drama/theatre. The final objective of this study is to explore the impact of the concepts of parody and pastiche on twentieth century drama/theatre and their possible contribution to a better understanding of the elusive term "Postmodemist drama/theatre". / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Literature)

Text in Afrikaans / Spieel, kamer van spieels, mise-en-abyme, representasie, ensovoorts, is almal begrippe wat met die nosie van selfrefleksiwiteit in verband gebring word. Hoewel selfrefleksiwiteit nie 'n nuwe verskynsel is nie, is die vraag waarom dit juis vandag so akuut in die literer-teoretiese diskoers neerslag vind. Dit geld veral teoretiese bydraes oor die Postmodernisme en/of Postmodemistiese tekste. Hieruit kan 'n mens aflei dat daar 'n direkte verband tussen selfrefleksiwiteit en die Postmodernisme bestaan. Hierdie studie is dan primer gemteresseerd in die wyses waarop die Postmodernistiese dramafteater die nosie van selfrefleksiwiteit in die enkoderingsproses in diens neem. Daarbenewens word ondersoek ingestel na die invloed wat die konsep van vervreemding in die twintigste-eeuse dramajteater op die verskillende beskouings van selfrefleksiwiteit gehad het. Die uiteindelike oogmerk is om aan te toon dat selfrefleksiwiteit in die Postmodernistiese dramafteater gevestigde aannames oor kuns as spieelbeeld van die werklikheid omverwerp. / Mirror, hall of mirrors, mise-en-abyme, representation, et cetera are all concepts associated with the notion of self-reflexivity. While self-reflexivity is not a new phenomenon, the question is why, in our time, it should be so acutely present in the discourse of literary theory - especially in theoretic contributions on Postmodernism and/or Postmodernist texts. One is lead to conclude that self-reflexivity and Postmodernism are directly linked. This study, then, focuses primarily on how Postmodernist drama/theatre employs the notion of self-reflexivity in the encoding process. It also explores the impact of the concept of alienation in twentieth century drama/theatre on the various views of self-reflexivity. The fmal objective is to show that self-reflexivity in Postmodernist drama/theatre challenges ftxed suppositions about art as a reflection of reality. / Afrikaans, Theory of Literature / M.A. (Theory of Literature)

This PhD thesis analyses the influence of drama, contemporary to Virginia Woolf, on Woolf’s fiction and life writing. Plays by a range of dramatists from Ibsen to Eliot affected Woolf as both an individual and writer, yet little research has been done to link the late nineteenth/ early twentieth-century theatre with her fictional works or her concept of everyday life as expressed in the diaries, letters and memoir papers. An enthusiastic reader, playwright, theatregoer, and friend of playwrights, critics, actors, set designers and theatre owners, Woolf was naturally stimulated by exposure to this creative force and this research analyses its significance. The thesis begins by examining the non-fiction as a dramatization of her lived reality (see Chapter 1) which reached its apotheosis in the private plays (including Woolf’s Freshwater) that were performed in Bloomsbury (see Chapter 4). The discussion, focused in Chapters 2 and 3, addresses Woolf’s fictional output and explores the effect of the most influential plays and playwrights on Woolf’s novels and the concept of theatre as a metaphor within the texts’ imagery, style and structure.

This work is an effort to investigate the relationship between Albert Camus' philosophic concepts of the absurd presented in "The Myth of Sisyphus" and the Absurdist Theatre as defined by Martin Esslin. Included in this thesis is a discussion of each of the above concepts. Focus is placed upon the characteristics of the Absurdist Theatre which constitute the basis for the label "Absurdity." The conclusion indicates that while the playwright's personal experiences and philosophies correspond to Camus', their plays fail to communicate or express that concept of absurdity satisfactorily. The major emphasis is on the lack of concrete reality used to communicate a concept based upon concrete reality.

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