This dissertation focuses on the analysis of Costa Rican literature from 1885 to 1930 in order to explore the problematic configuration of national heroes in the construction of the modern Costa Rican social imaginary. Costa Rica was unique among Central American nations in that its participation in the regional campaign against William Walker (1856-1857) served as a foundational moment for its national project in the 1880s. Two major figures emerged as potential symbols of national heroism: Juan Rafael Mora Porras and Juan Santamaría. Authors Carlos Gagini, Manuel Argüello Mora and Ricardo Fernández Guardia were the only writers who tried to narrate Mora Porras and Juan Santamaría's lives and legacies between 1885 and 1931. In addition, as intellectuals of the liberal elite, their works had to address the consolidation of a national discourse characterized by a desire to highlight distance from, and superiority to, the other Central American nations. According to that vision, Costa Rica could be singled out as racially white and politically peaceful, both attractive traits for enticing foreign investment. Interestingly the paradox of writing on war heroes in this context has not been explored in academia. In fact, publications and academic writing about Costa Rica's military conflicts and heroes are scarce. Within the field of literary criticism, which may have considered these topics taboo, I propose to begin filling this void by analyzing the liberal elite's literary writings on heroism within the context of constructing modern nationhood. My intention is to demonstrate how the literary representations of heroes fracture Costa Rican national discourse, thus explaining the intellectual's resistance to writing on the topic and giving voice to Santamaría and Mora Porras, regardless of the importance of their roles for the foundational "social drama". If we avoid studying how national discourse suppressed violence from its origins and cut short the narrative representations of heroic figures, we deny the possibility of understanding and embracing the need for reinventing traditions and heroes in the 21st century. / text

The study takes an in-depth look at eight novels by white South African authors in which the main characters are black. The novels that were studied fell into two main categories, those that highlight (although not always to the same extent) the differences between white and black people and those in which the author takes care to depict the black main character as ‘a person just like any other’, or in which the emphasis is on the similarities between people regardless of race. The novels in the first category can be divided into purely fictional works on the one hand (Toiings (1934), Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) and Swart Pelgrim (1952)) and novels based on historical facts (Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena (1978) and Bidsprinkaan (2005)) on the other. In the fictional novels in this category, which are also the oldest/earliest of the selected novels, the narrator patronises the black main character, who is seen as naïve and in some cases at the mercy of baser urges. The researcher shows, however, that the intent of the authors was to gain the reader’s empathy for and understanding of the plight of the black character and, by implication, of black people in general. This applies regardless of whether the novel had an explicit political theme (e.g. Cry, the Beloved Country) or not (e.g. Toiings). The novels in the second category, i.e. those in which black characters are portrayed as not substantively different from white characters (Kennis van die Aand (1973), Proteus (2002) and Lerato (unpublished, 2011) also include novels in which the main theme is a political one (Kennis van die Aand) and those in which political issues are not central to the plot (Proteus) or in which there is hardly any reference to political issues at all (Lerato). The outcomes of the study show that the intention of the authors of the studied novels in the pre-apartheid era was to promote understanding and reconciliation and not to strengthen divisive stereotypes. While this cannot be measured in empirical terms, anecdotal evidence suggests that literature does contribute to social change, albeit in an indirect manner. Despite the harsh criticism (particularly from black authors and scholars) of the practice by white authors to make use of black main characters, it can be argued that, within the South African context, such novels have played a role in achieving mutual understanding and reconciliation. There is a notable shift in the post-apartheid novels. Rather than pleading the case of the black main character with the white audience, Meyer (2002) and Homann (2011) portray their black main characters as equal players in a diverse society. If literature is seen as a reflection of society, this is an encouraging sign that South Africa has substantively moved on from apartheid. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Afrikaans / unrestricted