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Lingering in the topic of literary engagement, this article follows a reader enthralled by words and the significant non-space where fiction and reality intersect. Using Terry Fallis’ political satire “The Best Laid Plans,” a physical map of the reading is followed as I amble through the Ottawa sites depicted in the novel. In this literary pilgrimage, reading is considered as a corporeal (re)action with a series of educative affects. Contrasting this experience with common in-school reading practices, this narrative encourages the honouring of the individualized relationship between reader and text as well as highlighting the pedagogical value of dallying in a work of fiction. Drawing on concepts of spatiality, I contemplate the notion of the home city as a familiar and yet capricious place, made more significant by a fantastic connection. Reading in significant spaces has a lasting, sprawling outcome whereby text, place and reader are all affected.

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The thesis of this paper on John O'Hara is that certain of his novels contain sufficient characteristics of literary naturalism to reward a study of them from that perspective. In part, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate O'Hara's merits and, hopefully, to enhance his reputation as a writer of literary worth by viewing his novels from the proper perspective.

This thesis introduces and examines a variety of post-Wende lesbian prose texts by German authors. These works are investigated both as immediate narratives and as loci of dynamic contemporary social and cultural change. Situated at the interface between queer and feminist studies, this thesis takes its historical context from the second Frauenbewegung and the German lesbian movement, incorporating existing feminist scholarship within these fields. In addition, its literary context uncovers predecessors to the works analysed, with the aim of questioning the conceptual continuum of German-language lesbian writing. The approach adopted throughout the study is strongly thematic, with the textual spectrum sub-divided into the representation of an allegorical life-cycle. The themes of 'coming out' as a lesbian within heterosexual society, heterosocial obstacles to gynocentric relationships, the significance of lesbian pornography, and the problems of death and bereavement combine to form the principal focus. Issues of identity construction, the homosexual alterity and the literary manipulation of space all play crucial roles within this investigation. Equally, the manner in which each author comments upon contemporary German society is revealed through analysis of her approaches to these thematics. The conclusions drawn from this research point to a dislocation which is shown to have occurred insofar as recourse to Sapphic traditionalism and homosexual antiquity may no longer be seen to be as prevalent in some lesbian works. Whereas German lesbian authors of the 1970s and 1980s manipulated homosexual mythology and appropriated the works of classical lesbian icons, some post-Wende writers are now turning instead to the work of their peers. A rupture is, in fact, seen to have occurred between the traditional, and more contemporary canons. Paradoxically, a renewal of authorial interest in otherwise customary literary inquiries such as marginalisation, female silencing and fidelity is also identified, with potential explanations for the persistent significance of such themes being offered. Similarly, a continuing impulse on the part of some 1990s lesbian authors to challenge the paradigm of heterosexual convention is highlighted. The 1990s social focus of this challenge, however, is new inasmuch as the texts are seen to be orientated not against a dominant male culture, but rather to be in specific opposition to heterocentrism. Finally, the works of two specific authors have been identified as potentially rich sources of further academic enquiry. These writers have been shown to embody the principles of 1990s German lesbian writing, in terms of their bold depictions of sexuality, playful subversion and pervasive sense of gynocentric sorority.

This paper is a study of the repetitions in the works of Mark Twain.The author has chosen repetitions which are most nearly alike and most representative of Mark Twain. The study was limited to repetitions of his own experiences repeated in his works, to repetitions of descriptions of the beautiful and the horrible, and to repetitions which are a result of his humor and a desire to save man from himself.

Bibliography: leaves 53. / In the Introduction of this minor dissertation, Margaret Atwood as a post-modern writer and her interest in fictional autobiographies are considered, particularly with regard to memory, the formation of self-identity and amnesia. Parallels are drawn between Surfacing and Cat's Eye as fictional works. and Alias Grace, which is based on the life of a historical person. The novel Alias Grace alternates between first- and third-person accounts, and reflects Atwood's preoccupation with narrative techniques. The definition of post-modernism is regarded, as well as Atwood's own acknowledgements in her ""Author's Afterword"" on how she proceeds to write this fictional autobiography. Her focus on mental illnesses is given perspective in a brief discussion on different sorts of memory loss. These manifestations affect the concept of truth, which is explored in the first section of the dissertation. This section draws on the unreliability of Grace's first-person accounts and the question of whether she is fabricating the truth or has simply forgotten crucial moments of her past. The reader is also constantly made aware that Grace attempts to ensure better conditions for herself in the penitentiary, and she will therefore not disclose any information that might be damaging to her character. That which she discloses partly depends on her relationship in terms of trust with Doctor Jordan. A few episodes where Grace loses consciousness are reviewed, as well as instances where she exposes her literary background and her ability to change words or ideas in texts that she has read. It is concluded at the end of the first section that the truth eludes the reader. With this in mind, it is examined in the second section that the issue of truth is complicated, and even undermined, by the gender and class inequity of the patriarchal society in which Grace, Mary and Nancy are instrumentalised and exploited. The relationship between Grace and Mary is explored in order to demonstrate the happy memories that are relevant in Grace's present, where her past remains illusive. The reader is also drawn into these cheerful experiences, and takes Mary's presence for granted until the neuro-hypnotic seance, during which Grace's double consciousness is revealed. Her 'friend' Mary is exposed as a facet of Grace's own personality. Class oppression is explored further through the characters of Nancy and Mrs Humphrey, who are trapped in a vicious circle that Grace escapes by engaging in the creative activity of quilt-making. In this way she is able to express her solidarity with Mary and Nancy as victims of patriarchal injustice. In the Conclusion an overview of the question of truth is given and it is demonstrated how truth is inseparable from the issues of class and gender relations. The lack of traditional closure in Alias Grace is explored briefly. Grace's camaraderie and solidarity with her two friends, as well as her retelling of the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden through her tapestry work, is shown to be a transgressive agency that marks the greater significance of the novel.

Decolonisation flooded through Africa after WW2, spearheaded by national liberation movements, apparently. In most cases, this did not lead to national sovereignty or independence, and did not alleviate poverty. Decolonisation eventually led to inequality, economic stagnation, and new, subtle forms of outside control. Fanon's incomplete work shows contradictions in national liberation (and the parties which represent it). Using Fanon's work, I criticise nationalism, the expected role of the national bourgeoisie, racism and consumerism, and reified conceptions of politics, democracy, corruption and socialism. Each of these reified conceptions, common to decolonial movements, is presented by the national liberation movements as the overcoming of problems of Western modernity. In fact, I show that these conceptions are all new forms of the problems they claim to overcome. I supplement Fanon's work with ideas and arguments from Marxism and psychoanalysis, as well as many interesting examples from decolonisation. These show how Fanon's predictions were frequently correct, though he lived to see few of them. I use Fanon's writing to show some of the ideologies underlying the worldview of national liberation. Those ideological motifs that are continually present include Freudian illusion, reification (I show how countries, leaders, people etc. are erroneously represented as independent of each other), false identification (particularly the representation of a whole thing by its parts or its symbols, including operationalism), interpellation of individuals as subjects, and images and symbols that manipulate the unconscious. These lead to false interpretations of decolonisation, and individuals celebrating their own domination. Fanon understands decolonisation as not an end to colonisation but a continuation of imperialism; we will read it thus, not as a break from the past but a continuation of its problems.

This dissertation considers Philip K. Dick’s dystopian vision by discussing the dystopian elements that are present in three of his novels – Martian Time-Slip, The Penultimate Truth, and A Scanner Darkly. Dick is universally regarded as a science fiction writer, with critics giving little or no attention to the realist themes, which include dystopian elements, in his work. Through close readings of three novels, this study identifies and analyses Dick’s use of the elements typical of dystopian novels: defamiliarization, oppression, and dehumanization. Dick’s historical context – predominantly the social, political, and economic issues prevalent in 1960s California – is examined, to show his critique of contemporary society through the use of dystopian elements. A comparison is made between Dick’s work and the classical dystopian novels We by Yevgeni Zamyatin, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. This comparison clearly shows that Dick’s novels may be considered more realist than science fictional, in that they use the elements typical of classical dystopian writing. In fact, Dick goes further than Zamyatin, Orwell, and Huxley because he presents an imminent dismal future, one that is dominated by capitalism. Rather than trying to overthrow this system or seeking escape, which he implies are impossible, Dick suggests that it is better to resist the oppressive and dehumanizing effects of capitalism by attempting to somehow preserve one’s humanity and liberty. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / UP Postgraduate Bursary for Masters (2020) / English / MA / Unrestricted

Detta är ett utdrag ur ett romanprojekt under arbete. Romanen har arbetsnamnet Fronten, och är skriven i dagboksform. Det är 20-åriga Majken som för ordet.    Intrigen tar avstamp i att Majken påbörjar en utbildning och där möter människor och situationer som ruckar hennes banor, och knuffar henne i nya riktningar. Den inlämnade texten utspelar sig en bit in i romanen, och rör sig framåt mot slutet av berättelsen (men inte ända fram till slutet).    Majken har tidigare haft svåra ätstörningar men är när berättelsen börjar frisk, eller åtminstone friskförklarad. Rent medicinskt är hon inte längre ätstörd, samtidigt som hon ännu inte har blivit fri från sjukdomens mönster; tvångstankar, skrev självbild och dålig självkänsla. Kanske kan man säga att hon befinner sig i en gråzon mellan sjuk och frisk, fortfarande i en kamp. Hon vet inte vem hon är och hon vet inte vart hon är på väg. Eller uttryckt på ett annat vis: det sjuka och det friska brottas inom henne.    Min ambition är att gestalta den här kampen. Den pendlande utvecklingen. Framstegen och bakslagen. Jag tänker mig att romanen skildrar en efterverkan, ett efterskalv till själva den stora krisen som var sjukdomen. Nu försöker Majken bygga upp en ny identitet, bortom sitt sjuka jag.