MA (English) / Department of English / This study examines the representation of the Zimbabwean migrant experiences in both regional and international migrations. It utilizes narratives that highlight the experiences of the Zimbabweans who migrate thereby exploring issues of mobility and identity. These narratives are Harare North (2010), An Elegy for Easterly (2010), Zebra Crossing (2013), We Need New Names (2014) and The Maestro, The Magistrate and The Mathematician (2014). These narratives have been utilized in the study to argue that migrants encounter traumatic experiences as they cross either the regional or international spaces they move to in search of better economic prospects. It further explores the kinds of trauma that they are subjected to, ranging from racism, the threat and reality of xenophobic attacks, the intricacy of negotiating an existence and a livelihood in these new spaces, searching for employment, to mention a few. The study argues that the migration experience has a catastrophic effect on the migrants’ psychological state, represented as partially being caused by the realization that the host country presents its own set of challenges and is also hostile, a different reality from the preconceived romanticized view of the countries they migrate to. The study argues that the selected novels foreground the inhospitable nature of the Zimbabwean post-2000 political instabilities and the socio-economic meltdown as fostering the forced trans-migrations of Zimbabweans in an effort to escape poverty and political challenges. / NRF

No description available.

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This study will examine the position of traditional African women as explored in the fictions, The Joys of Motherhood (Buchi Emecheta) and So Long a Letter (Mariama Bâ). It will probe into the depiction of a traditional African woman in the selected texts under thematic issues which will assist us in understanding how Emacheta and Ba perceive issues that directly impact the lives of women, even today. The issues include patriarchy, marriage, motherhood and childbearing, sex and gender, objectification of women, and the role of the chief wife. Both Emecheta and Bâ use communal voices that blend cultural incidents with fiction to demonstrate the subordinate role played by women in traditional African societies that are characterised by patriarchal practices and suppression of women. Both Emecheta and Bȃ demonstrate cultural and religious stereotypes towards African women. This study will apply the African womanism lens as a theoretical framework to underpin it. The study will attempt to reveal that, from the selected texts, contemporary African women writers oppose the injustice inflicted upon them through marriage or gender (sex) stereotypes. The selected fictions help the audience understand the plight of some African women.

This study b·aces the development of the Shona clctective story as a genre different from rhe mainstream Shona novel. The Shona detective story emerges from the non-detective traditional folktale and develops into rhree types, namely, the rudimentary form. the pure 'whoduniC, and the detectivethriller. An attempt is made to show that when the Shona detective story first appeared it was quite elementary and showed signs of me influence of Shona traditional folklore. But later on authors developed the detective narrative into pure 'whodunits' and detective-mrillers which showed influence of Western ftlms and English detective stories. The study ends with the argument that although at its highest level of development the Shona detective story manifests characteristics that make it a unique genre different from other Shona novels its treatment of female characters is not very different from their treatment in the mainstream Shona novel. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

鄉土文學是台灣文學的重要文學傳統，其發展始於1930年代，於1960、70年代走進巔峰時期，並在1980年代一度趨於沉寂。直至近年台灣文壇出現一批以鄉土為創作為重心的新世代作家，鄉土書寫漸漸重新成為一股潮流，論者更相繼提出「新鄉土」或「後鄉土」等的概念，用以概括上世紀九十年代以後台灣鄉土文學發展的整體現象，鄉土文學遂再次成為一個重要的研究課題。本文嘗試以回溯台灣鄉土文學發展史的方式切入上述研究課題，並透過深入考察三個新世代代表作家──袁哲生、童偉格、甘耀明──的鄉土寫作，藉以探究台灣鄉土文學從「鄉土」過度「新／後鄉土」的變異情況。 / 本文共分五章。第一章緒論，說明本文的研究動機、範圍、方法和前人研究綜述，並概述台灣鄉土文學的發展狀況，勾勒重要概念，作為後文討論「新／後鄉土」的參照。第二章探討袁哲生如何結合抒情傳統，背離台灣鄉土文學的批判與憂患傳統。第三章探討童偉格如何打破城鄉二元對立格局，揭露台灣當代的城鄉處境；第四章配合甘耀明的「新尋根」理念，探討作家如何在鄉土書寫中重現台灣的歷史記憶與本土文化。第五章結語，總結新世代作家運用當代意識，反思並超越台灣鄉土文學傳統，藉以回應文學潮流的更替以及社會的變遷，為台灣鄉土文學開拓新的發展方向。 / Nativist literature has been an important literary tradition in Taiwan. It gained momentum since the 1930s and reached its pinnacle in the 1960s and 1970s, but fell into decline in the 1980s. However, the trend of nativist literature has revived since the 1990s as a number of young writers chose to focus their creative writing on nativism. Since then the concept of "new nativist literature" and "post nativist literature" appeared in academic discourse to describe this literary phenomenon. This thesis attempts to examine this phenomenon and to explore how "nativist" literature has morphed into "new/post nativist literature" by observing works of fiction by Yuan Zhesheng, Tong Weiger and Gan Yaoming. / This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter introduces the goal, scope and methodology of this thesis and gives a succinct account of the significance of the previous researches; it also summarizes the development of Taiwan Nativist literature and outlines the important concepts to serve as the reference for the later discussion about "new nativist" or "post nativist" literature. Chapter two examines how Yuan Zhesheng re-evaluated the tradition of Taiwanese nativist literature and established a new point of view towards nativist writing with the aid of lyricism. Chapter three investigates how Tong Weiger re-examined the dichotomy of rural and urban Taiwan and how he exposed aspects of contemporary urban and rural Taiwan. Chapter four explores how Gan Yaoming represented Taiwan history in the Japanese colonial period and the Hakka and aboriginal culture in his writing. Chapter five gives a conclusion on how the new generation of contemporary Taiwan novelists added new dimensions to the tradition of Taiwanese Nativist Literature as they re-examine and surpassed it. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 黃納禧. / "2013年12月"--Title page. / "2013 nian12 yue"--Title page. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (M.Phil.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-118). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Huang Naxi.

瘋狂是人類文明的產物，一直被視為另類、邊緣，與理性對立，因而受到排斥。然而，文學上的「瘋狂」卻有其寶貴的價值，往往是反思與批判固有價值與主流意見的工具，據此發出異議聲音。本文關注這種書寫策略在當代台灣文學場域中的出現方式、文學價值與文化意義，因此以分析小說作品與文學脈絡來說明「瘋狂」的文學脈絡，闡釋當代台灣文學的現象與特色。 / 解嚴(1987 年)是台灣近三十年來的重大事件，亦是近年來台灣文化與本土論述的焦點所在。其影響不獨改變了政治與社會生態，亦為台灣的藝術文化帶來巨大衝擊。戒嚴成為台灣民眾不能磨滅的歷史記憶，各種異議的思想與言論遭受壓抑，直至解嚴才出現新局面，自九十年代開展多元文化思潮。當時，不少作家藉著「瘋狂」書寫另闢膜徑，重新構想歷史，揭藥文化霸權下的種種不安。台灣文學己藉由不同形式搖動一元論述的霸權，加上西方後現代、後殖民思潮的引入，學院的主動引介和翻譯，民間白發的社會運動等，皆為解嚴後的文化現象埋下種種伏線。從文學史脈絡而言，台灣的文學生產的確迅速回應了政治解禁，並以獨特的方式透露社會文化上的騷動。 / 為了掌握上述的歷史脈絡，本文以解嚴為時間標竿閱讀當代台灣小說，藉此分析解嚴與文學現象的互動關係，指出文學如何展示解嚴前後的歷史想像。因此，本文以「瘋狂」為切入點，分析以瘋狂為題材的書寫如何與解嚴前後己解放的議題對話，包括性別認同、身分與族群認同，挑戰政治霸權以及後工業經濟環境下的都市文化等，目的在於驗證「瘋狂」對後解嚴文學所起的作用和價值。 / 本文共分為七章。首章為緒論交代研究動機及方法;第二章為文獻回顧與述評，點出當前的研究成果;第三章旨在交代後解嚴時期小說場域狀況的概述，並界定「瘋狂」的文學意義，藉此論證台灣當代文學與文化的互動關係。第四章題為「國族瘋言與都市病」，借助張大春、李渝與黃凡的作品，切入認同政治與都市化問題對文學書寫的影響。第五章為「虛幻實景與不存在之存在」，旨在察看兩位小說家賀景演與紀大偉，如何藉書寫科幻來展示對未來世界與歷史景觀的想像，以展望當下發展中的文化議題。第六章為「神聖瘋狂與不可能之可能」， 旨在檢視兩位將「瘋狂」書寫演繹得淋漓盡致的作家駱以軍與舞鶴，如何在作品中借助敘述肉體與心靈的瘋狂，探討在多元文化認同觀的氣氛下重思自我主體的問題。末章結論，以總結全文與展望將來的研究方向。 / 本文認為，後解嚴時期小說每以「瘋狂」的視角重新認知變動的世惰。這些作品透過創造各種怪誕場景與行為，呈現個體與權力之間的角力，反省語言與書寫策略的局限，以及批判自我主體的意識，因而為台灣當代文學場域帶來豐富的收獲。 / Madness has its own history among civilizations. From time to time, madness is not only simply a kind of pathological disorder, but also takes a significant cultural role to represent the voiceless, the minorities. As in contemporary Taiwan literature,madness gradually becomes a medium to express different opinions to the society. It inquires from margin to centre which is empowered by the political establishment. It is not only a common topic to be discussed, but also an important writing strategy forwriters to proclaim their historical imagination about the past, present and future. / In 1987, a significant political issue, the Martial Law, was put to an end in Taiwan. After that, due to the liberation of freedom of speech, a booming trend of multiculturalism appeared and brought out great influences to all parts of the society, especially the field ofliterature. Many writers started to change their narration style and inclined their focus on minorities. In order to have a good grasp of this forming trend, hence, this study aims to trace back to the development of Taiwan literature after 1987, and examine how novel writers make use of the narratives of madness to state their own opinion on several topics, including the relationship between the subjectivity of one-self and the identity of the communities. / There are seven chapters in this paper. The introduction states the framework and methodology of the study. In chapter two, a literature review gives an insight into the direction in current research and discussion on the post-Martial Law era, in addition to the narrative of madness. Chapter three investigates the field of Taiwan literature after 1987 in order to discuss the interaction of culture and literature. In the fourth chapter, it studies on the fictions written by Li Yu (李渝, 1941- ), Chang Ta-chuen (張大春, 1957- ) and Huang Fan (黃凡, 1950- ), related to the issue on national identity and their ironic practices. In chapter five, it discusses the science fiction by He Jing-bing (賀景濱, 1958- ) and Chi Ta-wei (紀大偉, 1972-), to find out the projection about future based on the up coming and shifting cultural trend. The sixth chapter focuses on how the writers such as Wu He (舞雀, 1951- ) and Luo Yi-jun (路以軍, 1967- ) contributes to sanctification and internalization of madness, as well as enhance its value for a reflexive purpose. The last chapter concludes the overall findings and projects further research directions of the relevant topics. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 鄺梓桓. / Sumitted date: 2011年11月. / Sumitted date: 2011 nian 11 yue. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-222) / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Kuang Zihuan. / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 研究動機與目的 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 研究範團與方法 --- p.6 / Chapter 第三節 --- 篇章概述 --- p.15 / Chapter 第二章 --- 文獻回顧及評述 --- p.18 / Chapter 第一節 --- 前行研究述評 --- p.18 / Chapter 第二節 --- 相關文獻述評 --- p.25 / Chapter 第三章 --- 世紀末的瘋狂-解嚴後台灣小說場域的狀況 --- p.37 / Chapter 第一節 --- 何謂瘋狂 --- p.37 / Chapter 第二節 --- 解嚴後台灣小說場城的狀況 --- p.42 / Chapter 第四章 --- 國族瘋言與都市病 --- p.48 / Chapter 第一節 --- 張大春論:國族瘋言與譜妄 --- p.50 / Chapter 第二節 --- 李渝論:都市病 --- p.71 / Chapter 第三節 --- 黃凡論:政治躁鬱症 --- p.87 / Chapter 第四節 --- 小結 --- p.93 / Chapter 第五章 --- 虛幻實景與不存在之存在 --- p.94 / Chapter 第一節 --- 後解嚴時期的科幻小說 --- p.94 / Chapter 第二節 --- <李伯夢三部曲>的敘事實驗 --- p.101 / Chapter 第三節 --- <膜> 的性別與生命辯證 --- p.116 / Chapter 第四節 --- <去年在阿魯吧>的虛擬實境 --- p.128 / Chapter 第五節 --- 小結 --- p.138 / Chapter 第六章 --- 神聖瘋狂與不可能之可能 --- p.141 / Chapter 第一節 --- 駱以軍論:回歸自我之不可能 --- p.141 / Chapter 第二節 --- 舞鶴論:走在不可能的邊緣之上 --- p.167 / Chapter 第三節 --- 小結 --- p.196 / Chapter 第七章 --- 結論 --- p.197 / Chapter 第一節 --- 總結:讓瘋狂說話 --- p.197 / Chapter 第二節 --- 研究反思與前瞻 --- p.199 / 參考書目 --- p.203

This study b·aces the development of the Shona clctective story as a genre different from rhe mainstream Shona novel. The Shona detective story emerges from the non-detective traditional folktale and develops into rhree types, namely, the rudimentary form. the pure 'whoduniC, and the detectivethriller. An attempt is made to show that when the Shona detective story first appeared it was quite elementary and showed signs of me influence of Shona traditional folklore. But later on authors developed the detective narrative into pure 'whodunits' and detective-mrillers which showed influence of Western ftlms and English detective stories. The study ends with the argument that although at its highest level of development the Shona detective story manifests characteristics that make it a unique genre different from other Shona novels its treatment of female characters is not very different from their treatment in the mainstream Shona novel. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

The issue of identity is receiving the most attention in recent times. Communities, groups and individuals tend to ask themselves who they are after the colonial period. The dawn of modern democracy and the fall of the Berlin Wall have become important sites of self-definition. In this study, I examine narratives of self-invention and selflegitimisation from a variety of texts ranging from poetic to dramatic voices. The author creates characters who represent his wishes, desires and fears in dramatic form. The other characters re-present the other members of his family. He uses autobiographical voices to re-create and re-present history, particularly his family history which has been dismembered by memory's inability to recover the past in its entirety. Memory, visions and dreams are used as tropes to negotiate the pain of loss. These narratives assist him to recapture that which has been lost dearly, and imaginatively re-members what has been dismembered. The autobiographical I shifts into an autobiographical we where the author uses his poetry to lambast the injustices of apartheid. The study further examines some aspects of postcolonial identity, which include the status of African writing and the role of africalogical discourse, the conception of home in apartheid South Africa as well as the juxtaposition of power between indigenes and settlers. These reflect the problem of marginality as a postcolonial condition and how the marginals can be returned to the centre of power. Marginalisation of the indigenes occurs by coercion, inferiorisation, tabooing certain political and cartographical spaces, harassment, torture and imprisonment. Despite these measures, the poetry of NS Puleng persisted to remove the fetish of apartheid disempowerment and disenfranchisement. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The aim of the study is to survey the usage of closure as it is reflected in Northern Sotho Narratives. Chapter one This chapter introduces the objectives of the research and definition of the concepts narrative and closure. Reference is made to different scholars to substantiate the argument. Chapter two Plot serves as the basis of the study of closure in a novel. The interconnectedness of the elements of plot expressed by the presence of different closural patterns supports this. Major mutual relationships are distinguished, namely between author and reader as well as between author, reader and text. Chapter three The principles of brevity and single effect which differentiate a short story from other narratives play a major role in the study of closure. The five signals of closure and the mode of approaching the end also influence how closure is approached in this genre. Chapter four The study of folktales is divided into traditional and modern approaches. Despite their difference, opening and closing are commonly based on the syntactical position occupied by the opening and closing phrases. In the traditional approach the position is fixed while in the modern approach it is controlled by the presence of motifemes. This chapter embarks on the usage of closure in narrative poetry. The ending is doubly determined, based on structural elements and linguistic principles. Repetition and cessation of the idea expressed in a verse llne, are major poetic devises to illustrate closure. Chapter six This chapter summarizes the findings of the previous chapters and proposals for future research. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The study makes an analysis of Charles Mungoshi's Shona works from a Modernist perspective. In this study, Modernist literature is shown as full of change and adventure that has seen characters failing to catch up with the speed at which their social lives are going. The change is continuos and has resulted in many characters continuously failing to cope, which in turn has resulted in continuous frustrations, here described as despair. The study also shows how the despair is being nurtured in the circumstances of crumbling social institutions which, in the past, had acted as the haven for devastated individuals. The crumbling social institutions are shown to be triggering the despair and the characters are given no room to recuperate. The study makes an analysis of what brings this despair and how in the end, particular individual characters fight to ward off the despair. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)