The research examines the interface of history and fiction. It predominantly focuses on historical fiction on the Zimbabwean liberation war written in Shona, Ndebele and English and published after the attainment of political independence in 1980. Historical fiction on the liberation war is both biographical and autobiographical. Consequently, the study comes to the conclusion that historical fiction is a veritable stakeholder in the history issue in Zimbabwe. It becomes another type or source of history that cannot be papered over when dealing with the nation’s history. In a nation where liberation war history is not only taken seriously, but is also a vigorously contested terrain, historical fiction becomes part of those discursive contestations, particularly on nation and nationalism. It is in this regard that the study problematises the interface of history and fiction by reasoning that historical fiction published in the early 1980s largely advances a state-centered perspective which views history, nation and nationalism in positive terms. This discourse uses history in order to argue for a single nation that derives its identity from the heroic and symbolic guerrilla characters. Nationalism is exclusively presented as humanising and as being the sole legitimate political brand capable of leading the nation. On the other hand, historical fiction written in English and published in the late 1980s onwards represents alternative historical truths that contest nationalism and debunk official definitions of nation. This discourse leads to the pluralisation of perspectives on nation and nationalism. The focus on historical fiction published in three languages used in Zimbabwe is a conscious attempt to transcend ethnicity in critical scholarship. Discussing novels in Shona, Ndebele and English, which are the three main languages in Zimbabwe, makes it possible for the study to draw reasoned conclusions on the bearing of time, language, region and background among others on historical representation. This undertaking brings to the fore how literature responding to similar historical processes appears moderately conjunctive and principally disjunctive. Correspondingly, it also shows various trends in the development of liberation war fiction in Zimbabwe. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Ce mémoire propose une analyse du roman historique La Carthagénoise (Germán Espinosa, 1982). Ce roman porte sur l’échange des idées entre l’Amérique coloniale et l’Europe éclairée. L’invasion française au port caraïbe de Carthagène d’Indes en 1697 est l’événement historique qui déclenche sa trame. Cette œuvre littéraire effectue un parcours à travers deux espaces et périodes historiques – l’Amérique sous domination espagnole et l’Europe des Lumières – dans lesquels s’entrecroisent des personnages réels et fictionnels. L’analyse que propose le présent travail aborde en premier lieu les antécédents du roman historique en Amérique latine. Dans une deuxième partie, il se penche sur les stratégies narratives utilisées dans le roman d’Espinosa et sur l’impact éventuel de ces procédés sur la facette critique de l’œuvre. L’hypothèse centrale de ce travail est que la fiction historique contribue à une vision critique de l’histoire officielle et qu’elle propose une réflexion sur les causes de la stagnation épistémologique en Amérique latine ainsi que des processus historiques inachevés tels que la libération épistémologique et la consolidation des épistémologies émergentes suggérées par la théorie postcoloniale et la pensée décoloniale. Le roman montre également la naissance, la mise en œuvre et l’échec de ce projet de libération épistémologique mené par un personnage féminin. Ce projet vise à finir avec la marginalisation du savoir latino-américain plutôt qu’à sa décolonisation. Parmi les conclusions tirées par ce mémoire, il y a l’idée qu’en raison de la causalité historique de l’Amérique latine, telle que montrée par le roman, le moment n’est pas encore venu de l’avènement d’une libération culturelle qui permette la consolidation des épistémologies émergentes, dans la ligne de ce que suggèrent les études postcoloniales et la décolonialité. Une autre conclusion importante à mentionner est que l’évolution des idées est un processus historique dans lequel les courants idéologiques ne sont pas absolus et sont assujettis aux conjonctures sociales qui déterminent leur existence et permanence. / This dissertation proposes an analysis of the historical novel The Weaver of Crowns (Germán Espinosa, 1982). This novel deals with the exchange of ideas between colonial Latin America and the Europe of the Enlightenment. The French invasion of the Caribbean port of Cartagena de Indias in 1697 is the historical event that triggers the plot. The novel covers two geographical spaces and two historical periods – America under Spanish domination and Enlightened Europe – in which real and fictional characters interact. In a first step, this dissertation undertakes an analysis of the roots of the historic novel in Latin America. In a second step it examines narrative strategies used in Espinosa’s novel and the way they may influence the critical side of this work. The central hypothesis suggested by this dissertation is that historical fiction contributes a critical view of the official historiography of Latin America by showing its hidden or silenced sides. It offers a reflection on the causes of the epistemological stagnation in Latin America as well as the unresolved historical processes in Latin America such as its epistemological liberation and the consolidation of its emerging epistemologies as described by the postcolonial theory cited in this work. The novel also shows the emergence, development and failure of an epistemological liberation project undertaken by a female character. This liberation project is aimed at putting an end to the marginalization of the Latin American knowledge rather than decolonizing it. Among the conclusions drawn by this dissertation is the idea that because of the historical causality of Latin America, as presented by the novel, the moment has not yet arrived for a cultural and epistemological liberation. This pending process would allow the consolidation of the emerging epistemologies along the lines proposed by the postcolonial and decoloniality studies. Another conclusion of note is that the evolution of ideas is a historical process in which the ideological currents are not absolute but subjected to the social situations that determine their existence as well as their continuity. / La memoria propone un análisis de la novela histórica La tejedora de coronas (Germán Espinosa, 1982). Esta novela trata del intercambio de ideas entre la América colonial y la Europa del Iluminismo y desarrolla su trama a partir del asedio francés al puerto caribeño de Cartagena de Indias acaecido en el año 1697. La novela hace un recorrido por dos períodos históricos, – la América española y la Europa de las luces –, en los que entrelaza personajes reales y de ficción. Este trabajo plantea un análisis que aborda en primer lugar los antecedentes de la novela histórica en América Latina, propone seguidamente una aproximación a algunas estrategias narrativas utilizadas en la novela y su posible injerencia en la faceta crítica de la misma. La hipótesis central que se defiende es que la ficción histórica propone una visión crítica de la historia oficial y una reflexión sobre la dialéctica histórica de las causas del estancamiento epistemológico de América Latina. Igualmente, señala los procesos históricos inconclusos en América, como su liberación epistemológica y la consolidación de sus epistemologías emergentes de las cuales hablan el postcolonialismo y el pensamiento descolonial. De igual modo, la novela muestra el surgimiento, la puesta en obra y el fracaso de un proyecto de liberación epistemológica, llevado a cabo por un personaje femenino. Este proyecto apunta más a una desmarginalización que a una descolonización del saber americano. Entre las conclusiones que arroja el trabajo se podrían mencionar, entre otras, que, debido a la causalidad histórica de América Latina planteada por la novela, está pendiente por realizarse una liberación cultural, que permita la consolidación de las epistemologías emergentes tal como lo señalan los estudios postcoloniales y la decolonialidad. Otra conclusión significativa obtenida es que la novela defiende la posición según la cual la evolución de las ideas es un proceso histórico en el cual las corrientes ideológicas no son absolutas y están sujetas a las coyunturas sociales que determinan su vigencia y permanencia.

Orientador: Sérgio Vicente Motta / Banca: Antonio Roberto Esteves / Banca: Sônia Helena de Oliveira Raymundo Piteri / Resumo: O exercício de análise acerca da obra Matrinchã do Teles Pires tende emergir os aspectos literários que a constituem na construção da temática do mito da busca, na recriação da lenda do profeta João Maria e na releitura de acontecimentos históricos. O percurso de leitura e de produção de sentido percorre os três elementos principais, o mítico, o lendário e o histórico, desfibrando-os para reconhecer, em seu interior, a coerência no conjunto dos procedimentos estéticos que lhe asseguram o caráter de ficção. O aspecto mítico retoma, parodisticamente, o enredo do Livro do Êxodo e manifesta-se na travessia de milhares de brasileiros que deixaram suas terras, suas tradições para irem em busca de seu sonho: a terra prometida. A lenda do profeta reconstrói-se a partir das variantes que se estendem em vários espaços, desde Sorocaba, São Paulo, passando pelo conflito do Contestado e se recriando em Eleutério, personagem central da obra em estudo. Um andarilho que assume o caráter messiânico após a morte de seu ídolo histórico, Getúlio Vargas, e duplica as ações do primeiro monge em terras mato-grossenses. A presença do fator histórico na narrativa marca-se no resgate da era Vargas e dos projetos de expansão nacional que vão desencadear o movimento migratório para o norte do estado de Mato Grosso. Para o desenvolvimento do estudo desses pontos na composição da estrutura são utilizadas teorias e bibliografias específicas. Posteriormente, consideram-se os fundamentos da narrativa para a constituição do narrador, centro da investigação, que funciona como elemento catalisador entre as outras categorias como tempo, espaço, enredo e personagens. Todos esses fragmentos são cimentados no mosaico ficcional pela ironia sutil e pela pluralidade de vozes que dão a obra um perfil pós-moderno. / Abstract: The analysis exercise concerning the novel Mantrinchã do Teles Pires tends to emerge the literary aspects which constitute in the thematic construction of the myth research, in the legend recreation of the prophet João Maria and in the re-reading of historical happenings. The reading course and the sense production go through the three main elements: the mythical, the legendary and the historical, analysing them to recognize, in its interior, the coherence in the aesthetic set of procedures that assure it the fiction character. The mythical aspect retakes, in a parody way, the plot of Exodus Book and manifests in the crossing of thousands of Brazilians who left their lands and tradition to go through their dream: the promised land. The prophet legend reconstructs from versions that extend in several spaces, from Sorocaba, São Paulo, passing by Contestado conflict and recreating itself in Eleutério, the main character of the book. A hiker who assumes the messianic character after his historical idol death, Getúlio Vargas, and doubles the first monk action in the lands of Mato Grosso. The historical factor presence in the narrative fixes itself in the rescue of Vargas Era and of national expansion projects which will trigger off the migratory movement to the North of the state of Mato Grosso. For the study development of these points in the structure composition we will use specific theories and bibliographies. Afterwards, we will consider the narrative basis to the narrator constitution, the main point of this research, which works as the catalyst element between the other categories like time, space, plot and characters. All these fragments are cemented on the fictional mosaic by subtle irony and by plurality of voices which give to the work a post-modern profile. / Mestre

This thesis is a feminist reading of the work of Henry Handel Richardson (1870-1946), which considers her four major novels: Maurice Guest (1908), The Getting of Wisdom (1910), The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1930), and The Young Cosima (1939). It proposes that Richardson foregrounds the work of gender ideology in her novels, and that her work is also conscious about its own fictional procedures. This thesis argues that Richardson consciously examines the ideological aspect of narrative modes, such as naturalism, the Bildungsroman, and popular romance. Moreover, it illustrates her attempts to invent narrative strategies which subvert the conventional assumptions about gender inherent in those forms. ???Gender Ideology and Narrative Form??? draws on recent theoretical approaches to narrative, ideology, subjectivity, and dialogism, to argue that Richardson makes the ideological shaping of her stories most visible through manipulations of genre, plot, narrative voice, and point of view. Aspects of ideology examined include the Victorian and late-Victorian equation of masculinity with public rationality, mind, public achievement, and genius: and, on the other hand, the association of femininity with the body, passion, and private or domestic spaces. The thesis also considers some of the values and assumptions about gender implicit in nineteenth-century scientific thinking. Henry Handel Richardson has been viewed as a conservative writer, in both aesthetic and political terms. By contrast, I suggest that she resists the moral and representational codes of the realist or naturalist form, and that her uncompromising oppositional strategy achieves a number of radical results. It exposes and criticises the masculinist bias of certain representational methods; it offers new ways of representing female experience; and it insists that the private sphere must be treated also as a political space in which crucial power relationships are at work. My approach to Henry Handel Richardson???s fiction opens new ways to see her work as the product of a distinctive feminist consciousness.

Texte remanié de : Zugl. Dissertation : Romanistik : Postdam : 2004. / Bibliogr. p. [485]-540.

My thesis is a novel-length work of historical fiction entitled Thickwood. The novel can be situated within the context of great/interior plains literature, given its substantial focus on the Thickwood Hills, the northern remnant of the Missouri Coteau. This transition zone between the plains and the mixed boreal forest is an area of geographical and cultural tension. Within this drainage system of the Saskatchewan Rivers, Europeans traded for food and furs with First Nations and Métis peoples, leading to the signing of Treaty 6 and the formation of First Nations Reserves. In Thickwood characters travel across the rugged landscape but also travel into their interior landscape to struggle with questions about belonging and place. During formative years of development, certain landscapes become places of significant attachment, laden with emotional connection and sentiment. This historical work, set in Saskatchewan in 1950, takes place during intense changes after World War Two. Many rural communities without power, good roads, and even telephone services struggled to keep up with post-war development. The cooperative movement, encouraged by Premier Tommy Douglas, was a means for rural people to pool resources to improve their communities. Beef prices were climbing to an all-time high, increasing demand for pastureland. Using close third-person point of view, the novel follows a young female character skilled in ranching, horses, and the sport of baseball. Willomena Swift struggles to find a future for herself after returning from two seasons pitching in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The lease to her family ranch is about to end and her father sells the remaining land to the growing community pasture. After a rogue stallion kills Willo’s purebred foal, she begins a quest to control the stallion and avoid its villainous owner, who is also the pasture committee chairman. Willo uses wit and skill to survive the perils of the landscape and gains confidence to confront Nesteroff about taking over her home as the new pasture headquarters after her father’s death. The novel Thickwood explores personal connections to rugged homeland, spirited horses, and love.

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Literary criticism has attacked more than once the romantic historical novel condemning it because it was presenting both at a time historical events and historical fiction, what was, according to some critics, encroaching upon the verisimilitude of the historical facts introduced in this kind of novel as well as diminishing the quality of the fictional story while hindering the process of creativity of the writers. Of course, the historical Spanish novel has also suffered from these pessimistic judgements, but it has been accused too of being in no way original for it was taken mainly as an imitation of Scott's works. We do not share this opinion, however, and think on the contrary that Spain has produced great historical fictions which are original from the standpoint of their plots and their characters. / In the first part of this thesis we will show how the Spanish hero of the historical, romantic novel is far from the model of hero typically depicted by Scott. The main objective of this study will be to define the entity or the masculine Spanish protagonist of the genre in question. For this purpose, we will compare three protagonists, Usdrobal, Macias and Jimeno, from three chosen Spanish novels, between each other and with other secondary characters, especially with their antagonists. The physical and moral aspects will be particularly underlined as we examine, for example, Lavater's science and, at the same, time, the actions, reactions and attitudes of these protagonists. As a result, we will be able to establish their profile and personality. Parallels will also be made, whenever useful, with other significant Spanish and European characters. In this analysis it will be made clear that these romantic beings who suffer terribly throughout their lives are vulnerable and original in opposition to both the traditional and the Scottian heroes.

The thesis consists of the novel The Fox and the Mirror and an accompanying exegesis. The novel is an historical fantasy set in a world based on early medieval (12-13th century) Japan. The main characters are a young female shaman, Hatsu, and a young warrior’s assistant, Sada, who is a Buddhist believer. When Hatsu’s village and shrine are destroyed by warriors and her summoning mirror is stolen, she is abandoned by her kami . To experience the kami’s presence again, she must follow the thief and retrieve the mirror before it can be used to resurrect an ancient evil. Sada must capture Hatsu and bring her back to his lord, or his family will suffer. Yet he is entranced by Hatsu and feels guilt at the destruction of her village. He must choose whether to abandon his former life and stay with Hatsu, or betray her. In the novel I have tried to invoke the feel of a place and time where the supernatural is as real as the physical world; I also try to imagine how a religion as alien to Japanese native beliefs as Buddhism became a part of that country’s spiritual culture. In the exegesis I reflect upon how I used various kinds of history, both written and unwritten, to build the world, characters and narratives of The Fox and the Mirror, and thereby explore some ways in which historical fantasy, as a sub-genre of historical fiction, is capable of presenting an ‘authentic’ view of the past, in spite of its non-realistic nature. I identify three main ways historical fantasy writers can provide an authentic view of the past: by using telling details from an historical era; by incorporating documented events and persons into the story; and by portraying the world as people in the past believed it to be. Historical fantasy is different from realistic historical fiction in that it can more easily incorporate elements belonging to shared cultural heritage, such as beliefs regarding the dead and the supernatural. This characteristic involves writers in research using material that involves other ways of knowing the past—in particular the expressions of belief such as religion, popular customs, folk tales, and oral history. With the broadening of our historiological perspectives in the postmodern climate, historical fantasy based on non-documentary forms of history may come to be seen as another way of knowing the past.