Contemporary performance poetry is a democratic art form that elicits dialogue and is a catalyst for social change. Yet it is an art form that is still not well understood: it is accused of unconsciously mimicking hip-hop and being a watered-down, lesser version of "real" poetry. However once its power is harnessed it may be a powerful art form that can be used to address social ills and act as a medium for memory work. The themes that are prevalent in contemporary performance poetry illustrate society‘s preoccupations. Different South African and American poets from a wide range of socio-economic, national, generational and racial backgrounds are examined to explore the collective preoccupations that keep emerging in the poetry, issues pertaining to race and class, gender, and to the politics of the past and its effect on the present. There is a long debate around the influences of contemporary performance poetry, which is negotiated in Chapter One. Though Gil Scott-Heron‘s "The Revolution will not be Televised" is identified as being a major influence, Saul Williams‘s "Black Stacey" challenges some of the arguments made by Scott-Heron. Lesego Rampolokeng lays the foundation for South African performance poetry by criticising the new black elite in the country in "Riding the Victim Train". Chapter Two examines how the poets challenge the status quo in their work. Sarah Jones‘s "Blood" illustrates how the new black middle class in America is complicit in keeping poor people on the margins, while Kgafela oa Magogodi levels his criticism against state sanctioned poets in South Africa. Mxolisi Nyezwa‘s "The Man is Gone" illustrates that the new class based hierarchal system in South Africa is potentially harsher than the apartheid one that was based on race. Chapter Three focuses on gender issues that are prevalent in South Africa. Tumi Molekane‘s "Yvonne" illustrates the danger that is embedded in the hetero-normative narrative while oa Magogodi‘s "Samson and deli(e)lah" and Sam‘s "Eve" explore how this narrative is unjustly informed by misinterpretations of the Bible. History and the impact of the past on the present is the focus of Chapter Four. "76" by Molekane illustrates how the apartheid legacy still affects many in South Africa, while Andrea Gibson‘s "Eli" explores the devastating effects of America‘s war efforts in Iraq. Dennis Brutus highlights the cathartic attributes of poetry that is community-driven in "So Neat They Were" and "Mumia". The chapter ends with an exploration of how the form of izibongo is used by Chris Thurman in "Holy City (A Jozi Praise-Poem)". The last poem illustrates how the past informs the present and suggests that despite the bleakness of the past, there is hope for South Africa because of its rich cultural heritage.

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Depuis la découverte de l’Amazonie, la région a été représentée de différentes manières, à travers les récits e voyage. Compte tenu des différentes représentations de l’Amazonie effectuées au fil des siècles, il est important d’évaluer dans quelle mesure les récits produits par des Brésiliens sur cette région incorporent ou rejettent ces perceptions, dans la dialectique entre l’élément extérieur et celui intérieur, qui constitue la principale question culturelle des pays postcoloniaux comme le Brésil. Dans ce panorama, l’analyse se concentre sur la relation existant entre la littérature, la science et l’identité nationale. L’objectif est d’examiner comment ces formes de discours entrent en compétition pour constituer l’ethos national brésilien, durant une période clé d’autodétermination au Brésil. / Since the discovery of the Amazon, the region has been represented in different ways, mainly through travelogues. Concerning the geographical borders of the Brazilian Amazon, they will only be defined in the early twentieth century. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the representations of the Amazon, from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, through the point of view of national authors. In this sense, it is important to analyze how Brazilian literature presented the relation between identity and memory, in competition with other forms of discourse.

In 1998 I conducted a series of interviews with Zimbabweans who recounted, often using English, their memories of Albert Sumbo-Ncube. From these I have selected and transcribed five interviews with ZIPRA ex-combatants in which they tell the story, as they remember and elaborate on their memories, of Sumbo's escape from Rhodesian police custody at the Victoria Falls in 1977 during the Zimbabwean liberation struggle. The interviews represent Sumbo as a hero and reveal the folk hero creation process at work. This hero figure was created by people who needed an effective figure of oppositional propaganda and who did not have access to the technology and resources of the Rhodesian government. Their narratives were communicated orally and they fused material found in the Rhodesian government-controlled newspapers with an amaNdebele oral tradition. I shall draw on Hobsbawm's (1972) notions of the social bandit and Robens's (1989) study of the folk hero creation amongst post-slavery African-Americans in order to understand the ZIPRA guerrillas' hero creation. The Sumbo folk hero creation served to promote an ideal self for the Zimbabwean guerrillas and their recruits. Sumbo's daring and his ability successfully to defy authority evoked admiration amongst the guerrillas in the 1970s, and in 1998 revives for them the idealism of the struggle. In Zimbabwe the 'hero' has become a contested category, because of the government's will to control the historical representation of the liberation struggle by promoting an official history with official categories of heroes. Working with Barber's notion of popular African arts (1987 and 1997), I argue that a folk hero can be redefined as a 'popular hero' when created by a proletariat and expressed by means of a popular art form. The interviewees use a specific form, the oral historical narrative, to preserve and transmit the Sumbo hero figure. I argue that though this oral historical narrative is less fixed in form and occasion than praise poetry, songs and genealogies, it nevertheless possesses identifiable and recurrent characteristics and I have established a number of criteria for identifying oral historical narrative as a genre. In order to avoid taking a generalised and essentialising approach to the notion of 'African culture', I have drawn on theory that is as specific as possible to the understanding of oral historical narratives within the context of siNdebele speakers in Zimbabwe. I have drawn on research published by Hofmeyr (1993) and Scheub (1975) because they focused on Nguni-speaking societies. Their research is further supported by my own research conducted in the rural area of Tsholotsho in Zimbabwe. The analysis of the oral historical narrative genre used by the interviewees demonstrates that significant formal and performance skills occur in this type of narrative which takes place within apparently informal conversations. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Subject of the Diploma is a use of folktexts in Czech courses for foreigners. An education material draft is being submitted, based on communication approach to language teaching, connects language and socialcultural dimension through. Submitted education material is a calendar like that defines four seasons in the Czech Republic through their attributes, i. e. their essential characteristics, in the folktexts included, and supported by the folktexts also explains appropriate rituals, feasts and concepts of the seasons. All texts and information of the education material draft are chosen or adapted with respect to communication needs of the foreign language students and in order to introduce concepts and knowledge of the Czech geography, culture and cultural history.

This thesis is a critical evaluation of the content, form and technique of traditional and modern praise poetry in Northern Sotho. Chapter 1 presents the aim of the study and the method of research and defines the concepts of poetry and praise poetry. Praise poetry is viewed from a traditional and modern perspective. Chapter 2 deals with the content and technique of praise poetry. Content consists of oral praise poetry lauding the heroic deeds of men in battles and casual encounters. Modern praise poetry comments on current events. Devices for rapid composition of the praises are discussed. Techniques differ between poets and according to time, place and occasion. Chapter 3 covers the traditional praises of chiefs, warriors, initiates, animals, birds, divining bones and totem praises, examining them from the perspective of content and form. The praises extol human achievements, peculiar animal characteristics and the interpretation of "mawa" of divining bones. Chapter 4 deals with the development and transition from traditional to modern form as well as the reciprocal influence. The content and form of modern praises of chiefs, academics, community leaders, animals, birds, divining bones, man-made objects and some natural phenomena are discussed. Many modern poets have also written praises of fictional characters. Chapter 5 compares oral and written praise poetry by concentrating on the similarities and differences between traditional and modern praise poetry. This study shows that there are differences in of theme, rhyme, beginning and ending, sentence length and significant emphasis on man-made objects such as cars and locomotives as exceptional modes of transport for commuters. Chapter 6 concludes the study and proves that praise poetry is a living or dynamic entity which will continue to exist. Praise poetry highlights persons, interpersonal relationships, attitudes and values derived from an African conceptions of the universe. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil (African Languages)

The focus of this thesis is on Xhosa oral and written poetry. The discussion in the thesis is based on the information from existing literature, the responses from the questionnaires and the interviews with some Xhosa iimbongi (person who sings praises) who have reflected on their personal experiences. In addition to this, S.E.K. Mqhayi is at the centre of discussion because as a prominent Xhosa imbongi he features in both the oral and the written world.

<p>Предмет истраживања докторске дисертације јесте<br />фигура оца у историјској драми српског<br />предромантизма и романтизма. Намера<br />истраживања је да на основу обимног корпуса<br />драмских текстова изврши темељна анализа драма<br />у којима је идентификована фигура оца као и да се<br />пружи преглед ликова који се јављају у овој<br />улози. Истраживачки рад ће бити усмерен на<br />проучавање и допуну резултата досадашњих<br />анализа улоге мушких ликова. Успоставиће се<br />примерена типологија главних и епизодних ликова<br />који се у историјским драмама српског<br />предромантизма и романтизма појављују у<br />улози оца. Полазиште дисертације је историјска<br />драма и фигура оца као њен незаобилазни део.<br />Почетна претпоставка је да је психолошка<br />уверљивост наступа појединих јунака последица<br />породичних прилика, а не историјских догађаја.<br />Тежиште истраживачког рада је приказивање<br />јунака чија ауторитативна природа доводи до<br />сукоба, отуђења од породице и самоотуђења.<br />Докторска дисертација би требала подстаћи нека<br />нова питања и одговоре као и нова проучавања<br />историјске драме</p> / <p>Predmet istraživanja doktorske disertacije jeste<br />figura oca u istorijskoj drami srpskog<br />predromantizma i romantizma. Namera<br />istraživanja je da na osnovu obimnog korpusa<br />dramskih tekstova izvrši temeljna analiza drama<br />u kojima je identifikovana figura oca kao i da se<br />pruži pregled likova koji se javljaju u ovoj<br />ulozi. Istraživački rad će biti usmeren na<br />proučavanje i dopunu rezultata dosadašnjih<br />analiza uloge muških likova. Uspostaviće se<br />primerena tipologija glavnih i epizodnih likova<br />koji se u istorijskim dramama srpskog<br />predromantizma i romantizma pojavljuju u<br />ulozi oca. Polazište disertacije je istorijska<br />drama i figura oca kao njen nezaobilazni deo.<br />Početna pretpostavka je da je psihološka<br />uverljivost nastupa pojedinih junaka posledica<br />porodičnih prilika, a ne istorijskih događaja.<br />Težište istraživačkog rada je prikazivanje<br />junaka čija autoritativna priroda dovodi do<br />sukoba, otuđenja od porodice i samootuđenja.<br />Doktorska disertacija bi trebala podstaći neka<br />nova pitanja i odgovore kao i nova proučavanja<br />istorijske drame</p> / <p>The subject of the doctoral thesis research is the<br />figure of a father in the historical drama of<br />Serbian Preromanticism and Romanticism.<br />Based on the large corpus of drama texts, the<br />intention of this research is to do a thorough<br />analysis of dramas where the figure of a father<br />has been identified as well as to present a<br />review of characters appearing in this role. The<br />research work will be aimed on studying and<br />completing the results of the previous analysis<br />of male characters. An appropriate typology of<br />main and episodic characters which appeared in<br />historical dramas of Serbian Preromanticism<br />and Romanticism in the roles of a father,will be<br />established. A starting point of the thesis is the<br />historical drama and the figure of a father as its<br />unavoidable part. The initial assumption is that<br />the psychologically stringent appearance of<br />some heroes is the consequence of family<br />events and not of the historical ones.The centre<br />of the research work is a presentation of the<br />heroes whose authoritative nature leads to<br />conflict, alienation from the family and self<br />alienation, too. The doctoral thesis should<br />induce some new questions and answers as well<br />as a new studying of historical drama</p>

There has, in the last quarter of a century, been an increased interest in the /Xam narratives that form the major part of the nineteenth century archive of materials collected by Lucy Lloyd and Wilhelm Bleek in Cape Town from /Xam informants. This has resulted in a proliferation of writing about the Bleek and Lloyd collection and its contents. The critical examination of some of this body of writing forms part of the project of this thesis. The other aim of the thesis is to provide a close reading of certain of the /Xam texts themselves. This thesis is based on the view that the first of these projects has only been attempted in a cursory and indirect fashion and that the second, namely the close reading of/Xam texts, has not yet been undertaken on a scale that parallels the range and complexity of the materials or which exhausts the interpretative possibilities they offer. This thesis aims to fill some of these gaps in the literature without claiming that a comprehensive or definitive study is possible in so wide and rich a field. Postmodern and postcolonial theory has emphasised the discursive and ideological nature of the language of both hermeneutics and literature. In my consideration of the /Xam texts and the writing that has been produced in relation to them, I attempt to consistently foreground the historicity and textuality of my own practice and the practices of the materials with which I am working. In this regard I question, especially, two assumptions about the /Xam narratives: that they are primarily aetiological and that their chief character, /Kaggen, the Mantis, is a trickster. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This dissertation focuses on the migrant performance genre isicathamiya, a genre which was popular amongst migrant workers in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the nineteen thirties and forties. It explores contemporary isicathamiya and asks whether there have been paradigmatic shifts in its content in post-apartheid South African society. By way of introduction, the origins and development as well as some of the themes and features of isicathamiya are highlighted. Hereafter scholarly accounts of migrant performance genres are discussed in conjunction with the cultural re-orientation of migrants in urban centers. The introduction is intended to contextualise the genre by alluding to the politics and aesthetics of isicathamiya performances. Leading on from the introduction, the first chapter of this body of research is a reflection upon the characteristics of oral literature; from the point of view of a literary scholar, I also discuss the problems of interpretation I experienced in this study of mediated isicathamiya lyrics. I propose that isicathamiya performances and texts are elements of oral literature and begin to define them as such. My intention in chapter two is to explore how local performances have influenced global culture. I ask if oral literature from South Africa has contributed to the global market. I ask what Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the internationally acclaimed isicathamiya choir, has invested in "First World culture" and suggest that there is in existence a transcultural flow of energy between the "so-called centre" and "so-called periphery". In chapter three I suggest that the local and global are in a state of dialogue. I hope to establish a dialogue between local isicathamiya choirs and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In essence, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has exported a musical form that has its foundations in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. This chapter takes readers back to the source of the genre. I take into consideration Veit Erimann's scholarly studies of isicathamiya in Nightsong: Performance, Power and Practice in South Africa. Focus falls upon the paradigm of rural/ urban migration in isicathamiya song and the importance of "home" in sustaining migrants in the city. The notion of "homeliness" as a trope in isicathamiya performances is discussed. By extension, in chapter four, I ask whether the notion of "home" emphasized by Veit Erlmann is of significance in contemporary isicathamiya performance. Consequently, I adopt a comparative approach and set out to identify the changes and continuities in contemporary isicathamiya performances in response to transformations within postapartheid society. I ask why isicathamiya is significant in post-apartheid South African society. What is its importance for personal and collective identity? What is being articulated within contemporary performances? Does isicathamiya provide a cultural space, a forum in which public debate (regarding leaders, policies and concerns) can be staged? Most importantly, is the thematic paradigm between the rural and urban world still visible in contemporary isicathamiya? Is contemporary isicathamiya still grounded on the notion of "homeliness", or have new thematic paradigms emerged in contemporary isicathamiya performances? I propose that South Africa in the present, is itself the site of multiple cultures and fragmented histories. The country and its people are searching for a new unitary meaning in the post-apartheid era. My argument is that isicathamiya texts are elements of postcolonial and post-apartheid literature. I suggest that language, through isicathamiya performance, can show a way back into reinterpreting the past and stitching together a different present. Isicathamiya texts give hints of journeys and point to identities, shared histories and cultural landscapes. Isicathamiya makes possible the sharing of knowledge and knowledge systems, and is an opportunity to hear un-erased histories and un-silenced voices. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.