Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The term 'representation' is often used to refer to the possibility of a link between literature and reality. The word also suggests the reiteration of an event and is used in literary studies to indicate that a representation should be read as the author's interpretation of events and thus as a mediated rendition thereof. This study focuses on the representation of a black character who lived in the 19th Century by a white author from the zo" Century, Arthur Japin, in his novel, De zwarte met het witte hart (1997). This novel, based on historical events, is a rendering of the lives of two Ashanti princes who were taken to the Netherlands in 1837 as guarantee to an agreement between the king of the Ashanti and the Netherlands. This study therefore looks at the way in which Japin interpreted and represented the available information in his novel. This study furthermore focuses on ways in which this novel, written in what may be termed a postcolonial era could be read as a continuation of the colonial discourse in the 21st Century. This is demonstrated by identifying and examining the characteristics of colonial discourse, postcolonial discourse, the historic novel and the didactic novel, as well as ways in which these genres deal with representation. The study refers to the work of literary and social theoreticians such as Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, Linda Hutcheon and Maaike Meijer. The study indicates that this novel can partially be read as a continuation of the colonial discourse. The results of this study also indicates that an uncritical reading of the novel De zwarte met het witte hart could lead to a continuation of the colonial discourse in the 21st Century. The role and responsibility of the reader in the interpretation and the subversion of the colonial discourse could therefore be further investigated. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die term 'representasie' word dikwels gebruik om die moontlikheid van 'n verband tussen die letterkunde en die werklikheid aan te dui. Die woord suggereer die herhaling van 'n gegewe en word in die letterkunde gebruik om aan te dui dat die representasie wat gelees word, die outeur se interpretasie en dus bemiddelde weergawe van gebeure is. Hierdie ondersoek fokus op die representasie van 'n swart hoofkarakter uit die 19de eeu deur 'n blanke outeur in die 20ste eeu soos dit in die roman, De zwarte met het witte hart (1997) deur Arthur Japin, weergegee word. Hierdie roman, gebaseer op historiese gegewens, handeloor die lewens van twee Ashanti prinse wat in 1837 as onderpand vir 'n ooreenkoms tussen Nederland en die Ashantynse koning na Nederland geneem is en die gevolge wat dit vir hulle ingehou het. Daar word dus in dié ondersoek gekyk na die manier waarop Japin die gegewens tot sy beskikking geïnterpreteer en in die roman weergegee het. Verder fokus die ondersoek op die manier waarop hierdie roman, geskryf in wat as 'n postkoloniale era gesien kan word, moontlik as 'n voortsetting van die koloniale diskoers in die 21ste eeu gelees kan word. Dit word gedoen deur kenmerke van die koloniale diskoers, die postkoloniale diskoers, die historiese roman en die tendensroman te identifiseer en ondersoek, saam met die wyses waarop hierdie genres met representasie omgaan. Daar word verwys na die werk van letterkundige en sosiale teoretici soos Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, Linda Hutcheon en Maaike Meijer. Uit die ondersoek blyk dat hierdie roman gedeeltelik as 'n voortsetting van die koloniale diskoers gelees kan word. Die resultate van hierdie ondersoek dui ook aan dat 'n onkritiese lees van die roman De zwarte met het witte hart kan lei tot die voortsetting van die koloniale diskoers in die 21ste eeu. Die rol en die verantwoordelikheid van die leser in die interpretasie en ondermyning van die koloniale diskoers kan dus verder ondersoek word.

This study focuses on the relation between the picareque genre and the way in which guilt is processed in literature. André Brink’s Inteendeel (On the contrary) was used in this examination and also, for a wider perspective than merely the South African situation, Arthur Japin’s De zwarte met het witte hart (The two hearts of Aquasi Boachi). The possibilities offerd by the picaresque in order to investigate the manifestation of guilt in literary texts were explored with the theories of, inter alia, Wicks, Ricoeur and Todorov. Tracing the origins of the picaresque reveals that this type of text exhibits specific characteristics, e.g. an unethical attitude that is usually imposed on the individual by a society in crisis – “guilt” and a confessional tone are therefore intrinsically part of the picaresque. Using Wicks’s modal-generic approach, the two novels are examined with the purpose of determining their degree of “picaresqueness” to test the validity of the hypothesis, i.e. that the more a text displays picaresque characteristics, the more the issue of guilt would be a central theme to that text. In the two novels relevant to this study, colonial guilt is the main form of guilt examined. / Prof. W. Burger