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No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.

This dissertation is a report on research into the development and evaluation of a career assessment and counselling procedure that falls under the aegis of the constructivist, narrative approach: My Career Chapter: A Dialogical Autobiography. My Career Chapter enables an individual to construct a holistic understanding of his or her career. The procedure facilitates an individual writing and reflecting on an autobiographical account of his or her career that is contextualised amidst systems of career influences. The resulting autobiographical text can be used in career counselling, including co-constructive dialogue between client and counsellor. The literature underpinning the research project is described with a wide-ranging discussion of issues that critically pertain to the research endeavour and essentially provide a primary base for the work. Two theoretical frameworks that exemplify constructivism in vocational psychology underpin the research: the Systems Theory Framework and the Theory of Career Construction. From the base of those two theoretical frameworks, narrative career counselling is explicated and exemplars are described. The Theory of Dialogical Self is introduced to inform the design of My Career Chapter and, ultimately, the theory and practice of narrative career counselling. The research is predominantly positioned within a paradigm of constructivism/interpretivism and the results of the studies are collectively interpreted accordingly; but postpositivism and critical ideological paradigms are present in a secondary form due to the mixture of research methods used in the project as a whole. Six empirical studies investigate the experience of My Career Chapter from the perspective of the developer, the counsellor-user, and the client-user; each explicated with two studies respectively. Research methods include autoethnography for the developer's experience, interpretative phenomenological analysis and focus group for the counsellor-users' experience, and quasi-experiment and interpretative phenomenological analysis for the client-users' experience. The studies of the developer's experience of My Career Chapter comprehensively explicate how and why the procedure was developed and emphasise the importance of reflexive science and practice. Crucially, the autoethnographies revealed a nexus of theory-practice-person which underpins the production of My Career Chapter, and critically influences the entire research project. The studies involving counsellor-users affirmed My Career Chapter's alignment with recommendations for the development and application of qualitative career assessment and counselling procedures. These studies also raised questions pertaining to the characteristics of client-users that may mediate the efficacy of the procedure (e.g., age, language ability). Studies of client-users firstly support the conclusion that My Career Chapter is a safe career assessment and counselling procedure, with minimal attendant risk of inducing psychological harm or distress. The procedure was experienced as being helpful as a tool for personal reflection, through its theoretically-derived processes of facilitating clients writing, reading, and hearing and talking their autobiographical manuscripts through in the interpretation phase. There are four dimensions of significance associated with this research project. Firstly, the divide between theory and practice has indeed been much lamented in vocational psychology and counselling psychology. Thus, the overall significance of the research reported upon in this dissertation is significant because it attempts to bring theory and practice together through a reflexive and theoretically informed research process into a career assessment and counselling procedure. Secondly, the research and development process produced a new career assessment and counselling product which will add to the limited range of techniques that fall under the aegis of constructivist career assessment and counselling broadly, and the narrative approach specifically. My Career Chapter complements other procedures. Thirdly, two of the research methods used in the project (viz., autoethnography and interpretative phenomenological analysis) demonstrated their potential as additional qualitative methods for research within vocational psychology. Finally, the research process has enabled the articulation of the Theory of Dialogical Self—from another branch of psychology—into the extant corpus of literature on career development theory and practice.

Thesis (MA (English Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Drawing on theories of gender and subjectivity, this thesis explores the way in which constructions of modernity as well as tradition are mapped onto geographical localities and thus expressed through gender acts. The female protagonists in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, Sindiwe Magona’s To My Children’s Children and Forced to Grow, as well as Eva Hoffman’s Lost in Translation undergo either transnational translocation or imagined translocation where they straddle multiple cultural contexts concurrently. The role of globalism and modernity amplifies the female’s ambiguous position and therefore challenges her gender identity as she takes on additional gender characteristics. This challenge, a result of translocation, causes both the individual and collective nature of the subject to be emphasised and placed in multiple cultures concurrently. The female’s subjectivity is under much tension as the cultures she immerses herself in interlace but also clash. As a result of this, her sense of self is constantly in flux as she attempts to achieve stability and coherence. This sense of a gendered, stable and located self will, I argue, both dissipate and transmutate upon undergoing physical or imagined translocation. In addition, this thesis examines the manner in which globalism allows for the dissolving of boundaries and explores the extent to which the ambiguous position these female protagonists occupy enables them to reformulate and refashion their gender identity as well as write themselves away from the marginalised positions they inhabit. I will further explore how female subjects are compelled to take on additional feminine or masculine attributes upon translocation, seeming to become androgynous in the reformulation of their gender identity for a certain period of time. I will argue that protagonists supplement their gender in order to obtain a sense of belonging in a specific cultural context which requires this alteration of gender, and argue that this is also a means by which they liberate themselves from the marginal positions they occupy in their ethnic culture where sexism and prejudice are prevalent. However, I will demonstrate that modernity does not only provide them with liberation and autonomy, but that simultaneously it is also restrictive on the subject’s gender identity. Finally, this thesis explores whether the female protagonists are able to use their ambiguous positioning strategically in order to generate coherence of the self yet, concurrently, maintain fluidity between multiple cultural boundaries of the self. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie verhandeling gebruik geslags- en subjektiwiteitsteorieë om ondersoek in te stel na die maniere waarop konstruksies van moderniteit en tradisie uiting vind in geslagshandeling. Dieselfde teorieë word gebruik om ondersoek in te stel na die invloed van geografiese plasing op geslagshandeling. Die vroulike protagoniste in Maxine Hong Kingston se The Woman Warrior, Sindiwe Magona se To My Children’s Children en Forced to Grow, sowel as Eva Hoffman se Lost in Translation, ervaar elkeen óf transnasionale translokasie, óf verbeelde translokasie, waardeur hulle vele kulturele kontekste tegelykertyd in die dwarste beset. Die rol van globalisering en moderniteit versterk sonder twyfel die vroulike protagonis se dubbelsinnige posisie, en haar geslagsidentiteit word in twyfel getrek soos sy addisionele geslagseienskappe aanneem. Hierdie vertwyfeling – die gevolg van translokasie – veroorsaak dat beide die kollektiewe sowel as die individuele aard van die subjek benadruk word, en gelyktydig in meervoudige kulture geplaas word. Die protagonis se subjektiwiteit verkeer onder baie spanning omdat die kulture waarin sy haarself verdiep onderling vervleg is, maar tog ook bots. Derhalwe is haar beskouing van haarself voortdurend vloeibaar en veranderend terwyl sy probeer om samehorigheid en stabiliteit te bewerkstellig. Ek is van mening dat hierdie sin van 'n “geslaghebbende”, stabiele, gelokaliseerde self verdwyn en/of transmuteer wanneer dit fisiese of verbeelde translokasie ondergaan. Gevolglik ondersoek hierdie verhandeling dus ook die manier waarop globalisme die ontbinding van grense tot gevolg het, sowel as die mate waartoe die dubbelsinnigheid van die vroulike protagoniste se posisie hulle toelaat om hul geslagsidentiteit te herformuleer en te herontwerp, en hulself weg, of uit, die gemarginaliseerde posisies wat hulle beset te skryf. Ek wil ook kyk na die maniere waarop die vroulike subjek genoop is om, as gevolg van translokasie, addisionele vroulike of manlike karaktertrekke aan te neem, met dié dat dit blyk dat die protagoniste vir 'n ruk lank androgene eienskappe in hul geslagsidentiteit toon. Ek argumenteer dat die protagoniste hul geslag aanvul, nie net sodat hul aanklank binne 'n spesifieke kulturele konteks kan vind nie, maar ook as 'n manier waarop hul hulself kan bevry van die marginale posisies waarin hulle hul in 'n etniese kultuur, waar seksisme en vooroordeel gedy, bevind. Nietemin wil ek ook aantoon dat moderniteit nie bloot net bevryding en selfstandigheid aan die vroulike protagoniste bied nie, maar dat dit ook tegelykertyd beperkings op die subjek se geslagsidentiteit plaas. Die uitkoms van hierdie tesis is om te bepaal of die vroulike protagoniste in staat is tot die strategiese gebruik van hul dubbelsinnige posisionering, wat koherensie van die self sal meebring, en tog terselfdertyd vloeibaarheid tussen verskillende kulture sal behou.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Socially responsible writing has been a feature of South African literature for many years. Under apartheid, many novels dealt with apartheid, as it was one of the main features of our social landscape. The end of apartheid did not however bring about the end of a need for socially responsible writing. South Africa is still faced with many problems, one of which is reconciliation. This thesis investigates whether reconciliation may have become a new theme in South African novels, and whether these novels could playa role in assisting the process of reconciliation in the country. For this purpose, three South African works are analysed, namely Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog, Smell of Apples by Mark Behr and Disgrace by J .M. Coetzee. The introduction attempts to explain the psychological discourse surrounding reconciliation, especially Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and parallels that may exists. The main body presents detailed readings of the three works, with the focus being on the presentation of reconciliation in the works, and the role that the individual works could play in assisting the reader in coming to terms with his or her feelings of guilt. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Vir baie jare was apartheid die onderwerp van baie Suid Afrikaanse skrywers aangesien dit die mees problematiese element van Suid Afrikaanse samelewing was. Die einde van apartheid het egter nie die einde van alle probleme beteken nie. Een van die belangrike probleme is versoening. Hierdie tesis ondersoek die moontlikheid dat versoening die nuwe tema in Suid Afrikaanse letterkunde geword het en ofhierdie werke 'n bydrae kan lewer tot werklike versoening. Vir hierdie doel word drie werke behandel, naamlik Country of My Skull deur Antjie Krog, Smell of Apples deur Mark Behr en Disgrace deur J .M. Coetzee. Die inleiding poog om die sielkundige diskoers om versoening te verduidelik, veral rondom posttraumatiese stres, en die ooreenkomste wat mag voorkom. Die hoofdeel van die tesis bestaan uit 'n diepgaande bespreking van die drie werke, met die fokus op versoening in die werk, maar ook die rol wat die werke kan speel om die leser deur sy ofhaar skuld gevoelens te help.

This thesis provides a detailed consideration of the family in Shakespeare’s canon and the engagement therewith in three South African novels: Hill of Fools (1976) by R. L. Peteni, My Son’s Story (1990) by Nadine Gordimer, and Disgrace (1999) by J. M. Coetzee. The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters each addressing one of the South African novels and its relationship with a Shakespeare text or texts, and a conclusion. The introductory chapter provides an analysis of the two strands of criticism in which the thesis is situated – studies of the family in Shakespeare and studies of appropriations of Shakespeare – and discusses the ways in which these two strands may be combined through a detailed discussion of the presence of power dynamics in the relationship between parent and child in all of the texts considered. The three chapters each contextualise the South African text and provide detailed discussions of the family dynamics within the relevant texts, with particular reference to questions of authority and autonomy. The focus in each chapter is determined by the nature of the intertextual relationship between the South African novel and the Shakespearean text being discussed. Thus, the first chapter, “The Dissolution of Familial Structures in Hill of Fools” considers power dynamics in the family as an inherent part of the Romeo and Juliet genre, of which William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is but a part. Similarly, the impact of a socio-political identity, and the secrecy it necessitates, is the focus of the second chapter, “Fathers, Sons and Legacy in My Son’s Story” as is the role of Shakespeare and literature within South Africa. These concerns are connected to the novel’s use of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, King Lear, and Hamlet. In the third chapter, “Reclaiming Agency through the Daughter in Disgrace and The Tempest”, I expand on Laurence Wright’s argument that Disgrace is an engagement with The Tempest and consider ways in which the altered power dynamic between father and daughter results in the reconciliation of the father figure with society. The thesis thus addresses the tension between parental bonds and parental bondage

Dans cette thèse de doctorat, nous analysons les rapports et l’influence possible que l’épique médiévale française a pu exercer sur l’hispanique au niveau des motifs et des formules. L’étude se compose de deux grandes parties, précédées d’une introduction et suivies d'un deuxième volume d’annexes. Dans la section introductive, nous présentons certains aspects essentiels : nous définissons le corpus, nous reprenons certains points sur lesquels l’influence des chansons de geste sur le Cantar de mio Cid a été proposée ou rejetée, nous définissons les concepts fondamentaux employés et nous justifions la structure de notre étude. La thèse se compose de deux grandes parties complémentaires, dans lesquelles nous analysons d’un point de vue comparatiste les motifs et le formulisme, respectivement. Dans la première, nous étudions six motifs qui méritent une attention spéciale : la description générale de la bataille, l’attaque à la lance, le coup d’épée, la prière du plus grand péril, l’apparition de l’ange et l’itinéraire épique. L’analyse est fondée sur deux niveaux : l’un externe, où nous explorons la relation du motif et des personnages qu’il met en jeu au sein de l’œuvre dans laquelle il s’insère ; et l’autre interne, où nous nous intéressons à la composition du motif et à l’actualisation formulaire des phases qui le composent. La deuxième grande partie s’ouvre avec l’examen du rapport entre l’oralisme et le formulisme. Ensuite, à partir des exemples du Cantar de mio Cid, nous analysons en détail les différentes espèces d’expressions formulaires en tenant compte du type de variation qu’elles expérimentent. De même, nous analysons les procédés de création de formules, ainsi que les différents fonctions et effets de l’emploi de ces unités. La thèse se poursuit avec un examen quantitatif des formules du Cantar. Cette deuxième grande partie se clôt avec un chapitre dédié au système formulaire de l’épique hispanique à la lumière des chansons de geste françaises. Les annexes incluent les vers et les formules des six motifs analysés dans la première partie, toujours à partir des exemples du corpus ; les différents types de locutions formulaires du Cantar ; le registre de la totalité des formules et des phrases formulaires du poème castillan ; et un index des vers cités, provenant tant de l’épique française que de l’hispanique. / In this doctoral dissertation we analyze the relations and the possible influence that the Medieval French Epic could have exerted on the Hispanic one on the motifs and formulas levels. The study consists of two parts, preceded by an introduction and followed by a second volume of appendix. In the introductory section, some essential aspects are presented: the corpus, the status quaestionis of the French epic influence on the Cantar de mio Cid, the fundamental concepts employed and the structure of the study. In these two parts, we analyze from a comparative perspective two complementary aspects: the motifs and the formulism. In the first one, we study six motifs which deserve a particular attention: the general description of the battle, the lance attack, the blow with the sword, the narrative prayer, the appearance of the angel and the epic itinerary. These examinations are founded on two levels: the external one, in which the relation of the motif and the characters is explored; and the internal one, that deals with the motif composition and the formulaic way in which it is expressed. The second part opens with the relation between oralism and formulism. Thereafter, drawn from the examples of the Cantar de mio Cid, we analyze in detail the different kinds of formulaic expressions, taking into consideration the type of variation. In addition, we study the methods of generation of the formulas, and we also examine the diverse functions and effects of these units. The thesis continues with a quantitative exam of the formulas of the Cantar. This second part closes with a chapter devoted to the study of the Hispanic formulaic system in light of French epic. The annexes contain the verses and formulas of the six analyzed motifs, taken from the examples of the corpus; the different types of formulaic expressions of the Cantar de mio Cid; the register of all formulas and formulaic expressions of this Castilian poem; and a final index with the verses quoted both from the French and the Hispanic epic. / En esta tesis de doctorado, analizamos las relaciones y la posible influencia que la épica medieval francesa pudo ejercer en la hispánica en el nivel de los motivos y las fórmulas. El estudio se compone de dos grandes bloques, precedidos de una introducción y seguidos de un segundo volumen de anexos. En el apartado introductorio, presentamos algunos aspectos esenciales: definimos el corpus, retomamos algunos puntos sobre los que se ha propuesto o desechado la influencia de las chansons de geste en el Cantar de mio Cid, definimos los conceptos fundamentales empleados y justificamos la estructura del estudio. La tesis está formada por dos grandes partes complementarias, en las que analizamos desde una perspectiva comparatista los motivos y el formulismo, respectivamente. En la primera, estudiamos seis motivos que merecen una atención especial: la descripción general de la batalla, el ataque con la lanza, el golpe con la espada, la oración narrativa, la aparición del ángel y el itinerario épico. El análisis está fundado en dos niveles: uno externo, donde exploramos la relación del motivo y de los personajes que en él participan; y otro interno, donde nos interesamos por la composición del motivo y por la actualización formular de las fases que lo componen. La segunda gran parte de la obra se abre con el examen de la relación entre el oralismo y el formulismo. A continuación, a partir de los ejemplos del Cantar de mio Cid, analizamos en detalle los diferentes tipos de expresiones formulares, teniendo en cuenta las clases de variaciones que experimentan. De igual modo, estudiamos los procedimientos de creación de fórmulas, así como las diferentes funciones y efectos del empleo de estas unidades. La tesis prosigue con un examen cuantitativo de las fórmulas del Cantar. Esta segunda gran parte se cierra con un capítulo dedicado al sistema formular de la épica hispánica a la luz de las chansons de geste francesas. Los anexos incluyen los versos y las fórmulas de los seis motivos analizados en la primera parte, siempre a partir de los ejemplos del corpus; los diferentes tipos de locuciones formulares del Cantar; el registro de la totalidad de las fórmulas y frases formulares del poema castellano; y un índice de versos citados, procedentes tanto de la épica francesa como de la hispánica.

Este trabalho é composto pela tradução anotada do ensaio (Meu Púchkin, 1937), da poeta russa Marina Tsvetáieva, bem como por uma apresentação da obra em prosa da autora, de um modo geral, e do ensaio Meu Púchkin, em particular. Para tanto apontaremos seus principais procedimentos compositivos à luz de Mikhail Bakhtin, Tzvetan Todorov, Elisabeth Burgos, entre outros. / This research is composed by twou parts: a commented translation of the russian poet Marina Tsvetayevas essay (My Pushkin, 1937) and a presentation of her prose literary production, in a general way, as well as a particular focus on My Pushkin essay. To accomplish this task, the main compositive procedures have been pointed out in the light of Mikhail Bakhtin, Tzvetan Todorov, Elisabeth Burgos and other authors view.

This dissertation is mainly based on the reading of three American novels to explore how female characters deal with their illegitimate pregnancies and how their solutions re-shape their futures and affect their inner growth. Chapter 1 discusses Dorinda Oakley's premarital pregnancy in Ellen Glasgow's Barren Ground and draws the circle of limits from Barbara Welter's "four cardinal virtues" (purity, submissiveness, domesticity, and piety) which connect to the analogous female roles (daughter, sister, wife, and mother). Dorinda's childless survival reconstructs a typical household from her domination and absence of maternity. Chapter 2 examines Ántonia Shimerda's struggles and endurance in My Ántonia by Willa Cather before and after Ántonia gives birth to a premarital daughter. Ántonia devotes herself to being a caring mother and to looking after a big family although her marriage is also friendship-centered. Chapter 3 adopts a different approach to analyze Charlotte Rittenmeyer's extramarital pregnancy in The Wild Palms by William Faulkner. As opposed to Dorinda and Ántonia who re-enter domesticity to survive, Charlotte runs out on her family and dies of a botched abortion. To help explain the aftermath of illicit pregnancies, I extend or shorten John Duvall's formula of female role mutations: "virgin>sexually active (called whore)>wife" to examine the riddles of female survival and demise. The overall argument suggests that one way or another, nature, society, and family are involved in illegitimately pregnant women's lives, and the more socially compliant a pregnant woman becomes after her transgression, the better chance she can survive with her baby.

In my essay I am looking at the common heritage of written signs and images through my own experience of attention deficiency and mental illness. Through this lens of experience in which words and images are vividly transformed and merged, I am reflecting on language and art and their overlapping. Throughout the text I reference early written entirely pictorial languages, the painterly terms of thought disorders, as well as how the images that gave name to the characters in the phonetic alphabet is still lurking in the very letters themselves. I also exemplify how attention deficiency can evoke new image/text hybrids in a chapter I call ADHD poetry. In my own artistic practice I am drawn towards a melting point of language, written sign, image, high and low, illusion-representation-materiality, intellect and intuition. The surface as a physical object and idea – that there is a two-dimensional space where we project fantasies and fiction. Through prose, play, rhythm, rant, word salad, crumble of meaning etc. sandwiched, I am observing the swelling of words.