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)

The subject of this thesis is the Synopsis Chronike (or Synopsis Sathas), a Byzantine chronicle of the thirteenth century that conveys the history of the world, starting from Adam and concluding with the recapture of Constantinople in 1261. The study focuses on the first part of the text (Adam – Nikephoros Botaneiates), and more specifically on the comprehensive presentation and analysis of the whole corpus of its sources, passage by passage, in order to reconstruct the background of the chronicle and to determine its place in the Byzantine chronicle tradition. Following the introductory first chapter, which sets out the aims of the thesis and establishes its methodology, chapter two offers an overview of the chronicle itself, and a first discussion of the main issues it presents: the key characteristics of its narrative structure, its manuscript tradition, and – mainly – the problem of its authorship, with special reference to the commonly supposed author, Theodore Skoutariotes, bishop of Kyzikos. Chapter three conveys a detailed presentation of the results of our research; following the discussion of the sources and influences of the proem, it attempts to place each passage of the Synopsis Chronike in the context of any related texts, which are then identified as 'main sources', 'other sources' and 'parallel passages', depending on their link to the Synopsis Chronike. Chapter four discusses individually each text that appears as a source of the Synopsis Chronike, and locates its place amongst the whole corpus of the sources. Furthermore, it examines the passages for which we were not able to identify a main source, and suggests possible sources that have not survived. Finally, the concluding chapter of the thesis summarises the earlier discussion, and attempts to combine the different pieces of information, and to provide an overall picture of the background of the Synopsis Chronike in order to establish – to the degree that it is possible – its position in the Byzantine chronicle tradition.

Thesis (MA (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The noticeable popularity of contemporary German novels set in Africa, as well as the many similarities between these novels, provided the cause for this investigation. Especially the large number of autobiographies, biographies, novels, television productions and films featuring a white female protagonist raised some questions regarding the cause of the popularity of this character. The aim of this thesis is to try and answer some of these questions based on a close analysis of two particular female characters in two contemporary German novels set in Africa. A short overview of the research done on popular fiction, colonial German literature and the history of the white woman in Africa in literature will be given. Theoretical points of departure involve a discussion of the aims and effects of popular fiction in general, as well as a look at how German colonial Fantasies, as found in colonial Literature, are being propagated by contemporary Literature set in Africa, specifically with regard to the representation of the white female Protagonist. Further theoretical background will be provided by a brief appraisal of Gender Studies and Postcolonial Studies. Furthermore, a considerable part of the research for this thesis involved the reading of several contemporary popular German novels. Ein Land, das Himmel heißt (2002) by Stefanie Gercke and Die weiße Jägerin (2005) by Rolf Ackermann were selected as prime examples for closer analysis. In this thesis the two female protagonists of the selected novels, Jill Court and Margarete Trappe, will be analysed in order to identify and interpret a pattern followed in the representation of the white female protagonist in Africa in general. A central aspect of the depiction of this protagonist is her ability to cross boundaries between stereotypical representations of both masculinity and femininity. Therefore, she is a versatile character, allowing a large number of readers to identify with her. However, her capacity to cross such boundaries is limited to a certain extent and she never oversteps the boundaries far enough in order to surpass her lover when it comes to strength, knowledge, and maturity. The conclusion of this study is that both the versatility and the limitations of this protagonist explain her immense popularity as a new literary stereotype.

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This thesis is a comparative literature study of a Dutch and an Afrikaans novel that can be read by the youth and adults alike and display similarities with regard to genre, content, structure and theme. The novels are Winterijs (2001) by Peter van Gestel and Roepman (2004) by Jan van Tonder. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction. In chapter 2 concepts such as “crossover literature”, “cross publication”, “dual audience authors” and “dual audience literature” are discussed. Chapter 3 presents an overview of the theory that provides a conceptual framework for this study. The method of investigation that is followed by Helma Van Lierop-Debrauwer and Neel Bastiaansen-Harks (2005) in their study of the similarities and differences between an adolescent novel for the youth and an adolescent novel for adults is used, as well as the theory of Victor Turner (1969) on the concept of liminality. As it provides a useful method for approaching and analyzing the two texts, the above mentioned theories are applied to Winterijs and Roepman in Chapters 4 and 5, with specific reference to the representation of a male child narrator with liminal characteristics. In chapter 6 the similarities and differences between the two novels are pointed out and summarized. Conclusions are drawn and possibilities for further research are presented in chapter 7.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis contains the results of an investigation into the elements of the horror story and the Gothic novel in three contemporary works. The investigation was conducted within the theoretical framework of the original historical Gothic novel of the eighteenth century, in comparison with contemporary theorization on the Gothic, with specific reference to the study of Eddy Bertin, and to some extent Hendrik van Gorp and Fred Botting. Four conventions of the Gothic genre were identified, and were applied to an Afrikaans novel and drama, as well as a Dutch novel, to establish to which extent the Gothic manifests itself in these contemporary texts. The study focussed on The night only has one eye (1991) by Francois Bloemhof, Crossing/ Passion (1994) by Reza de Wet and A heart of stone (1999) by Renate Dorrestein. From these texts, which were read within a Gothic framework, it could be deduced that there is a deviation from the conventional Gothic texts within both the Afrikaans and the Dutch texts. This deviation especially occurs with regard to characterization, with specific reference to the female character. The authors use the traditional Gothic characters as a point of departure, but bring about renewal in the texts by making them part of a wider philosophical field. The portrayal of the themes of good versus evil, space and tension, also shows a deviation from the Gothic conventions. An important finding in this study is that the Gothic genre in its pure form can not successfully be traced in contemporary literature. The three texts under discussion show the occurrence of allogamy between the different sub-categories of horror. A further important conclusion is that these three texts cannot be merely categorized as Popular literature because of the renewal it brings regarding the traditional Gothic conventions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis bevat die resultate van 'n ondersoek na elemente van die gruwelverhaal en die Gotiese roman in drie kontemporêre tekste. Die ondersoek is gedoen binne die teoretiese raamwerk oor die genre van die oorspronklike historiese Gotiese roman van die agtiende eeu, in vergelyking met die hedendaagse teoretisering oor die Gotiek, met spesifieke verwysing na die navorsing van Eddy Bertin, en in 'n mindere mate Hendrik van Gorp en Fred Botting. Vier konvensies van die Gotiese verhaaltipe is geïdentifiseer en toegepas op 'n Afrikaanse roman en drama, asook 'n Nederlandse roman, om vas te stel in watter mate en op watter wyse die Gotiek gemanifesteer word in dié hedendaagse tekste. Die navorsing fokus op Die nag het net een oog (1991) van Francios Bloemhof, Drif (1994) van Reza de Wet en Een hart van steen (1999) van Renate Dorrestein. Dié tekste vertoon al drie duidelik Gotiese kenmerke, maar vertoon daarbyook opvallende afwykings van die tradisionele verskyningsvorme van die Gotiek. Dit geld veral vir karakterisering - meer spesifiek die vroulike karakter en die verhouding tussen die twee geslagte. Die outeurs gebruik die tradisionele Gotiese tipe karakters as vertrekpunt, maar bring vernuwing deur die tekste deel te maak van 'n wyer filosofiese veld. Die tekste se hantering van ander konvensies op die terrein van die tematiese (die goeie versus die bose), ruimte en spanning wyk ook af van die historiese Gotiek. 'n Belangrik aspek wat in die ondersoek na vore kom, is dat die Gotiek as verhaaltipe selde nog in sy suiwer vorm in literatuur aangetref word. Die drie tekste onder bespreking toon in watter aansienlike mate kruisbestuiwing plaasvind tussen die onderskeie sub-kategorieë van die riller. Laastens word daar aangevoer dat die Gotiese en gruwel-elemente binne dié drie tekste op so 'n vernuwende wyse geproblematiseer en uitgedaag word, dat dit nie sonder meer as triviaalliteratuur beskou kan word nie.

The Red Jews are a legendary people; this is their history. From the late thirteenth to the late sixteenth century, vernacular German texts depicted the Red Jews, a conflation of the Biblical ten lost tribes of Israel and Gog and Magog, as a savage and unnaturally foul nation, who are enclosed in the 'Caspian Mountains', where they had been walled up by Alexander the Great. At the end of time, they will break out and serve the Antichrist, causing great destruction and suffering in the world. The hostile identification (c. 1165) of Jews with the apocalyptic destroyers of Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20 expresses a new and virulent antisemitism that was integrated into the powerful apocalyptic traditions of Christianity. None of the few scholars who have noticed the Red Jews in medieval and early modern vernacular texts has sought out, collected and examined the complete body of medieval and early-modern sources that feature the Red Jews. This study provides a long-term analysis of the intimate connections between antisemitism and apocalypticism via a forgotten and submerged piece of German 'medievalia', the Red Jews. The legend gradually dissipated. Until the beginning of the seventeenth century it was a medieval lens through which Germans saw events relating to the Turkish threat in the East; after that time, the Red Jews disappeared from European texts.

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This thesis concerns the function of fiction in the creation of an historical myth and the uses that that myth is put to in a number of periods and differing régimes. Its case study is the popular myth of August the Strong (1670-1733), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, as a man of extraordinary sexual prowess and the ruler over a magnificent, but frivolous, court in Dresden. It examines the origins of this myth in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, and its development up to the twenty-first century in German history writing, fiction, art, and media. The image August created for himself in the art, literature, and festivities of his court as an ideal ruler of extremely broad cultural and intellectual interests and high political ambitions and abilities linked him closely with eighteenth-century notions of galanterie. This narrowed the scope of his image later, especially as nineteenth-century historians selected fictional sources and interpreted them as historical sources to present August as an immoral political failure. Although nineteenth-century popular writers exhibited a more varied response to August’s historical role, the negative historiography continued to resonate in later history writing. Ironically, the myth of August the Strong represented an opportunity in the GDR in creating and fostering a sense of identity, first as a socialist state with historical and cultural links to the east, and then by examining Prusso-Saxon history as a uniquely (East) German issue. Finally, the thesis examines the practice of historical re-enactment as it is currently employed in a number of variations on German TV and in literature, and its impact on historical knowledge. The thesis concludes that, while narrative forms are necessary to history and fiction, and fiction is a necessary part of presenting history, inconsistent combinations of the two can undermine the projects of both.

This thesis argues that the corpus of Old Norse-Icelandic literature which pertains to Iceland contains an intertextual narrative of the formation of Icelandic identity. An analysis of this narrative provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between literature and identity, as well as the potency of the artistic use of the idea of the past. The thesis identifies three salient narratives of communal action which inform the development of a discrete Icelandic identity, and which are examined in turn in the first three chapters of the thesis. The first is the landnám, the process of settlement itself; the second, the origin and evolution of the law; and the third, the assimilation and adaptation of Christianity. Although the roots of these narratives are doubtless historical, the thesis argues that their primary roles in the literature are as social myths, narratives whose literal truth- value is immaterial, but whose cultural symbolism is of overriding importance. The fourth chapter examines the depiction of the Icelander abroad, and uses the idiom of the relationship between þáttr (‘tale’) and surrounding text in the compilation of sagas of Norwegian kings Morkinskinna to consider the wider implications of the relationship between Icelandic and Norwegian identities. Finally, the thesis concludes with an analysis of the role of Sturlunga saga within this intertextual narrative, and its function as a set of narratives mediating between an identity grounded in social autonomy and one grounded in literature. The Íslendingasögur or ‘family sagas’ constitute the core of the thesis’s primary sources, for their subject-matter is focussed on the literary depiction of the Icelandic society under scrutiny. In order to demonstrate a continuity of engagement with ideas of identity across genres, a sample of other Icelandic texts are examined which depict Iceland or Icelanders, especially when in interaction with non-Icelandic characters or polities.