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This study calls for a re-evaluation of contemporary regionalist literary theory. It argues that traditional models of the discourse have been too heavily influenced by nineteenth century realist aesthetics and political ideologies. Because most scholars continue to interpret regionalist texts according to a resolutely empirical reading of geography, literary regionalism has fallen out of touch with the new kinds of "unrealistic," generic landscapes that now dominate North American culture in the postindustrial era. Drawing heavily on recent work by postmodern geographers such as Edward Soja, David Harvey, Michael Dear and Derek Gregory, this project updates regionalist theory by "re-placing" the artificially stabilized reading of geography that dominated the nineteenth century with a more self-consciously spatialized reading of what Soja calls our contemporary "real-and-imagined" places. By grafting together traditional regionalism and postmodern spatial theory we improve on both contributing discourses. In a "postmodern-regionalist" literary criticism, traditional regionalism sheds its reputation for theoretical naivete, while the elusive abstractions of postmodern theory gain a real-world referent, and a specific geographical index. When we "read postmodernism regionally" - - when we aggressively interrogate where this kind of fiction comes from and the places it represents - - we realize that the canons of postmodern fiction in Canada and the United States have been influenced by two very different spatial epistemologies. Rather than being "determined" by their real geographies, Canadian and American postmodernism have been more directly influenced by two different readings of geography. Works by Thomas Pynchon, Toni Morrison, and Don DeLillo demonstrate that American postmodernism often interprets social space according to what Henri Lefebvre calls the idealistic "the illusion of transparency," while texts by Canadian postmodernists such as Robert Kroetsch, Wayne Johnston and Guy Vanderhaeghe tend to fall under Lefebvre's more materialistic "illusion of opacity." The ambiguous figure of Douglas Coupland - - a Canadian writer most critics treat as an American - - puts the spatial conventions of postmodernism in both countries in sharp relief. In an American postmodernism, dominated by generic suburban settings, regions will almost always be seen as imaginary projections, while in a Canadian postmodernism, dominated by the Prairies, regions will almost always retain some sense of their material reality.

Literary contests have been quite popular in recent years among American publishers. Regardless of their merits, such contests have raised two questions for librarians charged with responsibilities for book selection. The first is whether such award winners are of sufficient merit as to justify immediate purchase as a result of their being the recipients of the publisher's prizes, or whether such titles should have the same slow, careful screening that is set up by the library policy for other new titles. The second question is whether other titles by prize-winning authors could be justified for purchase on the grounds that the authors had been proved of merit in their production of prize-winners, or whether the works other than their prize novels should be subjected to closed scrutiny. For these questions there have been no ready answers. In order to help answer the above questions a study has been made of one publisher's contest, analyzing the Atlantic Novel Prize winners together with a brief survey of later works of the recipients of that award. This study will attempt to show how both the later books by the Atlantic authors and the prize novels have been received immediately by the reviewers and how they have stood the test of time as revealed by their presence or absence in the standard selection aid. / Typescript. / "February, 1958." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Ruth H. Rockwood, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-73).

"In recent years the writer has noted from time to time the recurrence on best seller lists of titles that could be called, because of the setting, characterization, and problems, religious fiction. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the titles of religious fiction for the period 1900-1953 with view to determining how many such novels achieved best seller status; of ascertaining what types have been widely read; and with view of determining what in the minds of authors and reviewers was the need served and the reason for their popularity. No attempt will be made to show that these books ought to be read, that they are outstanding literature, or that they will necessarily live--the aim is to show that the religious novel is a force that cannot be ignored in the study of fiction and current trends in writing"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "May, 1955." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert G. Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-50).

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The dissertation "And the Sea looked : a novel in the making" is an exploration of the creative process of a prose fiction novel called „And the Sea Looked‟. Following the lives of three women, the novel reflects on the idea that universal Peace (the end of all wars) will only be possible if individuals, through the power of their choices in the way they live their ordinary lives, strive to transcend the separations and imperfections of the Material World, ultimately finding a universal unity ("oneness") in the ideal love existing in Plato‟s superior, Divine World. The psychological creative process behind the making of the novel is investigated in-depth and a short critical interpretation of the novel is included. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Text in Tsonga / Summaries in Tsonga and English / Dyondzo Ieyi ya ririmi ra tinovhele ta nhungu ta Xitsonga a yi susumetiwile hi mhaka ya ku va mutsari wa novhele taiiihi mutshila, a trrliisaka ririmi tanihi xitirho xa yena, hilaha swi kombisiwakahakona hi Lodge (1979), Leech na Short (1987) na Kahari (1986). Ririmi leri ri tumbuluxa xitsariwa, h.I. Ieswi nga tsariwa swi hlayekaka, ni nchumu wo tianakanyela lowu vuriwaka novhele. Xikongomelonkulu xa dyondzo leyi a ku ri ku von a ndlela leyi ririmi ra vatsari lava matsalwa ya vona lama xopaxopiwaka, ri tirhaka ha yona. Dyondzo leyi a yi ri ni xikongomelontsongo Iexi xi nga ku hluvukisa ririmi ra Xitsonga, ni ku pfuneta ku tlakusa xiyimo xa ririmi leri ni ra tindzimi tin Vana ta Xintima hi ku kombisa leswaku tindzimi leti ta swi kota ku tirha eka tindhawu ta xiyimo xa le henhla tanihi dyondzo yo fana ni leyi. Dyondzo leyi yl avanyisiwile hi tindzima ta ntlhanu. Ndzima yo sungula yi hlamusela xikongomelo xa dyondzo, yi tlhela yi vumba nseketelo wo ajigarhela mayelana ni timhaka ta matsalwa. Ndzima ya vumbirhi yi xopaxopa ririmi eka paluxeni ka nkongomelo, kasi ndzima ya vunharhu ni ya vurnune hi ku landzelelana ti paluxa ririmi eka vumunhuhati ni le ku paluxeni ka mbangu. Ndzima yo hetelela i yo katsakanya ntirho ni ku nyika swibumabumelo. Ririmi ri ni matimba yo hambana eku tirheni ka rona, ya nga "melopoeia", h.3. ku endla vuyimbeleri, "phanopoeia", ku endla xifaniso xo vitanisa, ni "logopoeia", ku endla rito ra leu va ni ngulumelo. Matirhele lawa ya ririmi ya fambelana ni vuyimeri bya minpfiamawulo ya ririmi ni swiyimeri swa yona swo tsariwa. Nkoka wa riencisi wu paluxiwile eka dyondzo leyi. Leswi swi endlile leswaku ku seketeriwa Kock (1981) loko a vula leswaku riencisi ri fanele ku nghena eka nongoloko wa matheme ya vutsari tanihi xigaririmi xo karhi, xi ri xiave xa tindzimi ta Xintima ku engetela swin'wana eka rhetoriki. Nxopaxopo wa ririmi ra tinovhele ta dyondzo leyi wu paluxile nkucetelano wa tindzinii ta Xintima ni ta Xilungu laha Afrika-Dzonga. Xiyimo xa tidyondzo ta tindzimi ta Xintima ni matsalwa ya kona swi kombisiwile swi ri leswi nga wisiki mbiln kutani ku bumabumeriwa ku va mfumo wu fanele Icu nghenelela. / This study of the language of eight Xitsonga novels was motivated by the fact that the novelist as an artist uses language as his medium as indicated by Lodge (1979), Leech and Short (1987), and Kahari (1986). This language produces the text and the imaginative object called the novel. The main aim of this study was to determine how the language of the authors whose works are being studied here, functions. This study had a secondary aim which was the development of the Xitsonga language and to contribute to the raising of the status of this language and other African languages by demonstrating that these languages can be used in high domains such as a study of this nature. The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one indicates the aim of the sludy, and also provides a theoretical basis by discussing matters pertaining to literature in general. Chapter two analyses language in the expression of theme, while chapters three and four respectively deal with the language of characterization and of the expression of milieu. The last chapter is the general conclusion of the study, and recommendations. Language is charged in different ways in its functioning, viz "melopoeia", the making of music, "phanopoeia", the making of bright image and "logopoeia", the making of the resonant word. This kind of language function is associated with the symbolism of language sounds, and the corresponding symbolism of their written forms. The significance of the ideophone was demonstrated in this study. This made it possible to support fCock (1981) when she says that the ideophone should be included in a glossary of literary terms as a figure for speech, as a contribution by African langauges to rhetoric. The linguistic analysis of the novels of this study also revealed the mutual influence of different languages, African and European, in South Africa. The state of African language studies and African literature is indicated as a matter of concern in this study and government intervention is recommended. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Chapter One of this thesis investigates the growth and development of the Tswana short story. It commences with an evaluation of studies done on this genre and proceeds to a brief exposition of the Tswana short stories published prior to 1995. It also provides theoretical backgmund on the modern short story. The main focus of Chapter Two concerns the major themes explored in Tswana short stories. These include tradition and culture, love and marriage, the makgoweng motif, religion as well as corruption and other social problems. This thesis has discovered that the Tswana Miters not only criticise the negative aspects of these realities, but also recognise their significance and beauty. Chapter Three examines the organisational patte~ of the Tswana short story and tests it against the structural pattenl of the West. It is revealed that the Tswana short story, like short stories of other cultures, shows a continuous sequence of exposition, development and resolution. However, it occasionaHy deviates from the nonn and commences with philosophical commentaries and details irrelevant to the developmental phase. In structuring their stories, the Tswana writers also use flashback and foreshadowing to link their events. However, what has been discovered is that foreshadowing occurs less frequently than flashback in the Tswana short story. Chapter Four focusses on the word, the sentence and the paragraph and refers to other related clements such as repetition, rhetorical questions, proverbs, idioms and Biblical allusions. These elements serve to enhance the style of the Tswana short story and bring the readers into a dialogic relationship with their language and culture. Creative writing in Tswana illustrates a strong, dynamic relationship with oral tradition. Chapter Five shows how writers have cirawn from the wealth of their traditional and cultural heritage original and wlique devices to improve their works of art. The threads of oral tradition that reveal themselves in the Tswana short story pertain to the organisation of material, characterisation, setting, style and language as well as narrative perspective. In Chapter Six the findings of the earlier chapters are highlighted and recommendations for future research are outlined. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil.(African Languages)