Although Garrison Keillor is perhaps best known as the creator and host of Minnesota Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion (1974-1987), the focus of this study is his literary career. Keillor's literary accomplishments include a successful career as a writer for The New Yorker and two best-selling books about the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, entitled Lake Wobegon Days (1985) and Leaving Home (1987). His literary style incorporates elements from several traditions in American literature--the precise, sophisticated "New Yorker style" practiced by writers such as E. B. White and James Thurber; the oral tradition prominent in the works of Mark Twain and the nineteenth-century literary comedians; and the satiric realism associated with the small-town literature of writers such as Sherwood Anderson and Sinclair Lewis.

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Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie studie word 'n bydrae tot die beskrywing van 'n resente periode in die Afrikaanse prosageskiedenis, naamlik die dekade 1980-1989, aangepak. Die terme ''Tagtiger" en "tagtigerskrywer" word bespreek en gedefinieer. Negentien skrywers word aan die hand van vyf kanoniseringsmeganismes as belangrike Afrikaanse tagtigerprosaskrywers geidentifiseer. Hierdie skrywers en hulle 51 prosatekste wat tussen 1980-1989 gepubliseer is, word dan deur Vanheste (1981) se vier gei"dentifiseerde literatuursosiologiese aandagsvelde naamlik die outeur, die literere werk, die literere kanaal en die leser ondersoek ten einde die posisie van die gekose skrywers m.b.t. maatskappy en skrywerskap, enkele samebindende aspekte in die proefgroep se tagtigerprosatekste, die funksionering van die literere kanaal t.o.v. hierdie tekste en die resepsie daarvan te bepaal. Met behulp van vraelyste aan die proefgroep is hul houdings t.o.v. 'n aantal aktuele aangeleenthede ondersoek. Ses onderskeidende kategoriee in die proefgroep se tekste, naamlik politiek en betrokkenheid; realisme; grens- en geweldliteratuur; postmodernisme; homoerotiek en goeie gewilde prosa word aangedui. Die posisie van verskillende "hekwagters" in die literere kanaal, saam met die invloed van sensuur op die proefgroep, die rol van die Afrikaanse Skrywersgilde en die "little magazines" wat publikasiegeleenthede vir die jong skrywers gebied het, ontvang aandag. J.C.Kannemeyer as geskiedskrywer en 'n verskeidenheid resensente se waarde-oordele word nagegaan. Aan die hand van Vanheste se literatuursosiologiese kommunikasiemodel, gekombineer met sy (aangepaste) analisemodel, word etlike sosiale werklikhede in Alexander Strachan se 'n Wereld sander grense dan onder die loep geneem. Die ondersoekterrein van die literatuursosiologie dek s6 'n wye veld dat heelwat interessante aspekte noodwendig agterwee moes bly. Resepsiestudies van lesers gedurende die tagtigerdekade was nie moontlik nie en 'n resepsiestudie kon ongelukkig eers vyf jaar na die tagtigerdekade uitgevoer word. Die gevolgtrekking waartoe in hierdie studie gekom word, is dat, hoewel waarskynlik nie op dieselfde betekenisvlak as die term "Sestigers" nie, daar wel van ooreenkomste in die werk van Afrikaanse tagtigerskrywers gepraat kan word. Samehang word ook aangedui tussen die sosiale omwereld en die tagtigertekste wat daarbinne tot stand gekom het, veral met betrekking tot tematiese en stilistiese keuses. Terselfdertyd het die literere werke van hierdie dekade 'n invloed uitgeoefen op die omwereld waarbinne dit verskyn het / This study attempts to make a contribution to the description of a recent period in Afrikaans Prose History, namely the decade 1980-1989. The term writer of the Eighties is defined and discussed. Nineteen writers have been identified as important Afrikaans Eighties writers with the aid of five canonization mechanisms. These writers and their 51 prosa texts published between 1980-1989 are then investigated by means of Vanheste's four identified attention areas in the sociology of literature, namely the author, the literary work, the literary channel as well as the reader. Questionnairs have been used to investigate the attitude of the trial group with regards to a number of current affairs. Six distinguishing categories have been identified in the texts of the trial group namely politics, realism, border and violence literature, postmodernism, homo-erotics and popular prose. The position of different gate-keepers in the literary channel, together with the influence of censorship on the trial group, the role of the "Afrikaanse Skrywersgilde" and the "little magazines", together with publication opportunities offered to these young writers, have enjoyed attention. J.C.Kannemeyer as historian, together with the critics as readers of the trial group's texts are investigated. The manipulation of a few social realities in Alexander Strachan's 'n Wereld sander grense is investigated in terms of Vanheste's communication model of literary sociology, combined with his (adapted) analysis model. The field of investigation of the sociology of literary covers such a wide field that numerous interesting aspects had to be omitted. Reception studies during the decade of the eighties were not possible and could, unfortunately, only be done five years after the decade of the eighties. The conclusion of this study is that, although not at quite the same level of significance as the term "Sixties", one could still find similarities in the works of Afrikaans writers from the Eighties decade. Cohesion between the social world and the texts of the Vll eighties have evolved from it, especially with regards to thematic and stilistic choices. At the same time, the literary works of this decade have contributed to the social world in which they were published / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates counter-voices, counter-gazes and (de-)constructions of German-African identities in contemporary German literature. In extended application of postcolonial concepts it examines the way in which post-colonial views and counter-views on Germany and Africaare produced and how in the process alternative identities are created and negotiated. Analyzing poetry, short stories and novels by Black German authors (May Ayim, Ika Hügel-Marshall, ManuEla Ritz and Olumide Popoola) as well as by African literary voices writing in German (El Loko, Daniel Mepin, Philomène Atyame and Luc Degla), the thesis looks at and evaluates strategies of literary hybridization, responses to and deconstructions of the colonial imaginary, transcultural positioning and world literary perspectives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek enkele teenstemme, teenblikke en (de-)konstruksies van Duits-Afrika identiteite spruitend uit Duitsland en dié uit Afrika in hedendaagse Duitse literatuur. Deurʼn uitgebreide toepassing van postkoloniale konsepte,ondersoek die tesis die wysewaarop die post-koloniale sienings en teenstandpunte oor Duitsland en Afrika geproduseer word en hoe in die proses alternatiewe identiteite geskep en onderhandel word. Deur die ontleding van gedigte, kortverhale en romans deur swart Duitse skrywers (May Ayim, Ika Hügel-Marshall, ManuEla Ritz en Olumide Popoola) sowel as Duitse werke deur literêre stemme uit Afrika (El Loko, Daniel Mepin, Philomène Atyame en Luc Degla), bekyk en evalueer die tesis strategieë van literêre verbastering, antwoorde op en dekonstruksies van die koloniale denkbeeldige, transkulturele plasing en wêreld literêre perspektiewe.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the relationship between history and literature, with specific reference to the Afrikaans novels Verliesfontein (1998) by Karel Schoeman and Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz (1998) by Christoffel Coetzee. Both novels are framed against the background of the Anglo Boer War and both take a postmodern approach to that history, amongst other things. First, Chapter 2 reviews the historical background to the relationship between history and literature through the ages (the classical era, and the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries), with a view to indicating how this tradition adheres to the postmodern spirit of contemporary times. Thereafter, Chapter 3 presents a theoretical investigation into the postmodern view of historiography and historical fiction. Special reference is made to Hutcheon's theory of historiographic metafiction as an important theoretical point of departure in the discussion of historical fiction. Political and ideological meaning implicit in historiography is discussed. Chapter 4 explores the current trend in South Africa of rereading and reappraising the past, of questioning traditional historiography in a postapartheid South African context (both in Afrikaans fiction and in historical writing). The revisiting of the Anglo Boer War in contemporary South Africa and in Afrikaans fiction is investigated, and an attempt is made to establish the significance of its reappraisal. Against this background the two texts, Verliesfontein and Op soek na generaal Manntjies Mentz, are discussed in Chapter 5. The two novels amply illustrate the possibility for interaction between history and literature, fact and fiction. How may these texts be read in view of postmodern theory? What lessons for present-day South Africans did Schoeman and Coetzee have in mind with their postmodern questioning of traditional historiography and their unconventional reconstruction of the past? Reappraising conventional accounts of history and exploring personal histories as these texts do, Verliesfontein and Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz are part of the dominant discourse that is taking form in the multicultural society of a postapartheid South Africa today. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie is 'n ondersoek onderneem na die verhouding tussen geskiedenis en literatuur, met spesifieke verwysing na Karel Schoeman se roman Verliesfontein (1998) en Christoffel Coetzee se roman Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz (1998). In hierdie twee tekste, wat die Anglo-Boereoorlog as hul raamwerk het, is onder andere 'n postmodernistiese benadering tot die geskiedenis benut. Eerstens word in hoofstuk 2 oorsigtelik gekyk na die historiese agtergrond van die verhouding tussen geskiedenis en literatuur met verloop van die tyd (die klassieke tyd, agtiende eeu, negentiende eeu en twintigste eeu), om aan te dui hoe dié tradisie by die heersende tydsgees van die postmodernisme aansluit. Hierna verskaf hoofstuk 3 'n teoretiese ondersoek na die postmodernistiese manier waarop geskiedskrywing en historiese fiksie gesien word. Die teorie van Hutcheon se historiografiese metafiksie word veral in die bespreking van historiese fiksie betrek as 'n belangrike teoretiese uitgangspunt. Vervolgens kom politieke en ideologiese implikasies in geskiedskrywing onder bespreking. Daarna (hoofstuk 4) word die Suid-Afrikaanse kontemporêre tendens om die verlede te herlees en te herwaardeer uiteengesit, en die ondermyning van die tradisionele geskiedskrywing in die post-apartheid Suid-Afrikaanse konteks (sowel in Afrikaanse fiksie as in geskiedskrywing) word ondersoek. Daar word gefokus op die her-bedenking van die Anglo-Boereoorlog in die hedendaagse Suid-Afrika en in Afrikaanse fiksie, en daar word ook probeer om die betekenis van dié herwaardering te soek. Teen bostaande agtergrond kom die twee tekste, Verliesfontein en Op soek na generaal Manntjies Mentz onder bespreking (hoofstuk 5). Die romans is goeie voorbeelde van die interaksie-moontlikhede tussen geskiedenis en literatuur, feit en fiksie, en daar word ondersoek hoe hierdie twee tekste aan die hand van postmodernistiese teorieë gelees kan word. Uiteindelik word daar besin oor watter lesse Schoeman en Coetzee met die postmodernistiese problematisering van geskiedskrywing en die onkonvensionele rekonstruksie van die verlede aan kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaners wou oordra. Met die herbesinning van die konvensionele weergawe van die geskiedenis en veral deur die verkenning van persoonlike geskiedenisse, vorm Verliesfontein en Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz deel van die heersende diskoers wat vandag in 'n multikulturele samelewing van die post-apartheid Suid-Afrika aan die ontwikkel is.