Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Northern Colorado, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-149). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral) - Universität, Hamburg, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-309).

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Remembrance and Genocide in the Contemporary German historical Africa-Novel In view of the role that literature plays in the remembrance of the Holocaust and in consideration of postcolonial approaches to interpreting the present in relation to the past, this study investigates the questions of remembrance and genocide in the contemporary German historical novel set in Africa. For this purpose, five historical novels will be analyzed. Three of them portray the colonial extermination of the Herero and Nama in German South-West Africa (1904-1907). These are: Gerhard Seyfried’s Herero (2003), Jürgen Leskien’s Einsam in Südwest (1991) and Uwe Timm’s Morenga (1978). The other two novels, Lukas Bärfuss’ Hundert Tage (2008) and Hans Christoph Buch’s Kain und Abel in Afrika (2001) deal with the Rwanda genocide of 1994 and its aftermath. Except for Jürgen Leskien’s Einsam in Südwest, the other novels have been analyzed before, but not from the perspective of ‘literary witnessing to genocide’, as this study will show. Using theoretical approaches of cultural and social memory studies as conceptualized by Jan and Aleida Assmann and adapted by other theorists, the study aims to assess the capacity of the novels as sites of memory. The textual analysis separately explores the question of genocide and that of remembrance and then links the two in a threefold manner. Firstly, it will be shown that genocide results in a myriad of memory constellations which correspond to the different participants’ need to come to terms with their actions and situations e.g. trauma on the part of the victims, guilt on the part of the aggressors and bystanders etc. Secondly, in this study the two genocides in Rwanda and Namibia open up the question of their relation to the Holocaust. It will be shown how the three genocides could be connected by investigating structural aspects, continuities and participants’ constellations. Generally, the fictionalized history this study explores is written from the perspective of guilt and trauma memory. The third aspect of this study will take into consideration recent debates about the German memory culture, including discussions about colonial history, focussed on the institutionalized atrocities committed against inhabitants of colonized territories in Southwest Africa and their claim for compensation. These discussions bring into focus the need to come to terms with an unresolved past, and the possible role of literature in this regard. By analyzing the selected novels, this study will explore the above considerations against the interpretations of historical occurrences as (re)constructed in the narrations. This study’s point of departure is that the historical Africa-Novel functions as an archive of memories of historical events that inspired their writing. The texts will be analysed as performing memory, incorporating memory, interpreting memory and revitalising historical consciousness. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Herinnering en Volksmoord in die kontemporêre Duitse historiese Afrika-roman In die lig van die rol wat letterkunde speel in die herinnering aan die Holocaust en met inagneming van postkoloniale benaderings tot die interpretasie van die hede in verhouding tot die verlede, stel hierdie studie ondersoek in na die vrae rondom herinnering en volksmoord in die kontemporêre Duitse historiese roman wat in Afrika afspeel. Vir hierdie doel sal vyf historiese romans geanaliseer word. Drie daarvan beeld die koloniale uitdelging van die Herero en die Nama in Duits-Suidwes-Afrika (1904-1907) uit. Hierdie romans is Gerhard Seyfried se Herero (2003), Jürgen Leskien se Einsam in Südwest (1991) en Uwe Timm se Morenga (1978). Die ander twee romans, Lukas Bärfuss se Hundert Tage (2008) en Hans Christoph Buch se Kain und Abel in Afrika (2001) handel oor die 1994 Rwanda volksmoord en die nasleep daarvan. Met die uitsondering van Jürgen Leskien se Einsam in Südwest is al die ander romans reeds voorheen geanaliseer, maar nie vanuit die perspektief van ‘letterkunde as getuie tot volksmoord’ nie, soos wat in hierdie studie aangetoon sal word. Deur die toepassing van kulturele en sosiale herinneringstudies soos gekonseptualiseer deur Jan en Aleida Assmann en aangepas deur ander teoretici, is dit die doel van hierdie studie om vas te stel tot watter mate hierdie romans optree as plekke van herinnering. Die tekstuele analise ondersoek die kwessies van volksmoord en herinnering afsonderlik en voeg dit dan saam op ’n drievoudige manier. Eerstens sal daar getoon word dat volksmoord lei tot tallose herinneringskonstellasies wat ooreenstem met die verskillende deelnemers se behoefte om hulle te berus by hulle aksies en situasies, byvoorbeeld trauma aan die kant van die slagoffers en skuld aan die kant van die aanvallers en omstanders, ens. Tweedens, in hierdie studie oor die volksmoorde in Rwanda en Namibië, kom die vraag na die Joodse volkslagting na vore. Daar sal getoon word hoe hierdie drie volksmoorde verbind kan word deur ondersoek in te stel na strukturele aspekte, kontinuïteit en deelnemers se konstellasies. Die gefiksionaliseerde geskiedenis wat in hierdie studie ondersoek word is oor die algemeen geskryf vanuit die perspektief van skuld- en traumaherinnering. Die derde aspek van hierdie studie neem onlangse debat in ag wat handel oor die Duitse herinneringskultuur. Dit sluit in besprekings oor koloniale geskiedenis wat fokus op die geïnstitusionaliseerde gruweldade gepleeg teen inwoners van gekoloniseerde grondgebiede in Suidwes-Afrika en hulle eis vir vergoeding. Hierdie besprekings neem die behoefte om die onopgeloste verlede te aanvaar onder die loep, asook die moontlike rol wat letterkunde kan speel in hierdie verband. Deur die analise van die gekose romans sal hierdie studie bogenoemde oorwegings ondersoek in die lig van verskillende interpretasies van historiese gebeure soos ge(re)konstrueer in die vertellings. Die vertrekpunt van hierdie studie is dat die historiese Afrika-roman funksioneer as ‘n argief vir herinneringe aan die historiese gebeure wat die skryf daarvan geïnspireer het. Die tekste sal geanaliseer word as uitvoering van herinnering, inkorporasie van herinnering, interpretasie van herinnering en die proses om nuwe lewe te blaas in historiese bewustheid.

v. 1 [Novel]: End of the night girl [Embargoed] -- v. 2 [Exegesis]: Navigating the kingdom of night: writing the holocaust / 'End of the Night Girl': Nothing seems to go right for Molly – she’s stuck in a dead-end waitressing job, she’s sleeping with a man she doesn’t even like, and she’s just been saddled with a swarm of goldfish and a pregnant stepsister. The chance discovery of an old photograph leads her into an act of creation, and brings her into contact with the ghost of a woman who has been dead for more than sixty years. Sixty years earlier, in Poland, Gienia’s family arranges her marriage to a distant cousin. Not long after her marriage to this stranger, the Nazis invade and she has to face life in the ghetto and the horrors of Auschwitz. End of the Night Girl is a complex fictional narrative in which the lives of these two women, ‘real’ and imagined, imagined and re-imagined, are inextricably combined. ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’: Critics, historians and Holocaust survivors have argued for decades over whether the Holocaust should be accessible to fiction and, if so, who has the right to write those fictions. ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’ addresses such concerns and analyses various literary strategies adopted by authors of Holocaust fiction, including the non-realist narrative techniques used by authors such as Yaffa Eliach, Jonathan Safran Foer and John Boyne and the self-reflexivity of Art Spiegelman. Through the course of the essay I contextualise End of the Night Girl by turning my attention to works that raise critical issues of authorial intent and the reader/writer contract; for example Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird and Helen Darville’s The Hand That Signed the Paper. How did I resolve my own concerns? Which texts helped me and why? Together End of the Night Girl and ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’, one creatively and one critically, explore these complex and controversial questions in a contemporary Australian context. / Thesis(PhD)-- School of Humanities, 2007

v. 1 [Novel]: End of the night girl [Embargoed] -- v. 2 [Exegesis]: Navigating the kingdom of night: writing the holocaust / 'End of the Night Girl': Nothing seems to go right for Molly – she’s stuck in a dead-end waitressing job, she’s sleeping with a man she doesn’t even like, and she’s just been saddled with a swarm of goldfish and a pregnant stepsister. The chance discovery of an old photograph leads her into an act of creation, and brings her into contact with the ghost of a woman who has been dead for more than sixty years. Sixty years earlier, in Poland, Gienia’s family arranges her marriage to a distant cousin. Not long after her marriage to this stranger, the Nazis invade and she has to face life in the ghetto and the horrors of Auschwitz. End of the Night Girl is a complex fictional narrative in which the lives of these two women, ‘real’ and imagined, imagined and re-imagined, are inextricably combined. ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’: Critics, historians and Holocaust survivors have argued for decades over whether the Holocaust should be accessible to fiction and, if so, who has the right to write those fictions. ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’ addresses such concerns and analyses various literary strategies adopted by authors of Holocaust fiction, including the non-realist narrative techniques used by authors such as Yaffa Eliach, Jonathan Safran Foer and John Boyne and the self-reflexivity of Art Spiegelman. Through the course of the essay I contextualise End of the Night Girl by turning my attention to works that raise critical issues of authorial intent and the reader/writer contract; for example Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird and Helen Darville’s The Hand That Signed the Paper. How did I resolve my own concerns? Which texts helped me and why? Together End of the Night Girl and ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’, one creatively and one critically, explore these complex and controversial questions in a contemporary Australian context. / Thesis(PhD)-- School of Humanities, 2007

Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis will examine representations of the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath in selected literary and filmic narratives. It aims in particular to explore the different ways in which narrative devices are used to convey trauma to the reader or viewer, thus enabling them to bear witness to it. These include language, discourse, image, structure and perspectives, on the one hand, and the framing of the genocide on screen, on the other hand. The thesis argues that these narrative devices are used to provide partial insight into the trauma of the genocide and/or to produce empathy or distance between readers and viewers and the victims, perpetrators and survivors of the genocide. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which the selected novels and films advance the human dimension of the genocide. This will shift both victims and perpetrators out of the domain of statistics and evoke emotional engagement from readers and viewers. The thesis argues for the importance of narrative in bearing witness to trauma, particularly due to its unique ability to forge an emotional connection between reader or viewer and character. The primary texts analysed in the thesis are the novels Inyenzi: A Story of Love and Genocide by South African author Andrew Brown and Murambi, The Book of Bones by Senegalese author Boubacar Boris Diop, along with the films Shooting Dogs, directed by British Michael Caton- Jones, and Hotel Rwanda, directed by American Terry George. In addition to considering the use of narrative devices to produce empathy and engagement among readers and viewers, the thesis explores also the implications of the various outsider perspectives of the writers and film-makers, and the effect that this has on their narratives, not least given the role played by the world community in failing to avert the genocide . / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die voorstellings van Rwanda volksmoorde en die nagevolge in geselekteerde narratiewe tekste en rolprente. Die tesis poog om op verskillende maniere ondersoek in stel na die narratiewe middels om die trauma oor te dra na die leser en kyker. Dit sluit taal, diskoers, beelde, struktuur en perspektiewe aan die eenkant, en verfilming op die skerm aan die anderkant. Die tesis argumenteer dat narratiewe middels verskaf gedeeltelike insig van die trauma van die volksmoorde en/of genereer empatie of afstand tussen leser en kyker en die slagoffers, skuldiges en die oorlewendes van die volksmoorde. Aandag sal veral gegee word op welke wyse die geselekteerde romans en rolprente die menslike dimensie van volksmoord bevorder. Beide die slagoffers en skuldiges word uit die ondersoekterrein van statistieke geskuif en daar gaan gefokus word op die uitlok van emosionele betokkendheid van lesers en kykers. Die tesis argumenteer vir die belangrikheid van die narratief om as getuienis op te tree van trauma – veral as gevolg die unieke vermoë om tussen die leser of die kyker en die karakter emosionele bande te smee. Die primêre tekste wat in hierdie tesis geanaliseer word, is die romans, Inyenzi: A Story of Love and Genocide deur Suid-Afrikaner Andrew Brown, Murambi, The Book of Bones deur Senegalese skrywer Boubacar Boris Diop, en die rolprente Shooting Dogs, onder leiding van die Brit, Michael Caton-Jones en Hotel Rwanda, onder leiding van die Ierse, Terry George. Afgesien van die gebruik van narratiewe middels om empatie en betrokkenheid van lesers en kykers te genereer, ondersoek die tesis ook die implikasies van die onderskeie buitestaander perspektiewe van die skrywers en rolprentmakers en die effek op hulle narratiewe – veral die rol wat hulle speel in die wêreldgemeenskap om volksmoorde te voorkom.

This study aims to interrogate the representations of forgiveness in post genocide Rwandan fiction. The novels analysed are Inyenzi: A story of Love and Genocide (2007), Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (2006) and God Sleeps in Rwanda: A Journey of Transformation (2009). Inyenzi: A story of Love and Genocide represents romantic love as the possible beginning of reconciliation between the Tutsi and the Hutus after and the devastations of the genocide. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust reveals that the individualistic portrayal of forgiveness is important to create communication between antagonistic ethnic groups. God Sleeps in Rwanda: A Journey of Transformation demonstrates that forgiveness and reconciliation have the possibilities of being attainable on a national level through political reforms. The narratives succeed in portraying the representations of forgiveness but due to the subjectivities of the authors, the historicity of the genocide is undermined thereby compromising the foundations for forgiveness. This study suggests that future research on post genocide Rwandan could analyse creative works on forgiveness but focussing on the issue of restorative justice / English Studies / M. A. (English Studies)