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Die “produksie van teenwoordigheid” in Marlene van Niekerk se kortverhaalbundel, Die sneeuslaperGroenewald, Anneli January 2014 (has links)
Die geesteswetenskappe, en spesifiek letterkunde en literatuurstudies, loop toenemend deur onder kritiek oor die relevansie van letterkunde in die 21ste eeu. Die letterkundige Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht reken egter dat die probleem nie is dat fiksie irrelevant geword het nie, maar dat die suiwer hermeneutiese manier waarop letterkunde gelees word, gelei het tot ’n reduksionistiese beskouing van letterkunde. Gumbrecht reken dat dit moontlik is om taal op so ’n wyse aan te wend dat dit die leser weer nader kan bring aan die wêreld waarvan hy grootliks verwyderd voel. Hierdie konsep noem hy die “produksie van teenwoordigheid”, en hy identifiseer sewe wyses waarop taal kan funksioneer om só ’n “teenwoordigheidseffek” te bewerkstellig. Marlene van Niekerk se Die sneeuslaper word in hierdie studie ondersoek deur gebruik te maak van Gumbrecht se konsep van die “teenwoordigheidseffek” van ’n literêre teks. Die “produksie van teenwoordigheid” word egter in ’n spanning teenoor die hermeneutiese aspek, die betekenis of interpretasie, en teenoor die “sosiale betrokkenheid” van letterkunde ondersoek – ’n spanning wat deurgaans in Van Niekerk se oeuvre teenwoordig is. Gumbrecht se voorstel om die “teenwoordigheidseffek” van ’n teks te ondersoek, lei daartoe dat Die sneeuslaper gelees kan word as ’n bydrae tot die breër besinning oor die rol en relevansie van letterkunde, kuns en kunskritiek in ons samelewing, en die manier waarop kunswerke ervaar word. Benewens Gumbrecht se idee van teenwoordigheidsproduksie, sal daar ook aangesluit word by Wolfgang Iser se “werkingsestetika” waarvolgens hy aandui dat literêre tekste “strukture uit die werklikheid” neem en herrangskik om daardie strukture op ’n vars en nuwe wyse in die literêre teks te belig. In die proses word tekortkominge of probleme van hierdie “strukture” uit die buite-tekstuele wêreld duidelik. Met behulp van Iser se teorie, word aangedui hoe Van Niekerk in die vier verskillende verhale die leser dwing om bestaande, hermeneutiese aannames oor die letterkunde en literêre tekste te heroorweeg. Die idee dat tekste betekenis moet inhou, sluiting moet bied of noodwendig sosiopolitieke betrokkenheid moet toon word uitgedaag. In ruil ondersoek Van Niekerk eerder die mate waartoe ’n benadering wat gerig is op die “estetiese ervaring” van literêre tekste, voorafopgestelde idees en aanvaarde strukture kan belig ten einde die leser se persepsies oor daardie strukture te wysig. Daar sal aangedui word hoe Van Niekerk taal aanwend om ook ’n teenwoordigheidseffek te bewerkstellig, en in die proses die leser, soos wat Gumbrecht voorstel, vir ’n oomblik “tot stilstand dwing”. / The role and potential relevance of the humanities, specifically of literature and literary criticism in the 21st century, has been increasingly called into question. Literary theorist Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht suggests that the problem is not that fiction has become irrelevant. Rather it is the exclusively hermeneutic way in which literature is read, that leads to a reductionist view of literature. Gumbrecht argues that it is possible to apply language in such a way that it could again bring the reader closer to the world to which the reader feels increasingly distant. He calls this concept the “production of presence”, and identifies seven ways in which language functions to create a “presence effect”. In this dissertation, Gumbrecht’s concept of the "presence effect" of literature will be applied to analyse Marlene van Niekerk’s Die sneeuslaper. The production of presence is, however, analysed in a tension with the hermeneutic aspect, the meaning or interpreation of literature, and literature that engages with social and political realities – a tension which is often present in Van Niekerk’s oeuvre. Gumbrecht’s theory of the “presence effect” of literature, opens up the possibility to read Die sneeuslaper as a contribution to a broader reflection on the way in which art is experienced, and on the role and relevance of literature, art and art criticism at the start of the 21st centuary. Apart from Gumbrecht’s concept of the production of presence, this study will rely on Wolfgang Iser’s reception theory in which he indicates how literary texts can rearrange structures from the world in order to highlights those structures in a new way. Hence, the deficiencies or problems of those “structures” become clear to the reader. Iser’s theory is used to indicate how the Van Niekerk forces the reader to reconsider existing hermeneutic perceptions on literature and literary texts. These include perceptions that texts should necessarily have meaning, that it should provide closure, or that it should be a socially or politically engaged text. Van Niekerk investigates an approach that is focused on the “aesthetic experience” of a literary text, and how such an approach could highlight preconceived ideas about existing and assumed structures about art and society in order to alter the reader’s perceptions of those structures. This study shows that Van Niekerk applies language in such a way that it leads to a presence effect which, as Gumbrecht suggest, forces the reader to experience a “moment of intensity”. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Unit for Creative Writing / MA / Unrestricted
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'n Strukturele en verteltegniese ondersoek na die representasie van die vroulike subjek in Marlene van Niekerk se AgaatHenn, Maryke 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the representation of the female subject in Marlene van Niekerk’s
novel, Agaat (2004). The female subjects, Milla and Agaat, are the focus of this study.
Both women are subjected to drastic situations, which not only influence their
relationship, but also their respective identities. This turn of events lead up to a power
struggle between Milla and Agaat, which eventually gets reversed throughout the course
of the narrative. The focus is essentially on the complex structure of the novel, where a
prologue and epilogue serve as a framework for the four different story lines, each with
its own narrative technique.
A number of theoretical approaches will be employed in order to explore the discussion
of the female subject. The novel, which is presented throughout by a single narrator,
leads the study to concepts such as representation, subjectivity and identity. In an attempt
to understand “the other”, the central role of language and mirrors with regard to
representation is explored. Van Niekerk’s reinvention and even subversion of the farm
novel of the late twentieth century involves ideologies of the Afrikaner such as land and
religion, gender, politics and culture. This strategy results in the focus on concepts like
subjectivity and identity. Both these processes will be explored in an attempt to gain
insight into the characters.
Key elements such as displacement, substitution and revenge give momentum to the
chain of events in the story and lead up to introspection by both women. It is especially
Milla’s terminal illness that induces introspection and preparation, for both Milla and
Agaat, towards death. The influence of all these events, Milla and Agaat’s mutual
dependence on each other, as well as the way in which they position themselves in the
face of death, prompt this study. This study explores the influence of these events on
women, the power struggle that developed out of this and the way in which their
respective roles are reversed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die representasie van die vroulike subjek in Marlene van
Niekerk se roman Agaat (2004). Daar word gefokus op die twee vroue in die verhaal,
Milla en Agaat. Beide vroue word aan ingrypende situasies onderwerp, wat ʼn invloed op
hulle verhouding sowel as hulle onderskeie identiteite het. Hierdie gebeure lei tot ʼn
magspel tussen Milla en Agaat, wat tydens die verloop van die verhaalgebeure volledig
omgekeer word. Die fokus val eerstens op die roman se ingewikkelde vertelstruktuur
waarin daar sprake is van ʼn pro- en epiloog as raamwerk waarbinne vier verhaallyne, elk
met sy eie verteltegniek, gebruik word.
ʼn Verskeidenheid teoretiese uitgangspunte word nagegaan ten einde die representasie van
die vroulike subjek te ondersoek. Die roman, wat deurentyd uit die perspektief van een
verteller aangebied word, lei die studie na ondersoekterreine soos representasie,
subjektiwiteit en identiteit. Die sentrale rol van taal en spieëls ten opsigte van
representasie en in die poging om die “ander” te kan verstaan, word nagegaan. Van
Niekerk se herskrywing van die plaasroman in die laat twintigste eeu betrek op subtiele
wyse die ideologieë van die Afrikaner rondom grond en religie, gender, politiek en
kultuur. Dit lei tot die fokus op subjektiwiteit en identiteit. Beide hierdie prosesse word
in die studie ondersoek ten einde begrip vir die karakters te probeer vind.
Elemente soos verplasing, plaasvervangerskap en vergelding gee stukrag aan die
verhaalgebeure en lei tot besinning by albei vroue. Dit is veral Milla se terminale siekte
wat aanleiding gee tot bestekopname en voorbereiding op die dood. Die invloed van al
dié gebeure en hoe twee vroue wat op mekaar aangewese is, hulleself posisioneer ten
opsigte van die dood, gee aanleiding tot hierdie studie. Die studie onderneem om
ondersoek in te stel na die invloed van gebeure by beide vroue, die magspel wat hieruit
ontwikkel en hoe die rolle stelselmatig omruil in die verhaalgebeure.
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Bevriending en bevreemding in Sprokkelster en Groenstaar van Marlene van NiekerkEngelbrecht, Anna Maria 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 1996. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Amity and estrangement in the poetry of Marlene van Niekerk are investigated in this
dissertation according to various poetic aspects: figurisation, time and space,
musicality, love poetry and Godly experience.
The first chapter introduces the concepts of "amity" and "estrangement" by way of
contextual definition. I shall endeavour to show, inter alia, how these two concepts
are already present in the titles of the two poetry volumes of Marlene van Niekerk,
Sprokkelster and Groenstaar.
Figurisation is discussed in chapter 2. The term "figurisation", i.e. the embodiment
of form or figure, is briefly described, followed by a discussion of "figurisation" in
nine selected poems and the manifestation of amity and estrangement therein.
Chapter three focuses on time and space in the poetry of Van Niekerk and of the
presence, also here, of amity and estrangement. First the concepts of "time" and
"space" are explained, followed by a discussion of ten poems with specific emphasis
on the well-known expanse of South Africa, as opposed to the less well known cosmos
of Europe — particularly the Netherlands. I highlight, inter alia, the contrast between
these two areas as well as the estrangement that Van Niekerk experienced from the
country of her birth during her stay abroad.
Chapter four deals with one of the most striking features of the poetry of Van Niekerk
— that of musicality. After the term "musicality" is briefly described, seven poems
are discussed to illustrate the musicality therein, whilst keeping the focus on amity and
estrangement.
The theme of love is dealt with in the fifth chapter. The poetry of Van Niekerk is,
according to Cloete (1978:173), "so filled with realism that it shows little interest in
the personal". In the few love poems that are present in her two poetry volumes, the
world around the "I" enjoys preference over the beloved, with the beloved
experienced largely through images of nature.
The penultimate chapter is devoted to the manner in which Van Niekerk experiences
the presence of God. Six poems are analyzed to substantiate this, and to show the
appearance of amity and estrangement here.
The salient points of the presence of amity and estrangement and the significance of
these two elements in the poetic oeuvre of Marlene van Niekerk, are encapsulated in
the concluding chapter. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die tesis word bevriending en bevreemding in die poesie van Marlene van Niekerk
aan die hand van verskillende aspekte van die poesie ondersoek: figurering, tyd en
ruimte, musikaliteit, liefdesverse en Godsbelewing.
Hoofstuk 1 dien as inleiding waarin onder andere die begrippe "bevriending" en
"bevreemding" omskryf word. Ek sal aandui hoe hulle reeds in die titels van Marlene
van Niekerk se twee digbundels, Sprokkelster en Groenstaar, aanwesig is.
Figurering word in die tweede hoofstuk bespreek. Eerstens word die begrip
"figurering", nl. die gee van vorm aan gestalte of figuur, kortliks omskryf. Daarna
word figurering in nege gedigte bespreek, en word ook aangedui hoe bevriending en
bevreemding daarin voorkom.
Hoofstuk 3 handel oor tyd en ruimte in Van Niekerk se poesie en hoe bevriending en
bevreemding ook hier aanwesig is. Die begrippe "tyd" en "ruimte" word eers kortliks
verduidelik. Daarna word 'n tiental gedigte bespreek wat onder meer handel oor die
bekende ruimte, Suid-Afrika, en die minder bekende ruimte, Europa, veral Nederland.
Ek wys onder meer op die kontras tussen die twee ruimtes, asook die vervreemding
wat daar by Van Niekerk ingetree het teenoor haar geboorteland tydens haar verblyf
in die vreemde.
Een van die opvallendste kenmerke van Van Niekerk se poesie, naamlik musikaliteit,
kom aan die bod in Hoofstuk 4. Eerstens word die begrip "musikaliteit" kortliks
beskryf. Daarna word sewe gedigte ter illustrasie bespreek, terwyl terselfdertyd gewys
word op bevriending en bevreemding.
Hoofstuk 5 handel oor die tema liefde. Volgens Cloete (1978:175) is Van Niekerk se
poesie "so vol van die werklikheid dat dit weinig geinteresseerd is in die personale".
In die enkele liefdesverse wat in haar twee digbundels voorkom, geniet die wereld
rondom die ek dan ook voorkeur b6 die geliefde en word die geliefde meestal deur
natuurbeelde heen beleef.
In Hoofstuk 6 word Van Niekerk se belewing van God aan die hand van ses gedigte
bespreek. Daar word aangedui hoe bevriending en bevreemding ook hier teenwoordig
is.
Die slothoofstuk is 'n kort samevatting van die bespreking van bevriending en
bevreemding in die voorafgaande hoofstukke.
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Encountering "Agaat": Toward a Dramaturgical Method of AdaptationAdolphsen, Paul 17 July 2015 (has links) (PDF)
This M.F.A. thesis in dramaturgy presents the first-ever stage adaptation of South African writer Marlene van Niekerk’s 2004 novel Agaat. Van Niekerk is an internationally acclaimed novelist, short story writer, poet, and dramatist particularly known for her lengthy novelistic excavations of Afriakner identity, in which sexuality, race, and gender collide in compelling but fraught ways. Covering nearly fifty-years of South African history—from the establishment of apartheid in 1948 through the nation’s transition to democracy in 1994—Agaat investigates everyday cycles of abuse and intimacy through the story of white farmer Milla de Wet and her coloured adopted daughter-cum-maid, Agaat Lourier. This thesis foregrounds the interconnections between theory and practice by presenting both the adaptation itself and a prolonged engagement with theories of adaptation and dramaturgy. It is framed, then, around a simple question: How might dramaturgy and adaptation, as cultural and artistic processes and products, encounter one another? Through analysis of current discussions in the fields of Adaptation Studies and dramaturgy, and reflections on the particular challenges and possibilities of adapting van Niekerk’s novel to the stage, the thesis argues that adaption can be understood as a mode of encounter that opens up spaces for connection between people, texts, and cultures. A dramaturgical method of adaptation is concerned not with hierarchy, authority, and fidelity, but rather with viewing adaptation as a conversation between a network of resonances. The thesis begins with an overview of van Niekerk’s work and context, moves to an examination of current conversations in Adaptation Studies and dramaturgy, and concludes with a prolonged reflection on the process of adapting Agaat to the stage.
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Literary genres as points of interest in print advertisingVan Niekerk, A., Conradie, M. January 2014 (has links)
Published Article / The article focuses on the interplay between print advertisements and literary genres such as poetry, drama, folklore, etc. This interplay may be used to develop an advertisement's point of interest to attract attention from a specific target audience. Based on previous research we hypothesise that literary genres are exploited as a means to engage audiences. The study aims to give a description of the typical genre characteristics of modern literary genres in SA print advertising. It also endeavours to do a pragmatic analysis of these advertisements against the background of the specific literary genre category and the genre qualities of advertisements to identify the implied marketing message.
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Twee Afrikaanse romans in Engels : ’n ondersoek na die werkswyses van literere vertalersSwart, Marius 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / In this descriptive study, recent translations into English of two highly-regarded Afrikaans novels are investigated. The purpose of this is to describe these translations in a comparative manner, in order to arrive at conclusions about the differing modi operandi of diverse literary translators. The texts studied are Agaat
by Marlene van Niekerk (2004) and Hierdie lewe by Karel Schoeman (1993), titled Agaat (2006) and This Life (2005) in English, and translated by Michiel Heyns and Elsa Silke, respectively.
The two translators differ in that one is a creative writer in own right, though not
being a formally-trained translation scholar, and translated with input from the source text author. The other is not a creative writer, translated without input from the author and has a formal translation-theoretical qualification. In this study, the target texts produced by these two translators are compared with their respective
source texts, in order to determine whether there are differences or similarities in their modi operandi.
A theoretical framework is compiled using relevant translation theories in order to
systematise the comparison of the source texts and their translations. The novels are then compared to their translations in turn, on various levels, in order to describe the modus operandi of each translator. This results in certain conclusions being drawn about the different ways in which diverse translators
work. These conclusions are linked to norms apparent in the decisions the translators make, or the lack thereof, as well as the role of the translation skopos.
A number of topics for further research are also mentioned.
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Die verhouding tussen verhaal en metafoor in Agaat (Marlene van Niekerk) / Hester Elzebet VenterVenter, Hester Elzebet January 2009 (has links)
The novel Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk is a highly complex text. One of the most compelling
aspects of the novel is the way in which the author constructs an underlying metaphorical grid
which determines the composition of the novel. The motives in the novel cannot be regarded
merely as motives because specific prominent and powerful metaphors are continually exploited
by variation and extension. The complicated relationship between narrative and metaphor on
different levels is of great importance in the interpretation of the novel.
Due to the complexity of the text, the dominant metaphors cannot be analyzed in the traditional
manner. In this study I want to demonstrate that conceptual blending theory, which can be
regarded as a branch of conceptual metaphor theory, offers a theoretical framework that can be
used to understand the underlying cognitive functioning of the interaction between author, text
and reader.
This dissertation will examine the processes of blending shaped from the mottos posted at the
beginning of the novel. The three mottos, the music motto, the embroidery motto and the farming
motto, act throughout the novel as a backdrop against which events in the novel can be
interpreted. The blending formed from these mottos merge with other metaphors in the novel in
order to generate meaning. The three mottos were taken from the introductions of the FAKVolksangbundel,
the embroidery book Borduur so and the Hulpboek vir boere in Suid-Afrika.
The three books are used by Milla to educate and teach Agaat. She uses the books to "create"
Agaat and to mould her into the person that Milla wants her to be. The mottos stress the uplifting
of the people and the creation of a true Afrikaner identity. Agaat accomplishes everything that
the books require of her, she becomes an expert in the areas that determine the Afrikaner
identity. However, as a brown woman, she is still not considered a member of community or as a
fully acceptable civilized woman.
The meanings of the other important metaphor in the novel, the mirror metaphor, are also
investigated extensively. The mirror plays an important role in the relationship between Milla and Agaat. The mirror is also important in Milla's confrontation with herself, especially in her
experience of her illness and her acceptance of her imminent death. The mirror is also used in the
depiction of the relationship between characters and the experience of each other as the "Other".
The blending of the mirror metaphor and the link that can be established with the theories of
Lacan are part of one of the main blendings formed from the mirror metaphor. This metaphor
also interacts with the embroidery metaphor. The mirror reflects images to the characters and via
the characters to the readers which enforce moral judgments about perceptions and practices.
The final part of the dissertation analyses how the dominant metaphors, namely music,
embroidery, farming and the mirror, blend in multiple ways in the text to create new domains of
meaning. The four main metaphors also blend with secondary metaphors in the novel in order to
generate meaning. One of the important secondary metaphors is the "waterhondjies". The
"waterhondjies" blend with Guido Gezelle's poem "Het Schrijverke". There is also emphasis on
the relationship between writing and the "waterhondjies". The blending of the caeser butterfly
plays an important role in the novel as well.
In the final chapter the statement is made that the metaphors and symbols in Agaat cannot merely
be regarded and interpreted as traditional motives, but rather as examples of cognitive blending.
The types of blending in the novel require the cooperation of the reader in all cases. The reader
must, in some cases, as with the mirror metaphor and the metaphor of the "waterhondjies",
identify and activate the second domain of the blend. In the case of the mottos the different
domains of the blend are activated by the author and the reader only needs to provide an
interpretation. At the end of the dissertation the conclusion is made that the blending theory
offers a suitable method and terminology to analyze the complex processes of generating
meaning in the novel. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010
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Die verhouding tussen verhaal en metafoor in Agaat (Marlene van Niekerk) / Hester Elzebet VenterVenter, Hester Elzebet January 2009 (has links)
The novel Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk is a highly complex text. One of the most compelling
aspects of the novel is the way in which the author constructs an underlying metaphorical grid
which determines the composition of the novel. The motives in the novel cannot be regarded
merely as motives because specific prominent and powerful metaphors are continually exploited
by variation and extension. The complicated relationship between narrative and metaphor on
different levels is of great importance in the interpretation of the novel.
Due to the complexity of the text, the dominant metaphors cannot be analyzed in the traditional
manner. In this study I want to demonstrate that conceptual blending theory, which can be
regarded as a branch of conceptual metaphor theory, offers a theoretical framework that can be
used to understand the underlying cognitive functioning of the interaction between author, text
and reader.
This dissertation will examine the processes of blending shaped from the mottos posted at the
beginning of the novel. The three mottos, the music motto, the embroidery motto and the farming
motto, act throughout the novel as a backdrop against which events in the novel can be
interpreted. The blending formed from these mottos merge with other metaphors in the novel in
order to generate meaning. The three mottos were taken from the introductions of the FAKVolksangbundel,
the embroidery book Borduur so and the Hulpboek vir boere in Suid-Afrika.
The three books are used by Milla to educate and teach Agaat. She uses the books to "create"
Agaat and to mould her into the person that Milla wants her to be. The mottos stress the uplifting
of the people and the creation of a true Afrikaner identity. Agaat accomplishes everything that
the books require of her, she becomes an expert in the areas that determine the Afrikaner
identity. However, as a brown woman, she is still not considered a member of community or as a
fully acceptable civilized woman.
The meanings of the other important metaphor in the novel, the mirror metaphor, are also
investigated extensively. The mirror plays an important role in the relationship between Milla and Agaat. The mirror is also important in Milla's confrontation with herself, especially in her
experience of her illness and her acceptance of her imminent death. The mirror is also used in the
depiction of the relationship between characters and the experience of each other as the "Other".
The blending of the mirror metaphor and the link that can be established with the theories of
Lacan are part of one of the main blendings formed from the mirror metaphor. This metaphor
also interacts with the embroidery metaphor. The mirror reflects images to the characters and via
the characters to the readers which enforce moral judgments about perceptions and practices.
The final part of the dissertation analyses how the dominant metaphors, namely music,
embroidery, farming and the mirror, blend in multiple ways in the text to create new domains of
meaning. The four main metaphors also blend with secondary metaphors in the novel in order to
generate meaning. One of the important secondary metaphors is the "waterhondjies". The
"waterhondjies" blend with Guido Gezelle's poem "Het Schrijverke". There is also emphasis on
the relationship between writing and the "waterhondjies". The blending of the caeser butterfly
plays an important role in the novel as well.
In the final chapter the statement is made that the metaphors and symbols in Agaat cannot merely
be regarded and interpreted as traditional motives, but rather as examples of cognitive blending.
The types of blending in the novel require the cooperation of the reader in all cases. The reader
must, in some cases, as with the mirror metaphor and the metaphor of the "waterhondjies",
identify and activate the second domain of the blend. In the case of the mottos the different
domains of the blend are activated by the author and the reader only needs to provide an
interpretation. At the end of the dissertation the conclusion is made that the blending theory
offers a suitable method and terminology to analyze the complex processes of generating
meaning in the novel. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010
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“The weight of my skeleton is my only honesty” : language and the speaking body in Marlene van Niekerk’s AgaatLevinrad, Ester 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis proposes a detailed study of the novel Agaat by South African author Marlene
van Niekerk (first published 2004). A particular focus throughout is on constructions of
identity and subjectivity, and the novel is considered as writing within and against both
the Realist tradition as well as the South African genre of the plaasroman and/or farm
novel. The translation of the novel into English by Michiel Heyns (published 2006) is
used as primary text, which furthermore raises questions of language and interpretation
already implicit in the narrative, questions which provide a compelling filter for reading
the novel in its entirety.
In the Introduction, I briefly delineate the novel’s storyline. This serves to introduce the
novel’s thematic concerns and outlines the linguistic complexities which emerge as a
result of the novel’s structure. An exposition on Realism in the novel follows, where I
suggest how a consideration of the Realist tradition might be useful in exploring the
mimetic effect in Agaat. Next the appearance and history of the plaasroman and farm
novel in South African literature is considered.
In Chapter One, the novel’s structural elements are examined in greater detail, through a
close analysis of the five different narrative voices of the novel. I suggest that the novel is
an elaborate study of identity and subjectivity which simultaneously uproots questions of
voice and authorship. While the subject matter of the novel and the attention to details of
farming and the physical environment makes it seem a near-historical record and places
Agaat within the genre of the plaasroman, the effect of the different voices of the novel is
to undercut fundamentally any stable narrative authority.
Agaat is nevertheless an incredible compendium of the nitty-gritty of life. In Chapter
Two I explore the manner in which the body and the self are located within a very
particular landscape and setting. How and for what purpose is subjectivity and identity
refracted and articulated through metaphors of space and the experiences of place? In the course of a close reading of the novel, I draw on broadly post-structuralist conceptions of
language, as well as South African critics’ writing on the genre of the plaasroman.
The third and final chapter examines the novel Agaat in translation. Agaat is a deeply
literary novel, drawing on a remarkably wide lexicon of cultural references, suffused with
questions of interpretation and a compelling and complex inquiry of language. The
English translation by Michiel Heyns remains a novel of and about Afrikaans. Quite how
this is achieved raises questions of translation pertaining both to the ‘postcolonial’, if one
reads South Africa as such, and to the specifically local. To this end, a brief context to
translation and language politics within the ‘postcolonial’ and South Africa is considered,
before engaging in a closer examination of the techniques by which Agaat was translated
from Afrikaans into English. I conclude with remarks regarding the success of the
translation into English and suggest that the translation is masterful but that its most
striking characteristics depend on a local South African reader. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis behels ‘n noukeurige studie van die roman Agaat (2004) deur die Suid-
Afrikaanse skrywer Marlene van Niekerk. Die klem val deurgaans op die konstruksie van
identiteit en subjektwiteit, en die roman word beskou as ‘n reaksie teen, maar ook ‘n
uitbouing van die tradisies van Realisme en die Suid-Afrikaanse plaasroman/“farm
novel”. Die primêre teks vir hierdie ondersoek is Michiel Heyns se Engelse vertaling van
die roman (2006), wat verdere vrae rondom taal en interpretasie laat ontstaan. Sodanige
vrae is alreeds implisiet in die narratief gesetel en verskaf ‘n indringende lens waardeur
die roman in sy geheel gelees kan word.
In die Inleiding gee ek ‘n kort oorsig van die verhaalloop, wat ook dien as ‘n
bekendstelling van die roman se temas en die linguistieke kompleksiteite wat ontstaan as
‘n gevolg van die roman se struktuur. ‘n Beskrywing van Realisme in die roman volg,
waarin ek suggereer dat ‘n beskouing van die tradisie van Realisme nuttig kan wees vir ‘n verkenning van die mimetiese effek in Agaat. Volgende word die verskyning en
geskiedenis van die plaasroman en “farm novel” in Suid-Afrikaanse literatuur bekyk.
In Hoofstuk Een word die strukturele elemente van die roman in groter detail beskou deur
middel van ‘n noukeurige analise van die vyf verskillende narratiewe stemme in die
roman. Ek stel voor dat die roman ‘n verwikkelde studie van identiteit en subjektwiteit is,
wat terselfdetyd ook sekere vrae rondom stem en outeurskap ontbloot. Die onderwerp
van die roman en die aandag wat dit skenk aan noukeurige beskrywings van boerdery en
die landelike omgewing skep die indruk van ‘n historiese rekord en situeer Agaat in die
genre van die plaasroman, maar die effek van die verskillende stemme is dat enige
stabiele narratiewe outoriteit op deurslaggewende wyse ondermyn word.
Desondanks bly Agaat ‘n indrukwekkende kompendium van die materiële aspekte van
die lewe. In Hoofstuk Twee verken ek die manier waarop die liggaam en die self gesetel
is binne ‘n baie spesifieke landskap en ligging. Hoe en om watter rede word
subjektiwiteit en identiteit versplinter en geartikuleer deur middel van metafore van
spasie en die ervaring van plek? Deur die loop van ‘n noukeurige lees van die roman
betrek ek breedvoerig sekere post-strukturele gedagtes oor taal, asook Suid-Afrikaanse
kritici se beskouings oor die genre van die plaasroman.
Die derde en laaste hoofstuk ondersoek die roman Agaat in vertaling. Agaat is ‘n diep
literêre roman. Dit betrek ‘n merkwaardige verskeidenheid kulturele verwysings en is
deurspek met vrae rondom interpretasie en ‘n indringende en komplekse ondersoek na die
aard van taal. Michiel Heyns se Engelse vertaling bly ‘n roman oor Afrikaans. Presies
hoe dít bewerkstellig word opper sekere vrae oor vertaling wat verwys na die
“postkoloniale”, as mens Suid-Afrika in hierdie lig sou beskou, en ook na die spesifiek
plaaslike. Daarom word ‘n opsommende konteks van vertaling en taalpolitiek in die
“postkoloniale” en in Suid-Afrika belig, voordat die tegniek waardeur Agaat van
Afrikaans na Engels vertaal is, van naderby bekyk word. Ek sluit af met opmerkings oor
die sukses van die vertaling na Engels en stel voor dat die vertaling meesterlik is, maar
dat die mees treffende aspekte daarvan ‘n plaaslike, Suid-Afrikaanse leser vereis.
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‘To eke out the vocabulary of old age’ : literary representations of ageing in transitional and post-transitional South AfricaPretorius, Antoinette E. January 2014 (has links)
This thesis investigates the depiction of ageing and old age in several key works of South African literature of the transitional and post-transitional period. The study covers texts set both in the transitional period prior to the 1994 democratic elections and in the years following that historical watershed. I examine how the literary representation of the ageing individual operates within the rhetoric of transition and new beginnings that characterizes the contemporary political and ideological climate of South Africa. The study includes a close examination of two novels (Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee, and Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk), a collection of short stories (The Mistress’s Dog by David Medalie), and a volume of poetry (Body Bereft by Antjie Krog). My reading of these texts centres on exploring how the authors depict their ageing protagonists in relation to ideas of time, place and the body. Using Julia Kristeva’s theories on abjection, I analyse whether or not a degree of agency can be found in the abject depiction of older age. Similarly, I examine the ways in which reading older age through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of the grotesque allows for a liberation from reductive understandings of the embodiment of ageing individuals. Because both Agaat and Body Bereft are translated from Afrikaans, I also explore the ways in which translation intersects with the socio-political ideologies of the periods in which these texts are set, as well as how this may have an impact upon the representation of older age. Through examining the tension between the nostalgic, backward-looking perspective usually attributed to old age, and the progressive, forward-looking sentiment of modern South Africa, I investigate the ways in which these writers – Coetzee and Van Niekerk in particular – associate the ageing body with political concerns. I also show how, in their different ways, all four writers counteract stereotypes associated with senescence. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / English / DLitt / Unrestricted
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