Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Two separate texts are submitted towards the degree MA in Kreatiewe Afrikaanse Skryfkunde. Firstly, a thesis with the title ‘Drempellewens: die uitbeelding van bewussyn in vyf debuutromans’, and secondly a novel called Hanna in die park. The novel and the thesis are thematically related. The focus of the thesis is the portrayal of the consciousness of protagonists who, because of their age and situation, may be considered ‘threshold characters’. The question that is posed is the following: what kind of narrator and what narratological strategies can best express the unfixed nature of the protagonist in a so-called ‘coming of age’-novel? To examine this issue, theoretical tools are taken from mainly two sources: the work of anthropologists Arnold van Gennep and Victor W. Turner about the liminal phase in rites of passage, and Dorrit Cohn’s theories about the depiction of consciousness, as set out in her book, Transparent Minds (1983). Five debut novels are discussed using these concepts. They are Die Ryk van die Rawe (Jaco Fouché), Annerkant die Longdrop (Anoeschka von Meck), trips (Manie de Waal), Less than Zero (Bret Easton Ellis) and You Shall Know Our Velocity! (Dave Eggers). The liminal characteristics of the protagonists and their situations are discussed. Using Cohn’s three modes of narration, namely psychonarration, narrated monologue and quoted monologue, a discussion follows of what effect the kind of narrator and narratological modes has on the convincing and striking portrayal of a liminal character’s consciousness. The conclusion is reached that a narrator who is also in some kind of liminal position, or who experiences a threshold-consciousness, is most effective in the portrayal of the nature of liminality. The novel is about a young woman, Hanna Moolman, who is having trouble with the requirements of becoming adult. She works as a waitress in Stellenbosch and leads a somewhat lonely, frustrated life. Her relationship with especially her mother and her younger sister is strained. When her sister, a beautician in training, becomes pregnant, old sibling rivalries and family secrets are brought to the fore. During the crisis of her sister’s pregnancy, there are also various other influences on Hanna’s state of mind; among others, her part-time job as a researcher for an old lady who is writing about the domestic history of the Afrikaner woman, an impudent graffiti artist who seems to be watching Hanna, and a client at the restaurant where she works who leaves her mysterious notes.

Le trouble bipolaire est une maladie invalidante caractérisée par une alternance d’épisodes maniaques et dépressifs. Malgré des efforts de recherche notables, la physiopathologie et les mécanismes d’action des traitements du trouble bipolaire demeurent peu connus. La protéine kinase C (PKC) est récemment apparue comme une cible moléculaire potentielle pour le traitement du trouble bipolaire. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons cherché à étudier le rôle de la PKC dans les phases maniaque et dépressive du trouble bipolaire. Nous avons montré que l’inhibition de la PKC a un effet antimaniaque non seulement chez le rat naïf, mais aussi dans un modèle de manie basé sur une privation de sommeil, que nous avons validé au cours de notre étude. De plus, les inhibiteurs de la PKC sont capables de rétablir les déficits de prolifération cellulaire hippocampique que présentent les rats privés de sommeil. Ces effets prolifératifs et antimaniaques seraient indépendants, puisque le blocage de la prolifération cellulaire n’abolit pas l’efficacité antimaniaque des inhibiteurs de la PKC dans le modèle de privation de sommeil. En parallèle, nous avons montré que l’activation de la PKC a un effet antidépresseur chez le rat naïf, alors que son inhibition provoque un phénotype pseudodépressif qui s’accompagne d’une diminution de la prolifération cellulaire hippocampique. L’ensemble de ces données révèle une implication de la PKC dans les deux phases du trouble bipolaire, et soutient l’hypothèse qu’une suractivation du système PKC serait à l’origine des perturbations de neuroplasticité associées à la manie. / Bipolar disorder is a devastating long-term disease characterized by alternate episodes of mania and depression. Despite extensive research, the molecular and cellular underpinnings of bipolar disorder remain to be fully elucidated. Protein kinase C (PKC) has emerged as a potential molecular target for the treatment of bipolar disorder. The present study investigated the role of PKC in manic- and depressive-like behaviors. Our results showed that PKC inhibition produced an antimanic-like effect not only in naive rats, but also in an animal model of mania based on sleep deprivation, that we have validated in our study. Interestingly, PKC inhibitors rescued the hippocampal cell proliferation deficits displayed by sleep-deprived animals. These proliferative and antimanic effects were independent, since blockade of cell proliferation did not abolish the antimanic efficacy of PKC inhibitors in the sleep deprivation model. At the same time, we showed that PKC activation had an antidepressant-like effect in naive rats, whereas its inhibition caused a depressive-like phenotype accompanied by a decrease in hippocampal cell proliferation. Taken together, our results demonstrate the involvement of the PKC system in regulating opposite facets of bipolar disorder, and support the hypothesis that an overactivation of the PKC signaling system may be crucial for the deficits of neuroplasticity associated with mania.

No description available.