Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-55). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Doctorat)--Université de Picardie, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 535-568) and index.

M.A. (Afrikaans) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Habilitationsschrift--Duisbourg--Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften. / Bibliogr. p. 299-334.

Th. doct.--Lettres--Aix-Marseille 1, 1996. / Bibliogr. p. 387-411. Index.

AFRIKAANS: Hoewel die begrip "karikatuur" dikwels genoem word wanneer kritici die aanwesigheid van die satire, parodie en ironie in Etienne Leroux se romans bespreek, word dit nêrens omskryf of ontleed nie. Trouens, daar het tot op datum geen uitvoerige studie oor die karikatuur in die Afrikaanse letterkunde verskyn nie. Hierdie proefskrif is daarop afgestem om teoretiese helderheid te verkry oor wat ‘n karikatuur is, hoe dit as kunsgreep ontwikkel het, en hoe dit in die Leroux-kritiek neerslag gevind het. Die vertekening van bestaande modelle het reeds by primitiewe mense voorgekom en die ontwikkeling daarvan kan ook in die Antieke, die Middeleeue, die Renaissance en tot op hede nagespeur word. Hierdie vertekening het geskied deur ‘n verskeidenheid van tegnieke waarvan oordrywing, onderstelling, verwringing en vermenging die belangrikste is. Die "lag" in die een of ander vorm is altyd aanwesig in die karikatuur, hoewel dit soms afgeskaal kan wees tot ‘n blote grimmige gryns omdat die karikatuur ook tragiese, groteske en selfs grusame dimensies kan besit. Die beskouings van Mikhaïl Bakhtin, die Russiese literêre teoretikus, dien as vertrekpunt vir hierdie studie. Die begrip "karnaval" is die grondslag van die kollektiewe volkskultuur wat Bakhtin se teorie onderlê en die word ook behandel. Dit wys op die inherente behoefte by die mens om die bestaande orde om te keer en ook die vermoë om ‘n humoristiese alternatief van die konvensionele te skep. Studies oor die implementering van die karikatuur in die werk van vier erkende satiriese skrywers, belig die funksies, kwaliteit en aard van karikatuurskepping in die literatuur. Leroux se gebruik van karikature toon 'n noue ooreenkoms met die van bogenoemde skrywers. Dit behels dat die karikatuur dikwels 'n bestanddeel van satire is; dat daar naspeurbare verbande tussen die visuele en die literêre karikatuur bestaan; dat die tegnieke van vertekening en oordrywing essensieel aan die karikatuur is; dat dit bestaande aanvaarde grense en norme oorboord gooi en deurbreek; en dat korrekte begrip van 'n karikatuur by die leser tot 'n herinterpretasie van die werklikheid lei. Ontledings van die karikatuur in twee Leroux-romans, naamlik Die mugu en Sewe dae by die Silbersteins, het getoon dat die doel daarmee is om die hedendaagse samelewing as vals en kunsmatig aan die kaak te stel, maar ook om die Mens se swakhede en vergrype bloot te lê. Die mugu word as 'n karikatuur van die tradisionele ridderroman, soos dit veral rondom die hoofkarakter Gysbrecht Edelhart uitkristalliseer, in oënskou geneem. Dit ontbreek Gysbrecht aan die kenmerkende heroïese daadkragtigheid van die geïdealiseerde ridder. As 'n karikatuur van die ridder word Gysbrecht 'n anti-held, 'n verworde ridder in 'n verworde wêreld. In Sewe dae by die Silbersteins sluit Leroux aan by die middeleeuse karikatuurgenre, Die Dans van die Dood. Die idee van 'n reidans met die Dood as sentrale figuur om die lewendes oor die drumpel van die lewe na die dood te lei, word ook in genoemde roman aangetref met lady Mandrake as die doodsfiguur. Die oorblywende Leroux-romans sou in verdere studies op soortgelyke wyse ondersoek kon word. ENGLISH: Although the concept "caricature" is often mentioned by critics in their studies on satire, parody and irony in the novels of Etienne Leroux, definitions and analyses of and discussions on the concept are critically absent. In fact, to date no comprehensive study on caricature has appeared in the field of Afrikaans literature. This thesis aims to achieve theoretical lucidity on the exact nature of caricature, the origin and development of caricature in art, and the expression of caricature in Leroux's literature. The distortion of existing models was already found in primitive societies and the development thereof can be traced through Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and up to the present time. Distortion then comprised a wide variety of techniques the most important being exaggeration, understatement, and the contortion and intermingling of features. Laughter in one form or another is always present in caricature, although it may be scaled down to a mere grimace as caricature can also have tragic, grotesque and even gruesome dimensions. The views of Mikhaïl Bakhtin, the Russian literary theorist, serve as a point of departure in this study. The concept of the 11 carnival 11 is fundamental to the folk culture on which Bakhtin bases his theory and this is comprehensively discussed. This concept illustrates the inherent need in humans to overturn the conventional order and their ability to create a humoristic alternative to the norm. Studies on the implementation of caricature in the works of four known authors of satire enlighten the functions, qualities and nature of caricature in literature. Leroux's use of caricature shows a close resemblance to that of the above-mentioned authors. It embraces caricature as a component of satire; determines ascertainable connections between visual and literary caricature; claims that distortion and overstatement are essential elements of caricature; and finds that caricature incurses and discards existing and accepted norms and boundaries. Where the reader comprehends a caricature correctly it inevitably leads to a reinterpretation of reality. Analyses of two Leroux novels, Die mugu and Sewe dae by die Silbersteins indicate that caricature is used in satirical writing to reveal the present-day society as false and artificial, but also to expose the weaknesses and transgressions of Man. Die mugu is examined as a caricature of the traditional romance of chivalry with the main character Gysbrecht Edelhart, as central figure. Gysbrecht lacks the typical heroic chivalry and forcefulness of the idealized knight. As a caricaturized knight he becomes an anti-hero a perverted knight within a perverse society. Leroux implements The Dance of Death, a medieval genre of caricature, in Sewe dae by die Silbersteins. In the novel the idea of Death escorting the living over the threshold of life into death culminates in the figure of Lady Mandrake. The remaining Leroux novels could possibly be analysed in the same way in future studies. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

This thesis aims to provide a critical account of Gaston Leroux’s Le Fantôme de l’Opéra (1910), which has become one of the most enduring and visible of modern myths. Leroux’s text discloses anxieties about a rapidly changing world, and these anxieties manifest themselves artistically in a simultaneous fascination and horror with the emerging episteme. Leroux’s story subsequently took on a life of its own in popular culture, yet, this thesis argues, many of these adaptations remain bound up in the same issues of futurity and dichotomies of masculinity, as well as concerns about the role of the artist in determining the values of his society.

Degree awarded with distinction on 11 December 1997 'n Verhandeling ingelewer ter voldoening aan die vereistes vir die graad Magister Artium in die Departement van Afrikaans en Nederlands by die Universiteit van die Witwatersrand. Johannesburg, 1997 / This dissertation investigates the canonized criticism on Etienne Leroux's Sewe dee by die S'ilbersteins (1962) from the time of the novel's publication up to the 1980's. The most important analytical strategies that were implemented in this period become, in themselves, the topic of research. The study at hand claims that the allegorical structure of the novel, wi th its subsequent distinction between surface and substructure leads to irreconcilable re&dfngs. The critics either link the view of life presented b~ the novel to a limited number of imtedded fields of reference, or they present all of these fields without questioning any conflicting claims to truth. In this dissertation the novel is approached from an existentialist perspective from which all claims to truth are relativised, and the focus shifts to the narrative itself. This reading strategy departs to a large extent from existing approaches that concentrate on the substructure.

« L'art, c'est la vie qui s'adresse à la vie » écrivait Pierre Leroux. Ces mots très simples proposent en vérité un programme complet. Socialiste, philosophe, critique littéraire et journaliste, Pierre Leroux a développé une théorie de l'évolution vitale sur tous les fronts ; l'agriculture, la politique, et aussi la littérature qui obéit aux mêmes lois de développement, à une même doctrine de la perfectibilité. Cette thèse vise à expliquer comment Leroux inscrit sa critique littéraire au coeur de sa philosophie de l'histoire, dans ce qu'il appelait la philosophie de l'histoire littéraire. Il s'agit de comprendre à la fois la tradition philosophique dans laquelle il s'inscrit, en regard des nombreuses philosophies de l'histoire qui se sont développées en France et en Allemagne depuis le XVIIIème siècle, quels sont les tenants et aboutissants de cette doctrine de la perfectibilité appliquée à la littérature, en synchronie comme en diachronie, en quoi la littérature tient une place capitale dans ce système, et quel a été son impact sur les auteurs de son temps, notamment George Sand dont il influença beaucoup les oeuvres à partir de 1837. A la fois continuateur de Perrault, de Rousseau, de Germaine de Staël, et de Saint-Simon, Leroux a accueilli favorablement dès 1830 le cri de douleur des romantiques qui raisonnait dans toute l'Europe, et théorisait « le style symbolique » tout en les mettant en garde contre les dérives que pouvait entrainer une littérature passéiste, faite uniquement pour les yeux, préférant les encourager à suivre la voie du progrès continu, et à se faire les vrais représentants de leur époque dans un siècle de douleur et de désir. / Pierre Leroux used to say: 'Art is life which is speaking to life'. These simple words offer a truly full program. Socialist, philosopher, literary critic and journalist, Pierre Leroux (17971871 developed a theory of vital evolution on all fronts; agriculture, politics, and literature which also obeys the same laws of development, the same doctrine of perfectibility. This thesis aims at explaining how Leroux entered his literary criticism at the core of his philosophy of history, in what he called the philosophy of literary history. This work deals with understanding both the philosophical tradition to which he belongs, comparing with the numerous philosophies of history that have developed in France and in Germany since the eighteenth century. It is about what the ins and outs of this doctrine of perfectibility which has been applied to literature are, as well as its synchrony and diachrony, and about the crucial place literature holds ; and what its impact on the authors at the time was, including George Sand. Pierre Leroux had influenced many of her works from 1837. Thanks to Perrault's, Rousseau's, Germaine de Stael's, and Saint-Simon's legacy, Leroux welcomed in 1830 the romantic call of pain that was heard throughout Europe, and theorized "the symbolic style" while warning them, for instance Victor Hugo and Alphonse de Lamartine, against the drifts that an outdated literature which focused itself on the form could cause. Thus, Pierre Leroux used to preferred to encourage them in order to follow the path of constant improvement, and to make them become the true representatives of their time in a century of pain and desire.