On January 31, 1911, the Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan became an official organisation under the direction of the University of Saskatchewan. Established to provide isolated rural women with companionship, access to education, and the opportunity to carry out community service, Homemakers' Clubs appealed to thousands of farm women because they provided the means by which they could improve themselves, their farm homes, and their communities. Its appeal also lay in the fact that the organisation remained non-political and non-sectarian, focusing instead on women's primary responsibilities to their homes and their families. To that end, Homemakers' Clubs embraced a domestic ideology that institionalised notions of gender and celebrated women's roles in the home. Given that the nature of farm women's work was not restricted to the household, however, Homemakers' Clubs allowed rural women to redefine an urban domesticity to include their farming responsibilities. Moreover, in a setting where gender lines were often blurred and the division of labour was not always strictly defined, membership in an organisation that reinforced gender roles, promoted family and community life, and embraced a traditional mandate provided farm women with a level of respectability and femininity that was often lost in a farming setting. Finally, the domestic ideology under which the Homemakers' Clubs operated allowed its members to find recognition and validation in their work, and, in their goals to elevate home life, to legitimise their work, and to adjust domestic ideology to include their farming responsibilities, the organisation became a space in which its members discussed, debated, explored, and, in some cases, challenged common perceptions of women; they subtly challenged the status quo and demanded validation and recognition for their work in and contributions to their farms and communities. As such, an organisation that may outwardly appear to be a traditional women's organisation devoted strictly to the exchange of recipes and household advice, was, in actuality, quietly political and provided farm women with a sense of identity that enabled them to contribute fundamentally to their rural homes, families, and communities.

RESUM ESTRUCTURA: Capítol 1. Metodologia i fonts. S’exposen les bases teòriques que emmarquen l’objecte d’estudi a partir dels inventaris de patrimoni etnogràfic i les recerques posteriors. Capítol 2. Evolució del paisatge agrari de la Plana de Vic. Es presenten set mirades sobre el paisatge agrari de la zona que van des de l’any 1787 a l’any 2004. Capítol 3. Fer de pagès a la Plana de Vic: masos i masoveries. Es presenten les característiques dels cicles de rotació de conreus practicats i la seva relació amb els diversos tipus de contractes de masoveria. Es posa l’exemple d’un mas en concret, el mas El Colomer de Taradell, singular pel seu origen, evolució i els conjunts patrimonials que conserva. Capítol 4. Les eines de pagès. S’estudia la importància de la força de tracció animal en l’agricultura de la Plana de Vic i com la mecanització accelerada va fer desaparèixer els animals de treball de la comarca. Es consideren també com a eines que el pagès ha de saber manejar, les terres, les llavors, els fertilitzants i altres productes utilitzats en el conreu de les terres, en funció dels efectes derivats dels agents atmosfèrics. Es fa referència als oficis menestrals que fornien els pagesos de les eines necessàries per a les labors agrícoles. Capítol 5. Les feines dels conreus. Es pren com a referència un dels models més estesos entre els sistemes de rotació agrícola, anomenat trènit , utilitzat durant la primera meitat del segle XX a la Plana de Vic. Seguint el cicle de rotació que recull aquest autor, es descriuen les feines realitzades manualment i les feines realitzades amb ajuda de força animal o bé mecanitzada que havia de realitzar el pagès a fi d’aconseguir bones collites. Per descriure les feines dels conreus s’aplica l’etnografia retrospectiva, reconstruint de forma narrativa amb fonts documentals juntament amb fonts orals, una per una, les feines de l’any agrícola de la rotació quadriennal de conreus del trènit, especificant per a cada conreu de la rotació la relació de les feines que s’hi ha de fer, detallant la descripció tècnica de la feina, l’època de l’any en que es realitza, les persones i les eines que hi intervenen, l’esforç i el temps emprat la valoració econòmica i el procés de modernització. JUSTIFICACIÓ: . Aproximació etnogràfica pionera en l’estudi de l’ofici de pagès a la Plana de Vic. . Creixent interès social sobre la sostenibilitat en el món dels pagesos i els oficis menestrals. . Pràctica de l’etnografia retrospectiva en l’estudi del món rural. . Oferir un visió de l’evolució de la tecnologia agrícola a la Plana de Vic. METODOLOGIA: . Investigació empírica mitjançant el treball de camp. . Entrevistes en profunditat . Contextualització i acotació de l’objecte d’estudi mitjançant teories i metodologies pròpies de la història i l’antropologia. RECOPILACIÓ DE FONTS PRIMÀRIES: . Publicacions, imatge històrica, eines i feines. . Fonts orals i materials . Fonts documentals: llibres, revistes, articles i fullets d’agrònoms i veterinaris, memòries de pagesos i menestrals, llibretes de comptes dels propis pagesos dels arxius particulars de les masies . Suport fonogràfic i videogràfic. CONCLUSIONS: Corroborar les aportacions més rellevants sobre l’ofici de pagès Fixar les etapes de canvi tecnològic Explorar línies de futur en la recerca etnogràfica i la seva difusió. . La memòria de l’ofici de pagès i els oficis menestrals . Els canvis agrícoles a la Plana de Vic . Descripció i reproducció del trènit . L’etnografia retrospectiva BIBLIOGRAFIA CONSULTADA: Obres genèriques. Obres específiques de la Plana de Vic d’història, geografia i etnografia.

On January 31, 1911, the Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan became an official organisation under the direction of the University of Saskatchewan. Established to provide isolated rural women with companionship, access to education, and the opportunity to carry out community service, Homemakers' Clubs appealed to thousands of farm women because they provided the means by which they could improve themselves, their farm homes, and their communities. Its appeal also lay in the fact that the organisation remained non-political and non-sectarian, focusing instead on women's primary responsibilities to their homes and their families. To that end, Homemakers' Clubs embraced a domestic ideology that institionalised notions of gender and celebrated women's roles in the home. Given that the nature of farm women's work was not restricted to the household, however, Homemakers' Clubs allowed rural women to redefine an urban domesticity to include their farming responsibilities. Moreover, in a setting where gender lines were often blurred and the division of labour was not always strictly defined, membership in an organisation that reinforced gender roles, promoted family and community life, and embraced a traditional mandate provided farm women with a level of respectability and femininity that was often lost in a farming setting. Finally, the domestic ideology under which the Homemakers' Clubs operated allowed its members to find recognition and validation in their work, and, in their goals to elevate home life, to legitimise their work, and to adjust domestic ideology to include their farming responsibilities, the organisation became a space in which its members discussed, debated, explored, and, in some cases, challenged common perceptions of women; they subtly challenged the status quo and demanded validation and recognition for their work in and contributions to their farms and communities. As such, an organisation that may outwardly appear to be a traditional women's organisation devoted strictly to the exchange of recipes and household advice, was, in actuality, quietly political and provided farm women with a sense of identity that enabled them to contribute fundamentally to their rural homes, families, and communities.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / The aim of this dissertation is to analyse those poems in which the image of the knife, el cuchillo, appears in the collection El rayo que no cesa, by Miguel Hernandez. The poet manifests his all-encompassing tragic view of life by means of this recurring negative symbol. The poetry of Miguel Hernandez is autobiographical: The universal themes of nature, love and death reveal a close link between the course of his life and the evolution of his poetry. El rayo que no cesa is central to the evolution of Hernandez's poetry: it is the product of the crisis of conscience that propelled the poet toward a radical change of world-view. The book reveals his frustration with love within the rigid norms of the society of his time. The poet expresses his bitterness by means of destructive images such as knife, sword, and ray/flash, images that project the tragic fate that threatened his entire existence. / Met eietydse denkrigtings oor die literere historiografie as uitgangspunt, word 'n deelgeskiedenis aangebied van die plaasroman as deurlopende en prominente genre in die Afrikaanse letterkunde oor 'n tydperk van nagenoeg sewentig jaar (1926 -1993). Ter inleiding word besin oor die geldigheid van kategorisering van romans en oor die aard van die plaasroman as eiesoortige genre. Orie opeenvolgende periodes word onderskei binne hierdie deelgeskiedenis op grond van bepaalde perspektiefverskuiwings wat in die Afrikaanse literere klimaat opvat. Hierdie periodes word deur die volgende noemers getipeer: Die Afrikaanse gedagte (1920-1940), Die internasionale gedagte (1956-1976) en Die Afrika gedagte (1976-1993). Twaalf plaasromans van literer-historiese betekenis word sinchronies, diachronies en binne ekstratekstuele konteks bespreek. Ten slotte word 'n oorsig gebied van die historiese gang sowel as die veranderende betekenis van die plaasroman in die Afrikaanse letterkunde. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

Institute for Rural Development / MRDV