The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relations between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his novel The Great Gatsby, with emphasis on 1920s¡¦ American society as portrayed in this novel. Since the novel is one of the greatest literary documents of this period, it is necessary to discuss the novel in relation to the historical background. Therefore, in this thesis, I focus on the main themes of the novel with a view to better understanding its contexts. This thesis falls into five parts. In the introduction, I points out why the novel seems to be an autobiographical one and give an outline of the whole thesis. In the first chapter, I explore the novel in association with the author¡¦s real life. In the second chapter, I examine the author¡¦s narrative strategies, including characterization, imagery, and symbolism. In the third chapter, I discuss the value systems with reference to the social and economic situation of the 1920s as presented in the novel. In the fourth chapter, I aim to delineate the development of the American Dream in the novel¡Xthe initial pursuit and the later corruption. Furthermore, taking Gatsby as an example, I conclude the chapter by arguing that it is the continuous progress that matters, instead of the success, whether it be material, or spiritual.

Ce mémoire est constitué par une analyse écocritique du roman Naissance d'un pont, écrit par Maylis de Kerangal. Le but général du mémoire est d'examiner comment ce roman décrit la relation entre l'homme et la nature. Nous examinons surtout les stratégies narratives employées par l'auteure pour transmettre l'image de cette relation et en plus, nous discutons le rôle joué par les différents paysages se retrouvant dans le récit. Finalement, l'analyse comprend aussi une brève réflexion sur la capacité éventuelle du roman d'influencer l'attitude du lecteur envers l'écologie. L'analyse des stratégies narratives se concentre sur le rôle du narrateur, ainsi que sur la présence et la fonction des perspectives éthiques, des noms symboliques et des figures de style. Ces stratégies contribuent à dépeindre une variété d'idées par rapport aux modes de vie de la société humaine, alors que les descriptions des paysages démontrent la relation complexe entre cette société et les paysages naturels et construits respectivement. Naissance d'un pont semble promouvoir une attitude à l'égard de la nature qui est plus humble que celle dominant dans la société moderne. Afin de pouvoir juger la capacité du roman de transmettre ces valeurs au lecteur, il serait pourtant raisonnable de tenir compte de plusieurs facteurs, tels que la complexité du langage et le niveau de crédibilité de l'histoire. / This essay consists of an ecocritical analysis of the novel Naissance d'un pont, written by Maylis de Kerangal. The essay's overall purpose is to examine how this novel describes the relationship between humans and nature. Above all, we look at the narrative strategies used by the author to convey the image of this relationship and moreover, we discuss the role of the different landscapes figuring in the novel. Finally, the analysis also includes a brief reflection on the novel's potential to influence the reader's attitude towards ecology. The analysis of narrative strategies focuses on the narrator's role, as well as the presence and function of ethical perspectives, symbolic names and figures of speech. These strategies contribute to depicting a variety of ideas concerning human lifestyles, whereas the descriptions of landscapes demonstrate the complex relationship between the human society and the natural and constructed landscapes respectively. Naissance d'un pont seems to promote a more humble attitude to nature than the one dominating in today's society. In order to evaluate the novel's capacity to transmit these values to the reader, it would however be reasonable to take several factors into account, such as the complexity of the language and the story's credibility level.

This study analyses and presents the formal qualities of the novels of Erich Maria Remarque. The aim is to show that these works cannot justifiably be classified as lowbrow literature or Trivialliteratur, a negative criticism which has adhered to Remarque’s name since he wrote Im Westen nichts Neues in 1929. As a result, Remarque has rarely been the subject of scholarly interest; his name is, in fact, seldom found even in general works on modern German literature. The relatively few studies which have been carried out on Remarque and his oeuvre mostly express surprise about this author’s continued exclusion from academic discourse, but although these studies voice their disagreement with the labelling of Remarque as an author of Trivialliteratur, no serious attempts have, thus far, been made to create an argument against this tag. By analysing Remarque’s narrative strategies in depth, this study seeks to establish such an argument. Particular attention will be paid to the narrative perspective, although other aspects of form – structural and textural – will be incorporated in the examination. Due to the interdependence which exists amongst not only the individual formal elements, but also between the form as a whole and the novels’ contents, the strategies Remarque employs will be considered in the context of the novels in their entirety. The analysis will furthermore form the basis for the consideration as to whether Remarque’s narrative techniques remain comparatively unvarying throughout the novels – does the author adhere to an Erfolgsrezept? – or whether they reflect some degree of development. Although Remarque experimented with several literary genres in addition to the novel – short stories, poems, plays and film scripts – this study essentially focuses on the major novels which comprise what may be termed his Hauptwerk. It was on the basis of this part of his oeuvre that Remarque gained fame, but subsequently also the part that instigated the accusation of triviality. When evaluating the validity of the widespread condemnation of Remarque’s authorial abilities, it is thus of limited relevance to examine relatively unknown aspects of his oeuvre. Such material is therefore largely excluded, although it is used for comparative purposes where appropriate. For the sake of general clarification, but also in order to identify signs of development, the novels are analysed chronologically. The range of works on the topic of literary interpretation and assessment is extensive. This study, although acknowledging also other approaches, especially favours the comprehensive and logical method proposed by Boa and Reid’s in Critical Strategies. The opening chapter of this study offers a brief outline of Remarque’s life and oeuvre. It thus serves as an introduction to the author and his work. The chapter proceeds to explore different definitions of the term Trivialliteratur, but also considers the various factors which led to this widespread and persisting classification of Remarque. This chapter furthermore considers the relatively few studies which can be found on Remarque, and stresses especially those relating to his narrative strategies. Their limited number testifies to the level of neglect in this area and which Remarque’s work in its entirety has continued to be subjected to. The six chapters comprising the main body of the study each analyse one or two of Remarque’s major novels. Aside from the point-of-view, they examine the author’s most striking utilization of other narrative tools in relation to the individual novels. These tools, of course, vary in accordance with the themes and messages of the books. Throughout the study, the narrative strategies are considered against the reception of Remarque’s novels which, in addition to comparisons to the work of other authors, serve to place Remarque in the context of his literary contemporaries and the time at which he wrote his novels.

Orientador: Maria Clara Bonetti Paro / Banca: Carlos Daghlian / Banca: Márcia Valéria Zamboni Gobbi / Banca: Alcides Cardoso dos Santos / Resumo: Esta tese discute o caráter feminista da obra de Kate Chopin (1851-1904) ao abordar determinados aspectos da condição da mulher do final do século XIX, principalmente no que diz respeito a temas como casamento, família, liberdade, trabalho, submissão e emancipação. A escritora americana levanta questões polêmicas sobre a identidade da mulher, por meio da caracterização das personagens femininas na narrativa, quer em situações ligadas à identidade social, quer em relacionamentos amorosos. Embora, muitas vezes, utilize-se de recursos que, aparentemente, negam uma discussão direta a respeito dessas questões, Kate Chopin acaba revelando seu descontentamento com as opressões sofridas pela mulher, quase sempre associadas às diferenças sexuais e às tradições e cria, para isso, uma estrutura narrativa em que a luta pela identidade feminina se faz presente, seja de forma explícita ou indireta. Além de um estudo aprofundado da temática dos contos, são observados e analisados, entre outras coisas, elementos textuais importantes como o foco narrativo, a caracterização e representação das personagens (principalmente as femininas), bem como as relações de tempo e espaço e o uso da ironia. A crítica literária feminista, mais especificamente a Ginocrítica, que tem Elaine Showalter como principal representante, também faz parte do referencial teórico da tese. / Abstract: The present study aims to discuss Kate Chopin's (1851-1904) feminist view about some aspects related to the condition of women at the end of the nineteenth century, especially concerning themes such as marriage, family, freedom, work, submission and emancipation. The American writer raises these polemic issues about feminine identity through the character's representation in the narrative, as in situations related to social identity, as when they are involved in love relationships. Although she has often used narrative devices that apparently deny a direct discussion of these questions, Kate Chopin reveals her dissatisfaction with the oppression suffered by women, due to sexual differences and traditional values, creating a narrative structure in which the struggle for a feminine identity is presented, explicitly or implicitly. Thus, besides an analysis of the themes in Chopin's short stories, some important devices are observed, such as point of view, character portrayal (mainly the feminine ones), as well as time and space relations and the use of irony. Feminist criticism, especially Elaine Showalter's Ginocritics, is also used as part of theoretical framework. / Doutor

The purpose of this study is to analyze the writing of Annie Ernaux in two early texts LaPlace and La Honte. We will explain the notion of “écriture plate” (neutral writing) firstdefined by Roland Barthes and we will examine Ernaux’s narrative approach regarding thisconcept. We will also review the place and the use of the sociological in the two novels,focusing on the intertextuality between Ernaux’s and Bourdieu’s work. Our theoreticalbackground will be based on Barthes’ literary critic in Writing Degree Zero and onBourdieu’s general studies about class distinction and reproduction of social structures.

<p>Uppsatsens syfte är att visa hur Jean Rhys i sin roman <em>Sargassohavet</em> ifrågasätter de narrativa strategier och diskurser som avgör vilka romanpersoner och perspektiv som får komma till uttryck. Rhys gör detta bland annat genom att placera en icke-västerländsk kvinna, som dessutom påstås vara galen, i protagonistens position. På så vis legitimeras romanpersonens perspektiv och detta är ett sätt att låta den Andras röst få komma till uttryck, från det fria subjektets position.</p><p>Rhys lyfter också fram att det alltid finns fler än en sida av en berättelse. Den mångstämmighet som kännetecknar romanen visar att en berättelse kan framföras från flera olika perspektiv; genom att utrymme ges åt flera röster försvåras en reducerande läsart av romanpersonerna. Romanens polyfoni är också ett sätt att belysa de olika positionerna i de konflikter som strukturerar romanen, exempelvis konflikten mellan det västerländska och det icke-västerländska, mellan kvinnor och män och mellan rationalitet och fantasi.</p> / <p>The aim of this thesis is to show how Jean Rhys in her novel <em>Wide Sargasso Sea</em> questions the narrative strategies and the discourses that decide which characters are allowed to speak. Rhys does this by placing a non-western woman, who is also allegedly insane, in the position of the protagonist. By doing so, this perspective is legitimized and it is a strategy that lets the voice of the Other be expressed.</p><p>Rhys also emphasizes the existence of multiple versions of a story. The polyphony that characterizes the novel shows that a story can be told from different points of view. By letting several voices be heard, a reductive reading of the characters is prevented. The polyphony in the novel is also a way of bringing out the different positions in the conflicts that structure the novel, for example the conflict between the western and the non-western, between women and men and between rationality and fantasy.</p>

Uppsatsens syfte är att visa hur Jean Rhys i sin roman Sargassohavet ifrågasätter de narrativa strategier och diskurser som avgör vilka romanpersoner och perspektiv som får komma till uttryck. Rhys gör detta bland annat genom att placera en icke-västerländsk kvinna, som dessutom påstås vara galen, i protagonistens position. På så vis legitimeras romanpersonens perspektiv och detta är ett sätt att låta den Andras röst få komma till uttryck, från det fria subjektets position. Rhys lyfter också fram att det alltid finns fler än en sida av en berättelse. Den mångstämmighet som kännetecknar romanen visar att en berättelse kan framföras från flera olika perspektiv; genom att utrymme ges åt flera röster försvåras en reducerande läsart av romanpersonerna. Romanens polyfoni är också ett sätt att belysa de olika positionerna i de konflikter som strukturerar romanen, exempelvis konflikten mellan det västerländska och det icke-västerländska, mellan kvinnor och män och mellan rationalitet och fantasi. / The aim of this thesis is to show how Jean Rhys in her novel Wide Sargasso Sea questions the narrative strategies and the discourses that decide which characters are allowed to speak. Rhys does this by placing a non-western woman, who is also allegedly insane, in the position of the protagonist. By doing so, this perspective is legitimized and it is a strategy that lets the voice of the Other be expressed. Rhys also emphasizes the existence of multiple versions of a story. The polyphony that characterizes the novel shows that a story can be told from different points of view. By letting several voices be heard, a reductive reading of the characters is prevented. The polyphony in the novel is also a way of bringing out the different positions in the conflicts that structure the novel, for example the conflict between the western and the non-western, between women and men and between rationality and fantasy.

The primary focus of this qualitative research project is on the articulation of contexts and identity in operatic texts. In literature, postmodern appropriations and re-writings of classic nineteenth-century texts have changed perceptions about the ability of the marginalized Other’s identity to change. As a discursive phenomenon, opera helped to shape nineteenth-century perceptions of the exotic Other. This thesis argues that the appropriation of operatic texts to reflect various contexts induces the potential to shape alternative perceptions about identity. In U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005), a cinematic adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen (1873–74), director Mark Dornford-May revisits earlier versions of Carmen and uses semiotics and several other narrative strategies in order to articulate the identities of the African female Other within the context of a post-apartheid township. This thesis illustrates how the dialectic relationship between text, context and identity formation becomes evident in the analysis and comparison of Prosper Mérimée’s novella Carmen (1845), George Bizet’s eponymous opera and U-Carmen eKhayelitsha. / Thesis (PhD (Music))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The primary focus of this qualitative research project is on the articulation of contexts and identity in operatic texts. In literature, postmodern appropriations and re-writings of classic nineteenth-century texts have changed perceptions about the ability of the marginalized Other’s identity to change. As a discursive phenomenon, opera helped to shape nineteenth-century perceptions of the exotic Other. This thesis argues that the appropriation of operatic texts to reflect various contexts induces the potential to shape alternative perceptions about identity. In U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005), a cinematic adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen (1873–74), director Mark Dornford-May revisits earlier versions of Carmen and uses semiotics and several other narrative strategies in order to articulate the identities of the African female Other within the context of a post-apartheid township. This thesis illustrates how the dialectic relationship between text, context and identity formation becomes evident in the analysis and comparison of Prosper Mérimée’s novella Carmen (1845), George Bizet’s eponymous opera and U-Carmen eKhayelitsha. / Thesis (PhD (Music))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:07:15Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silvestre_mac_dr_arafcl.pdf: 1058248 bytes, checksum: e70b578fe0efbfc570ae4b9d956b67f1 (MD5) / Esta tese discute o caráter feminista da obra de Kate Chopin (1851-1904) ao abordar determinados aspectos da condição da mulher do final do século XIX, principalmente no que diz respeito a temas como casamento, família, liberdade, trabalho, submissão e emancipação. A escritora americana levanta questões polêmicas sobre a identidade da mulher, por meio da caracterização das personagens femininas na narrativa, quer em situações ligadas à identidade social, quer em relacionamentos amorosos. Embora, muitas vezes, utilize-se de recursos que, aparentemente, negam uma discussão direta a respeito dessas questões, Kate Chopin acaba revelando seu descontentamento com as opressões sofridas pela mulher, quase sempre associadas às diferenças sexuais e às tradições e cria, para isso, uma estrutura narrativa em que a luta pela identidade feminina se faz presente, seja de forma explícita ou indireta. Além de um estudo aprofundado da temática dos contos, são observados e analisados, entre outras coisas, elementos textuais importantes como o foco narrativo, a caracterização e representação das personagens (principalmente as femininas), bem como as relações de tempo e espaço e o uso da ironia. A crítica literária feminista, mais especificamente a Ginocrítica, que tem Elaine Showalter como principal representante, também faz parte do referencial teórico da tese. / The present study aims to discuss Kate Chopin's (1851-1904) feminist view about some aspects related to the condition of women at the end of the nineteenth century, especially concerning themes such as marriage, family, freedom, work, submission and emancipation. The American writer raises these polemic issues about feminine identity through the character's representation in the narrative, as in situations related to social identity, as when they are involved in love relationships. Although she has often used narrative devices that apparently deny a direct discussion of these questions, Kate Chopin reveals her dissatisfaction with the oppression suffered by women, due to sexual differences and traditional values, creating a narrative structure in which the struggle for a feminine identity is presented, explicitly or implicitly. Thus, besides an analysis of the themes in Chopin's short stories, some important devices are observed, such as point of view, character portrayal (mainly the feminine ones), as well as time and space relations and the use of irony. Feminist criticism, especially Elaine Showalter's Ginocritics, is also used as part of theoretical framework.