This thesis examines the figure of the rake as portrayed in the eighteenth-century English novel, a character strangely neglected in critical studies. The first chapter examines 'libertine' writers of the later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, notably Bernard de Mandeville; and the dilemma faced by educators of the day over the benefits of virtue on the one hand, and of worldly wisdom on the other. While Mandeville and other lesser defenders of the rake were very much a scandalous minority early in the eighteenth century, it appears that by about mid century a more moderate strain of libertinism received wider, but by no means universal acceptance (Johnson, Chesterfield, Smith, Hume). The second chapter seeks to define the classic conception of the rake as a young upper-class prodigal, and the standard anti-libertine view that gentleman rakes, by their neglect of social and political duties, were a serious threat to established social and political order. The chapter concludes with various examples of the standard rake in minor eighteenth-century novels that both defend and vilify him. Chapters III to V concentrate on each of the three principal novelists of mid century (Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Tobias Smollett), and their par- ticular uses of and moral conclusions about the conventional rake. The sixth chapter suggests some conclusions to be drawn, mainly from the previous three chapters, and especially the ways in which Fielding, Richardson and Smollett com- ment on the rakes in each other's fiction; and examines the continued use of the rake topos right to the end of the century and at least into the early nineteenth, in differing types of fiction (novels of manners, of Sentiment and of radical ideas, the Gothic novel).

The thesis is primarily an investigation of the heroic ideal propounded in the novel and the relationship of that ideal to the ideological climate of the period 1630-1660. Part I I: The heroic novel owes much to the Greek romances, l'Astrée and Amadis de Gaule but offers a different ideal of heroism from them. The Greek romances had depicted essentially passive heroes, l'Astrée the heroism of renunciation and Amadis the heroism of physical strength and prowess. The heroic novel presents a hero whose nature is more important than his deeds though it is through his deeds that his nature is manifested. He exists at a higher level than the rest of mankind and is an incarnation of moral freedom. II: Though the general characteristics of the hero were agreed upon by all writers of heroic novels, there were important differences in the way the qualities which made up the hero were interpreted. In general terms, the pessimistic concept of heroism saw the hero as completely cut off from the rest of mankind, concerned only with his egocentric image of himself ; the optimistic concept stressed the altruistic side of heroism, the hero working for the rest of humanity. The terminology of heroism - générosité, gloire, vertu, etc. - was interpreted variously in the light of this distinction. III: The heroic novel assumed the existence of a benevolent providence leading the hero on to his ultimate destiny but, within that area, showed him resisting the attacks of fortune by direct action. To be heroic, he had to resist fortune directly : any attempt to anticipate problems or find ways round them was by definition unheroic. Heroism was therefore opposed to any form of prudence which suggested that action could be rendered unnecessary. IV: Heroism drew support from the Catholic humanist theory of the passions which superseded the neo-stoic morality of the early seventeenth century. The hero derived his energy from his passions and directed them towards the end proposed by his will. The two passions of major interest, love and ambition, could produce a superhuman individual when properly directed. The supremacy of the will came into question, however, particularly during the 1650s, and the novel began to depict heroes who were unable to control their passions absolutely. V: In the major tradition of the heroic novel, love was subsumed by the need to retain moral freedom : both hero and heroine ensured that their relationship did not lead to subjection to their partner. The increasing influence of feminism led to the acceptance of the view that women were morally stronger than men, which combined with the decline of the belief in the supremacy of the will to produce a relationship in which the male was subservient and self-effacing. Love came to take precedence over the maintenance of heroic status. VI: The justifications for the pre-heroic novel put forward in the seventeenth century usually relied on the claims of the imagination. The heroic novel developed together with a prose-epic theory of the novel, according to which fiction was linked closely to history to produce a greater moral impact than history alone could provide. Within the novel itself, however, historical truth was secondary to the aims of stirring the reader's imagination and impressing a moral attitude upon him. Many of the historical incongruities in the novel can be explained in terms of these aims. Part II VII: Ariane and l'Histoire celtique are proto-heroic novels : both depict a hero who to a certain extent devotes his energies to rising above fortune and asserting his moral independence. VIII: Polexandre arrives at its final version after several earlier stages in which the heroic element is gradually increased. The definitive version of 1637 depicts a superhero with absolute will-power, free from the defects of ordinary men. He has received a kind of "grace" which makes him capable of pursuing and achieving the highest virtue. IX: Ibrahim defines heroism in terms of the individual's ability to control his passions. The heroic virtues depicted are such that heroism is an ideal which most people would be capable of achieving, associated with the ideal of honnêteté. X: Cassandre holds up an ideal of absolute individual freedom. Heroism is egocentric, the hero faithful only to his own image of himself. XI: Cléopâtre ostensibly postulates the same heroic ideal as Cassandre but it has been affected by the discovery that the individual cannot guarantee to control his passions. Moral autonomy is thus disappearing. Women appear as superior because they have a stronger sense of bienséance than men and are therefore more capable of dominating situations involving the passions. XII: Le Grand Cyrus analyses the nature of the emotions to which mankind is subject. It makes plain the potential tyranny of the passions and proposes an ideal of restrained emotional involvement (amitié tendre) as a defence against them. Part III XIII: The heroic novel declined rapidly around 1660 after maintaining its popularity throughout the 1650s. "Realistic" novels and the burlesque cannot really be seen as anti-heroic. The major factor in the decline seems to have been the loss of belief in the supremacy of the will with the consequent revelation of the power of involuntary love. By 1660, the heroic novel had ceased to offer a heroic ideal in favour of an analysis of the affective side of human nature. The heroic framework became redundant and the nouvelle took over the analytical function being performed by the novel. The heroic novel is a factor in the search for moral values during the period 1630-1660. It offered an ideal of human liberty, defined variously by different authors, but all the definitions had to give way before the realisation that human freedom was restricted by human nature.

This thesis examines the development of the novel in the eighteenth century in relation to changing attitudes to death, and looks at how far shifting notions of the moral purpose of the novel and subsequent changes in its treatment of deathbed scenes, murders, duels, suicides and speculations about heaven and hell reflect changing beliefs and the modification of strict Christian ideals to accommodate or combat new feelings and philosophies. In establishing this background, the thesis draws upon popular devotional literature, sermons, minor novelists (such as Sarah Fielding and Henry Mackenzie), periodicals, plays, poetry, biography, paintings and funeral iconography. Each chapter attempts to establish the typicality and individuality of a particular author in relation to the period in which he was writing. My starting-point is Richardson, who uses the novel to question both old and new attitudes, paving the way for the novel's predominantly emotional approach to mortality. Fielding's comic novels provide a striking contrast to this, whilst also revealing a concern for emotional comfort which is at once typical of the period and highly individual. Sterne is seen as questioning not only the ways in which we evade and find consolation for our mortality but also our self-indulgent response to death in fiction. The last two chapters deal with the closing decades of the century, when hopes and fears roused by revolutionary ferment led to fresh uncertainties concerning death and the afterlife. In Ann Radcliffe's sentimental-Gothic novels, religious uncertainty is exploited as a source of sublime terror, while the English Jacobins, Godwin, Holcroft and Bage, attempt to modify the conventions of death in the novel in order to communicate a wholly secular philosophy in which Clarissa's hope of heaven is replaced by the hope of man's perfectibility on earth.

This thesis illustrates and analyses the appeal of folly to writers of, principally, the late- Soviet era (1960s-1980s). This appeal expressed itself not only in numerous portrayals of evidently foolish characters, but also in the widespread use of first-person narrative in which various masks of folly are worn by narrators to assert their detachment from societal norms and from the scholarly and 'objective' discourse which Soviet culture sought to promote. These tendencies towards folly and subjectivity are examined in their various historical, religious and philosophical implications. Parallels are sought both in the Russian literarycultural heritage, which has accorded exceptional importance to various models of folly, and in West-European literary traditions, especially that established by Erasmus. It is argued that, while the Russian paradigm of holy foolery (yurodstvo) has undoubtedly retained its importance as a literary theme and code, loose analogies with yurodstvo may lead to misleading or simplistic interpretations. In the Introduction I outline further my aims and methodology, while also providing an account of the cultural and literary background to the topic, before and after 1917. In Chapter One I discuss fiction by Vladimir Voinovich, Vasily Shukshin and Venedikt Erofeev, in order to indicate aspects of the general shape of my topic in the given period: how the 'praise of folly' developed and gained in complexity at the end of the 1960s. The bulk of the thesis (Chapters Two to Five) is devoted to more detailed casestudies of the work of three significant, but critically neglected, writers: Yuz Aleshkovsky, Yury Mamleev and the philosopher, Dmitry Galkovsky. The varied 'fool narratives' of each of these writers manifests, in contrasting ways, a profound and paradoxical engagement with the mind, wisdom and learning. If Aleshkovskian folly develops in a sharply drawn historical context (Stalinism and its aftermath) and bears a markedly Christian flavour, Mamleev seeks to exclude Soviet and Christian thematics entirely, seeking deliverance from thought and reason. Dmitry Galkovsky, meanwhile, assesses the entire history of the Russian intelligentsia's love affair with folly from his own radically subjective and unreliable perspective in his 'philosophical novel' Beskonechnyi tupik. The Epilogue is devoted to Viktor Erofeev's highly cynical interpretation of Russia's 'praise of folly', before concluding with examples of the renewal of its traditions in post- Soviet prose.

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Gender oppression has been a significant discussion to the development of gender, cultural and feminist theories. The primary focus of this study is to investigate how patriarchal traditions, colonialism, and religious oppression force women to struggle under constrictions oppositional to empowerment. Thus, the project provides a comparative analysis of three texts from different African postcolonial societies by three African female writers: Mariama Bâ, Neshani Andreas and Sindiwe Magona. The author‟s biographies and historical context of their novels will be analyzed, as well as a summary of their stories will be included in order to provide the context for gender criticism. These writer‟s work; So Long a Letter, The Purple Violet of Oshaantu and Beauty‟s Gift depict patriarchal, cultural and religious laws which exist in Senegal, Namibia and South Africa, respectively, that limit the position of women. Therefore, this study will interrogate the experience of African women as inscribed in these selected texts, uncovering the literary expressions of gender oppression as well as the possibilities of empowerment. The selected texts will be analyzed through the lens of Gender studies, African feminism and Cultural studies. From these theories, the focus of the study is on the struggles of the female characters living in patriarchal societies as well as on the idea that gender is constructed socially and culturally in the African context. In conclusion, the emergence of these renowned female African writers together with the emancipation of African countries from colonial supremacy has opened a space for women to compensate and correct the stereotyped female images in African literature and post- colonial societies. Most contemporary African writers like Buchi Emecheta, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Sindiwe Magona, Mariama Bâ and Neshani Andreas have shown that women are seeking to attain empowerment. As a result, this study can be viewed as an opportunity to highlight such experiences by continuing to interrogate the writings of African women writers and to explore their gender-based themes so as to inform and or inspire the implementation of women empowerment. It will broaden and encourage further academic discussion in the field of Cultural studies and gender criticism of women‟s literature within the African context.

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)