published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Master / Master of Philosophy

Leonie Kramer has noted that 'literary commentary . . . is a powerful influence on notions of what constitutes a particular reality.' But literary commentary does not act alone: it also intersects with other discursive acts that together produce a dominant ideology, participating with them in the construction of 'a particular reality'. This thesis demonstrates, for the period since 1940, how arguments about the nature of Canadian and Australian Literatures in English are part of that ideological process. It therefore interrogates the kinds of 'national interests' which the discussions of the national literatures serve. Acknowledging that such debates are conducted as being 'in the interest' of the nation but are in fact in the domain of particular institutions, it enquires into the sources and relations of power within those institutions (and other cultural formations), and the ways in which that power is enhanced by the discussions of the national literatures. While it is true that the question, 'Is there any?' continued to be used as a dismissive topos in some polemics well into the period covered, this thesis argues that in the significant debates about Australian and Canadian Literatures, and in most of the public use of them, the issues that are engaged are rather 'What is it?' and, implicitly at least, 'What may be done with/to it?' That last question discloses that the debate is about authority. The thesis argues that the attempts to define national literatures have been attempts to privilege the position of the definer. It proposes that the visibility of national literatures, the general acknowledgement of their 'presence', depends not on the adventitious .pn iv production of particular literary works -- the epic, a 'masterpiece', the Great Canadian/Australian Novel -- or on the 'mastery' of particular literary material -- the vernacular, indigenous peoples, the natural environment -- but rather on the establishment of the institutions of literary culture. It further argues that, despite the considerable achievements of individuals, this is not a history of individual heroism any more than it is a matter of reaching a quota of quality, quantity, or content. The 'actions' of those notable individuals are subject to, and are often precipitated by, institutional, political, and economic forces such as those examined in Chapters Five and Six. One premise of this thesis is that in Post-Colonial cultures, the 'presence' of history, ideology, and discourse is especially 'marked', and that, for an understanding of the development of literary culture, an examination of the economies of public/ation, of the relation to public policy, is not only necessary but inevitable. The proof of the existence of a national literature is, indeed, the existence of its infrastructure -- the institutions of writing, teaching, scholarship, and publishing. But a crucial cause seems to be the precipitation of a polemic -- a 'timely' debate about the literature. Equally, the maintenance of a cultural nationalism depends not on the 'existence' of a national culture but upon the promotion of a problematic -- a rhetoric of crisis. In this, Canada has been more prominent than Australia. It is worth noting that the 'crisis' in Canadian culture in the nineteen seventies was especially closely tied to the focussing upon the national in 1967 (the Centennial), upon internal threats to its survival (the 'Quebec crisis'), and the external threats to its survival (American economic domination of Canadian industry and consequently of Canadian culture): the debate about Canadian culture was a metaphor and a metonymy for each of these. While it has become axiomatic to observe that Canadian society is pluralist (the mosaic) and Australian society is assimilationist (the monolith), this thesis nevertheless shows that the coherence of Canadian society is in many ways more apparent. This is especially true of the cultural articulations of that society, its concern for principles (rather than Australian pragmatism), its impetus towards defining issues (rather than the Australian dealing with problems), and its concern with self- knowledge. However, in working comparatively with Canadian and Australian literatures this thesis departs from the customary Australian-Canadian strategy of distinguishing between the two literatures with the implied object of judging the two cultures. Its aim, rather, is to pursue an understanding of the development and workings of national literary cultures. It therefore considers not only the particular histories of literary criticism and literary history, and those of the various cultural institutions, but also endeavours to analyse their sociologies as well. The effects, then, of the particular modes of operation of the institutions (and even individuals) in Canadian and Australian literary culture upon the representation and recognition of those 'Literatures' are considered in some detail in the process of examining the range of social and cultural domains that must be analysed if the stories of national literary cultures are to be made intelligible.

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x, 255 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation examines transatlantic, and especially American, literary responses to urban and industrial change from the 1840s through the 1930s. It combines cultural materialist theory with environmental history in order to investigate the interrelationship of literature, economy, and biophysical systems. In lieu of a traditional ecocritical focus on wilderness preservation and the accompanying literary mode of nature writing, I bring attention to reforms of the "built environment" and to the related category of social problem fiction, including narratives of documentary realism, urban naturalism, and politically-oriented utopianism. The novels and short stories of Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, Rebecca Harding Davis, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Upton Sinclair, and Mike Gold offer an alternative history of environmental writing, one that foregrounds the interaction between nature and labor. Through a strategy of "literal reading" I connect the representation of particular environments in the work of these authors to the historical situation of actual spaces, including the western Massachusetts forest of Melville's "Tartarus of Maids," the Virginia factory town of Davis's Iron Mills, the Midwestern hinterland of Sinclair's The Jungle, and the New York City ghetto of Gold's Jews without Money. Even as these texts foreground the class basis of environmental hazard, they simultaneously display an ambivalence toward the physical world, wavering between pastoral celebrations and gothic vilifications of nature, and condemning ecological destruction even as they naturalize the very socio-economic forces responsible for such calamity. Following Raymond Williams, I argue that these contradictory treatments of nature have a basis in the historical relationship between capitalist society and the material world. Fiction struggles to contain or resolve its implication in the very culture that destroys the land base it celebrates. Thus, the formal fissures and the anxious eruptions of nature in fiction relate dialectically to the contradictory position of the ecosystem itself within the regime of industrial capital. However, for all of this ambivalence, transatlantic social reform fiction of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century provides a model for an environmentally-oriented critical realist aesthetic, an aesthetic that retains suspicion toward representational transparency, and yet simultaneously asserts the didactic, ethical, and political functions of literature. / Committee in charge: William Rossi, Chairperson, English; Henry Wonham, Member, English; Enrique Lima, Member, English; Louise Westling, Member, English; John Foster, Outside Member, Sociology

Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines space and characterization in Sesotho novels focussing on three main categories such as the space of travelling characters; the space of migrating characters; and the space as an abstraction. CHAPTER 1 introduces the aims of study as well as the theoretical framework which forms the basis on which the study is analysed. The notions of space and character are discussed within the theoretical framework of structuralism, and the focus is placed on narratology. CHAPTER 2 studies the travelling characters, focus is on Mofolo's novels, Moeti wa botjhabe/a and Pitseng which depict two types of space where one space is presented as traditional, and the other as a westernized space. The traditional and westernized spaces are symbolized by means of bad and good characters respectively. The good characters are depicted as angels, and the bad characters as monsters. CHAPTER 3 examines the space of migrating characters that leave their rural spaces for the urban spaces. Their characters are shown by means of changes that they experience at different spaces. In most of the novels examined, characters are motivated by certain desires to act in a particular way, and the change in them is the result of a crucial situation in life, hence we say characterization and space in those novels are reconciled in an appropriate way. CHAPTER 4 deals with the space as an abstraction which shows how the characters' personalities are affected by the political, psychological and socio-economic factors. Characterization in these novels is good except in Makappa's novel, Thatohatsi. In CHAPTER 5 we look as to whether the novels are good or bad in terms of literary appreciation and conclusion is drawn to the effect that it is not heredity that makes up a character, but the social environment. This is achieved through the literary aspects such as the way conflict is handled, types of characters and the portrayal of the space in which the characters live. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing wat hierdie proefskrif gedoen is het die soeklig op ruimte en karakterisering in Sesotho novelles laat val. Klem is op drie hoof-kateqorie gele. uimte wat deur rondreisende karakters ingeneem word, die ruimte wat deur nomadiese of rondtrekkende karakters beslaan word, en ruimte as n bepaalde begrip. Hoofstuk 1 stel die leser voor aan die doelwitte van die navorsing, sowel as die teoretiese raamwerk wat die grondslag waarop die studie berus, vorm. Die begrippe 'ruimte' en 'karakter' word binne die teoretiese raamwerk van die strukturalisme bespreek en die fokus word in hierdie geval op die vertelkunde geplaas. Hoofstuk 2 Ie klem op rondreisende karakters en ondersoek Mofolo se novelles Moeti wa botjhabela en Pits eng waarin twee soorte ruimtes uitgebeeld word; naamlik, tradisionele ruimte en verwesterse ruimte. Tradisionele en verwesterse ruimtes word onderskeilik deur slegte en goeie karakters versinnebeeld. Die goeie karakters word as engele uitgebeeld, terwyl die slegte karakters as monsters voorgestel word. In Hoofstuk 3 word die ruimte van die nomadiese karakters wat hulle plattelandse ruimte vir 'n stedelike ruimte verruil, ondersoek. Hierdie karakters word deur middel van veranderinge wat in verskillende ruimtes plaasvind, voorgestel. In die meeste novelles wat ondersoek is, het die karakters op n sekere manier opgetree omdat hulle deur bepaalde begeertes daartoe gedryf is. Die verandering in die lewens van hierdie karakters as gevolg hiervan, kan dan beskou word as die direkte gevolg van sekere deurslaggewende gebeurtenisse. Karakteriseering en ruimte word dus in hierdie novelles op n geskikte wyse met mekaar verbind. Hoofstuk 4 neem die begrip 'ruimte' onder die loep om sodoende aan te dui hoe die karakters se persoonlikhede deur politieke, sielkundige en sosio-ekonomiese faktore beinvloed word. Karakterisering in hierdie novelles is geslaagd, behalwe in Makappa se novelle Thatohatsi. In Hoofstuk 5, word aandag geskenk aan die beoordeling van die novelles in terme van die hulle literere waarde en daar word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat dit nie oorerflike eienskappe is wat gestalte aan 'n bepaalde karakter gee nie, maar veel eercer sy omgewing. Oit word veral duidelik as gelet word op bepaalde literere aspekete soos die manier waarop konflik uitgebeeld word, asook die beskrywing van die ruimte waarin die karakters hulle bevind.

published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Arts

In the twentieth century several writers from Rilke onwards have written prose works which deal with various problems of personality in a manner far removed from that of the traditional 'linear' novel, where events appear more or less chronologically and there is a fairly consistent point of view. Both Max Frisch and Uwe Johnson, while recognizing that in this century the serious novelist may no longer be able to assume the omniscience of a Balzac, have disclaimed all connection with any particular school of literary or psychological theory. Both however write novels of apparently loose construction, like Rilke and Hesse before them; the critic must therefore seek to establish whether Frisch's and Johnson's claims to literary independence are justified by true originality in their novels, and above all whether their use of non- traditional form makes a valuable contribution to the significance of each of thair works, or whether this 'form' is after all simply a means of creating a spurious appearance of profundity and complexity. Frisch's early novels, Jürg Reinhart and Die Schwierigen, reveal signs of influence in their subject matter by Albin Zollinger and Gottfried Keller, and show no remarkable manipulation of form. In the former work, the construction is loose, a number of different individual problems being touched upon and either left undeveloped or summarily solved with unfounded optimism. It Is a youthful work of some charm but little depth or originality. The looseness of construction of Die Schwierigen, which is written in fragments of considerably varying length as opposed to the traditional chapter division, is more justified as an expression of the theme which embraces all the main characters: the theme of the vanity of the attempt to find absolute freedom, the drifting aimlessness of life with its autumnal atmosphere of beauty and decay, which contrasts well with the characters' mistaken efforts to achieve aims beyond their abilities. This is the first albeit slight indication in Frisch's prose writing that he has begun to make the manner of presentation convey to the reader some truth which the central figures do not fully perceive. It is the contrast between what the central figure knows of himself and what is revealed to the reader by the particular manner of presentation which characterises Frisch's next novel Stiller, written after an interval of ten years in which Frisch had given much thought to literary matters, including Brecht's theory of 'alienation', the forcing of reader or audience to think rather than respond emotionally. Frisch's central concern in the sphere of human relationships emerges in this period before Stiller. The disastrous effects of 'image-making' preoccupy him, of creating a set picture in one's mind of oneself and of others and behaving accordingly. This is the source of Stiller's guilt: in the past he has constricted his wife by his view of her, and in the 'present' he is trying to refashion his own identity because he cannot accept his own insignificance and weakness as final. But the fight against 'images' is carried also into the form of the work: the reader is not told Stiller's qualities, nor precisely what is happening to him. He is faced with a series of fragmentary notebook entries, and the gulf between Stiller's inflated view of himeelf and his basic weakness can be fully appreciated only by careful attention to the types of material Stiller includes in his notebooks, to their relative proportions, and to the frequency of their occurrence. There then emerges the picture of a man longing to impress, haunted by failure but basically wilfully blind about his own nature. The reader watches his gradual progression from confidence to humbler fear, and near despair, but is also able to detect the remnants of pride and ridiculous hope which he carries with him into his 'new' life as Stiller, in which the old difficulties then sadly recur. The overall theme of the danger of making set images of oneself and others emerges most clearly in the 'Nachwort', but as well as clarifying, it also carries on the theme, as it is written not by an anonymous narrator, but by a character already introduced whose vision is clearer than Stiller's although still limited. Absolute, active self-acceptance is seen to be an immensely difficult task, and perfect self-knowledge impossible, but there are degrees of honesty, and the reader is made to fight like the characters for depth of understanding through the fragmentation. In his next novel, Homo Faber, Frisch presents a different type of misunderstanding of self. Faber is a man whose practical, unemotional approach to life has been fostered by his job as a 'Techniker', and his image of himself is that of an eminently rational man, rationality and logic being his criteria of worth. But again the central figure is made - by the arrangement of the fragmentary material - to give himself away against his own knowledge and will. Having lived for years a somewhat selfish bachelor existence without regard for the feelings of others, Faber is shaken by the death of a young girl who attracted him and then proved tragically to be his daughter. He refuses to believe that the 'faults' of his nature - the excessive practicality - are responsible for this death, and yet is sufficiently disturbed to attempt to prove this on paper. There is indeed some doubt as to whether this accusation which would appear to be held against him really is justified. The work is also marred by indications that we are perhaps to understand the tragic events as retribution for past inadequacies in Faber: the question of the nature of Fate in the novel is an intricate one and suggests Frisch may not have clarified his purpose sufficiently. But the work can move the reader nevertheless. Faber is shaken into the discovery that in his own nature there was a sensitivity and emotional capacity he had denied, and that emotion, personal devotion to others can bring intense joy, which he has missed. But this recognition he long fights against, and it emerges primarily through the subjective unchronological ordering of his account of the tragedy: the depth of his attachment to Sabeth, for instance, is shown by his care to try to prove his unconcern, his reluctance to describe her death. The role of Fate since it cannot be accepted literally could be seen simply as an overall framework, to emphasise the seriousness of the events, and yet it is liable to antagonise the reader by its anachronism nevertheless. However, the reader is also justifiably challenged, as in Stiller, to participate in and thence to understand the painful process of a mind used to understanding but now fitting for clarity, yet fearing to reach it. We - like Faber - progress in understanding without ever reaching a complete 'image'. Mein Name sei Gantenbein, however, can be accused with even more justification of lack of clarity. The fragmentariness no longer seems a means to provoke the reader to active thougfct, but rather to mystify him. Although the work's roost outstanding feature is humour, it is not unambiguously gay: there are serious moments which suggest a psychological crisis such as formed the basis of the two preceding novels, but no one aspect of the work dominates sufficiently for it to be seen as a 'Schelmenroman' or as the profound record of a struggle for new identity. It seems rather to be the product of unclear intention shielded by a form of apparent complexity - a confused, mystifying rather than stimulating work, whereas the preceding two novels both made use of 'mystery' as a structural element to capture attention initially for serious problems.

This thesis traces the various vievs of Horace held in the seventeenth century and examines translation and imitation in the period. The main focus is on the influence of Horace's Od.es on lyric poetry. For the period 1600-1660, four authors are discussed in detail, Ben Jonson, Herrick, Marvell and Covley. Other authors treated include Drayton, Samuel Daniel, Donne, Campion, Chapman, Wotton, Carev, Randolph, Cartvr4ght, Habington, Vaughan, Lovelace, Fanshave, Mildmay Fane, George Daniel of Besvick, Milton, Oven Felltham, Izaak Walton, Denham, Waller and Alexander Brome. In the period from 1660, authors discussed include Dryden, Rochester, Sedley, Dorset, Mulgrave, Otvay, Etherep;e, Wycherley, Oldham, Prior, Ambrose Philips, Katherine Philips, John Norris, Cotton, Lady Mary Chudleigh, Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, John Ranrlet, John Tutchin, Temple and Evelyn. The introduction argues briefly that although Horace is normally associated vith the eighteenth century, in fact his Odes were more Influential in the earlier part of the seventeenth century, and points to some misconceptions about the nature of Horace's poetry that have helped to obscure this. It notes that the interest in the Odes in the period is a change from the Mediaeval and sixteenth-century approach to Horace, and points out that the study of hov a period responds to a particular poet throve light on its general character. Chapter I provides some background information. It outlines the place of Horace in the school curricula and shove that the twin emphases in the school reading of HOrace were on his morals and his style, the latter being studied vith the practical aim of imitation. School textbooks are described. An account of editions of Horace in the period follows. It is pointed out that the text of Horace was more corrupt than it is today* and argued that some of the translators of Horace used the school edition of John Bond. The twin emphases of commentary on Horace are again shown to be on his morals and his style: Parthenio's commentary is examined in some detail. Next, some ideas about Horace's life disseminated by the lives included in editions are mentioned. Finally, the influence of quotation books and emblem books is considered. It is argued that though they contained many of the poet*s favourite Horatian passages, this does not mean that writers did not read Horace directly. It is shown that they present a moral Horace and that they sometimes cause distortion through excerpting passages out of context. Chapter II deals with the volumes of translations of Horace by Thomas Drant, John Ashmore, Thomas Hawkins, Henry Rider, John Smith, 'Unknown Mase', and Richard Panshawe. A brief sketch is given of the development of translation in the century, and it is pointed out that there are some examples of the 'imitation* before Cowley. The books of translations are then examined against this background, and it is argued that Fanshawe should not be viewed as heralding the mid-century revolution in translation but as fitting into his own period. The twin interests of the translators are analysed as being content, primarily moral, and lyric style. Fanshawe is seen as of particular interest as trying to embody Horatian moral ideals in his life and as being most successful in conveying Horace's lyricism. Chapterin discusses various ways in trhich the formal aspects of Horace's Odes influenced seventeenth-century lyric. It is pointed out that this influence has been obscured because English writers do not produce pastiches but recreate Horace in modern modes and because of generic differences between the Odes and seventeenth-century lyric. Some differences in structure and style between the two are then considered, Cowley's translation of C.111.i and Carew's The Spring being used to illustrate the differences of structure. Some exceptions are noted in the poetry of Milton, Jonson, Herrick, etc. Next, the similarities and areas of influence are discussed - blends in tone, methods of making lyric personal and various poetic poses.

The politics of the Middle-Passage and its attendant socio-cultural and historical trauma is the starting point of this study. The dispersal of Africans, or at least people of African origin, to different parts of the world has produced over the past few decades numerous dissertations and theses describing socio-cultural linkages between Africa and the Black diaspora. On the part of creative writers and literary critics of every persuasion, there exists a consensus of creative and critical opinion that seeks to establish that "the history of Africa and the Africans ... is one of iron, blood and tears." (Nkosi, 1981, p.30) The study is in agreement with Omafume Onoge's submission that the cultural imperialist process went beyond mere acts of vandalism to produce a period in the history of Africa and the black diaspora in which "many educated Africans (and their counterparts in the diaspora) required a major act of intellection to ascribe aesthetic value to our traditional arts." (Dnoge, 1984, p.5) The study grapples with the source(s) of this socio-cultural apathy, and how the liberal humanist discourse which replaced the body of the colonialist's mythologies is predicated on what JanMohammed describes as "an ironic anomaly." (JanMohammed, 1985, p.281) My exploration of this ironic anomaly begins from the premise of the myths, legends and traditions that are subsumed, truncated, misread or simply repressed to propound this 'humanist' philosophy. What emerges from this cultural and ideological exploration is a vernacular theory of reading built around the carnivalesque figure of Esu Elegbara (the Yoruba 'trickster' god) whose "functional equivalent in Afro-American profane discourse is the Signifying Monkey." (Gates, 1990, p.287) The study is in two parts. Part One consists of three chapters exploring different aspects of the cultural and ideological discourses between Africa and the black diaspora from historical and theoretical perspectives. Part Two focuses, in four chapters, on the works of five writers from Africa (Nigeria and Ghana), South America (Brazil), the West Indies (St. Lucia) and the United States. These are Ayi Kwei Armah, Wole Soyinka, Jorge Amado, Derek Walcott and Amiri Baraka respectively. The conclusion summarises the major arguments of the thesis.