Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of English Language and Literature, March 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Twentieth-century British literature bristles with words and phrases in foreign languages, fragmentary residues of conflicts between the English-language text and the national languages and cultures that surround it in this era of war and instability. This project addresses the form and function of these remnants of foreign language - what are here called "multilingual fragments" - analyzing and contextualizing them within the historical use of foreign languages in British discourses of national identity and international politics over the course of the twentieth century. Within modernist literature, phrase- and word-length fragments of translated and untranslated foreign language reveal texts' deep engagement with the political conflicts of their time on the level of the letter, enabling authors to express a variety of political ideologies, from the liberal or cosmopolitan to the reactionary or jingoistic. At the same time, these fragments' inherent contrast between foreign language and English context interlace the text with points of rupture, exposing authorial manipulations of language and disrupting any single-minded ideology to reveal ambivalence, ambiguity, and nuance. This study historicizes and expands the long-held conception of multilingualism as a central aspect of modernist commitment to formal innovation, and provides a more comprehensive context for understanding large-scale experimental works. It argues that it is specifically through the disruptive effects of small-scale multilingual fragments - traces of foreign language so slight that they are at once easily overlooked and subtly influential - that modernist texts engage in complex interventions on issues ranging from wartime xenophobia to debates over class, women's rights, immigration, and the afterlife of empire. This project's attention to word- and phrase-length fragments of multilingualism through a series of case studies reveals a more specific, historicized understanding of what Rebecca Walkowitz has influentially termed twentieth-century literature's "cosmopolitan style": first, in demonstrating the centrality of both canonical and minor, extra-canonical authors in the development of new, internationally-oriented multilingual techniques, second, in exposing the breadth of ideologies and complex political discourse that such techniques can facilitate, and finally, in demonstrating how writers use multilingual fragments to reveal the inherent hybridity of all language. This historical and wide-ranging study contributes to current critical discussions in four major fields: twentieth-century British literature, world literature, translation studies, and women's and gender studies. Contrary to past conceptions of modernist multilingualism as benignly aesthetic, exclusionarily elitist, or unilaterally liberal, it demonstrates that multilingualism can be applied in the service of a range of ideologies, and that the inherent instability of fragmentary multilingualism further complicates expressions of political allegiance or affiliation. Further, it expands our understanding of what constitutes "world literature" by making the case for fragmentary, small-scale multilingualism as a vehicle which transports the concerns of world literature - border-crossing conversation, "gaining in translation" - into texts produced in and for a national readership. Finally, it draws together the canons and concerns of world literature and women's and gender studies in order to make the case for marginalized female and homosexual figures as major innovators of multilingual usage, deliberately manipulating multilingual fragments to disrupt and protest the political status quo.

M.A. dissertation, University of Hong Kong, 1980.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This thesis proposes that by producing and existing within a translingual text, the ethnofeminist has found a way to subvert others' construction of her and redefine her identity. In particular, the ethnofeminist uses code switching to select and reinvent meaning from the language system of the dominant culture while maintaining the language system of the "marginal" group. In combining two (or more) language systems within a literature she has created her own language.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Between Languages – Exploring the potential of exophonic literature for the implementation of didactics of literariness in German foreign language teaching at tertiary level in South Africa This thesis aims to make a contribution to the field of literature study in foreign language teaching in South Africa. It investigates the practical implications of Claire Kramsch’s theory of “symbolic competence” of the multilingual subject, Michael Dobstadt’s and Renate Riedner’s theory of a “Didaktik der Literarizität” as well as theories of multilingualism and exophony. Specifically this thesis looks at how these approaches can be combined and then implemented at advanced levels in foreign language teaching (B1 and B2), namely German modules at Stellenbosch and other South African universities where a multilingual background of language learners is the norm. The thesis thus explores how exophonic literature as an educational tool can help students to improve their language learning and shows the range of possibilities that exophonic literature offers in the field of foreign language learning. On the basis of the theories and a survey amongst the students studying German in their third year in Stellenbosch, two sets of lesson plans are developed for university students with B1/B2 level in Stellenbosch. The literature used was Maja Haderlap‘s poem “Als mir die Sprache abhanden kam” as well as Yoko Tawada’s Essay “Bioskoop der Nacht”. These lesson plans shall serve as examples on how Dobstadt/Riedner’s and Kramsch’s theories can be implemented in practise using exophonic literature in a multilingual environment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Hierdie tesis beoog om ‘n bydra tot die gebied van literatuurstudie in vreemde taal-onderrig in Suid-Afrika te lewer. Dit bestudeer die praktiese implikasies van Claire Kramsch se teorie “simboliese kompetensie” van veeltaligheid, Michael Dobstadt en Renate Riedner se teorie van ‘n “didaktiek van letterkundigheid” asook ander teorieë van veeltaligheid en “eksofonie”. Daar word veral gefokus op hoe hierdie benaderinge gekombineer kan word en dan toegepas moet word op hoër vlakke van vreemde taal-onderrig (B1 en B2); naamlik by die Duitse modules van Stellenbosch en ander Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite, waar studente met ‘n veeltalige agtergrond die norm is. Die tesis ondersoek dus hoe “eksofoniese” literatuur as onderrigmiddel studente met verbetering van taalvaardighede kan help. Verder stel dit die omvang van moontlikhede ten toon wat “eksofoniese” literatuur in die gebied van vreemde taal-onderrig kan bied. Gebaseer op die bogenoemde teorieë en ‘n opname onder studente wat in hul derdejaar Duits aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch studeer, word twee lesplanne vir Stellenbosch studente op B1/B2 vlak ontwikkel. Die literatuur wat gebruik is, is Maja Haderlap se gedig “Als mir die Sprache abhanden kam” sowel as Yoko Tawada se essay “Bioskoop der Nacht”. Hierdie lesplanne sal dien as voorbeelde van hoe Dobstadt/Riedner en Kramsch se teorieë prakties toegepas kan word deur die gebruik van “eksofoniese” literatuur in ʼn veeltalige omgewing.