Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 237-268). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Apr. 30, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-68).

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University. 2015 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Seeking to explore modes of self-representation in women’s life writing and the ways in which these subjects manipulate the autobiographical ‘I’ to write about gender, the body, race and ethnic related issues, this thesis interrogates the autobiographies of three renegade women whose works were birthed out of the de/colonial South African context between 1854-1948. The chosen texts are: Marina King’s Sunrise to Evening Star: My Seventy Years in South Africa (1935), Melina Rorke’s Melina Rorke: Her Amazing Experiences in the Stormy Nineties of South-African History (1938), and two memoirs by Petronella van Heerden, Kerssnuitsels (1962) and Die 16de Koppie (1965). My analysis is underpinned by relevant life writing and feminist criticism, such as the notion of female autobiographical “embodiment” (239) and the ‘I’s reliance on “relationality” (248) as discussed in the work of Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson (Reading Autobiography). I further draw on Judith Butler’s concept of “performativity” (Bodies that Matter 234) in my analysis in order to suggest that there is a performative aspect to the female ‘I’ in these texts. The aim of this thesis is to illustrate how these self-representations of women can be read as counter-conventional, speaking out against stereotypical perceptions and conventions of their time and in literatures (fiction and criticism) which cast women as tractable, compliant pertaining to patriarchal oversight, as narrow-minded and apathetic regarding achieving notoriety and prominence beyond their ascribed position in their separate societies. I argue that these works are representative of alternative female subjectivities and are examples of South African women’s life writing which lie ‘dusty’ and forgotten in archives; voices that are worthy of further scholarly research which would draw the stories of women’s lives back into the literary consciousness. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ‘n poging om metodes van self-uitbeelding te bespreek en die manier waarop die ‘ek’ van vroulike ego-tekste manipuleer om sodoende te skryf oor geslagsrolle, die liggaam, ras en ander etniese kwessies, ondersoek hierdie verhandeling die outbiografieë van drie onkonvensionele vrouens se werk, gebore vanuit die de/koloniale konteks in Suid-Afrika tussen 1854-1948. Die ego-tekste wat in hierdie navorsingstuk ondersoek word, sluit in: Marina King se Sunrise to Evening Star: My Seventy Years in South Africa (1935), Melina Rorke se Melina Rorke: Her Amazing Experiences in the Stormy Nineties of South-African History (1938), en twee memoirs geskryf deur Petronella van Heerden, Kerssnuitsels (1962) en Die 16de Koppie (1965). My analise word ondersteun deur relevante kritici van feministiese en outobiografiese velde. Ek bespreek onder andere die idee dat die vroulike ‘ek’ liggaamlik “vergestalt” (239) is in outobiografie, asook die ‘ek’ se afhanklikheid van “relasionaliteit” (248) soos uiteengesit in die werk van Sidonie Smith en Julia Watson (Reading Autobiography). Verder stel ek voor, met verwysing na Judith Butler, dat daar ‘n “performative” (Bodies that Matter 234) aspek na vore kom in die vroulike ‘ek’ van Suid- Afrikaanse outobiografie. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om uit te lig dat hierdie selfvoorstellings van vroue gelees kan word as kontra-konvensioneel; dat die stereotipiese uitbeelding van vroue as skroomhartig, nougeset, gedweë ten opsigte van patriargale oorsig, en willoos om meer te vermag as wat hul onderskeie gemeenskappe vir hul voorskryf, weerspreek word deur hierdie ego-tekste. Die doel is om sodanige outobiografiese vertellings en -uitbeeldings te vergelyk en sodoende uiteenlopende vroulike subjektiwiteite gedurende die periode 1854-1948 te belig. Ek verwys deurlopend na voorbeelde van ander gemarginaliseerde Suid-Afrikaanse vroulike ego-tekse om aan te dui dat daar weliswaar ‘n magdom ‘vergete’ en ‘stof-bedekte’ vrouetekste geskryf is in die afgebakende periode. Ek voor aan dat die ‘stem’ van die vroulike ‘ek’ allermins stagneer het, en dat verdere bestudering waarskynlik nodig is.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-244).

<abstract>'In Two Minds' is a novel of false beliefs. Set in contemporary Sydney, it deals with the relationship between two sisters in their late thirties, Kara and Linda Hille. Told in the second person singular from the point of view of the elder sister, Linda, it is based around the neurological delusion of the younger sibling, Kara. Kara wrongly believes that their mother, Stella, has been replaced by an impostor, 'Mrs. Whitegloves'. For the greater part, the narrative 'you' relates events in the sisters' lives and deals with issues such as the consequences of condoned child abuse, the dilemma of human cloning and the future of 'the brand' in the light of contemporary global marketing. Linda, an advertising executive, struggles with a formidable work-project, an account that is lost to a competitor, and the mistaken belief that she is responsible for her sister's plight. Shocking graffiti about herself, which appears at the same time as she wins an advertising award, proves to be the catalyst that brings beneficial change to her life. Through the tragedy of confronting her sister's devastation and her own challenges, Linda leaves her job, believing this will allow her to start again - differently. In the final chapter, the difference is registered in a shift from the second person to the consolidated first person method of narration. ABSTRACT EXEGESIS The dissertation 'A Singular Voice' documents aspects of authorial, psychoanalytical and literary significance in the creation of a fiction which draws on personal material confrontational to the writer. It also discusses some wider (non-fictional and other) uses of the narrative 'you' in order to establish the literary tradition in which the novel 'In Two Minds' may be situated. This disseration examines the use of the second-person singular pronoun 'you' as narrator, mainly in contemporary fiction. It concentrates on the ways in which the narrative 'you' was employed to achieve a 'cover', mask or persona for the 'I' behind the text in the novel 'In Two Minds', and explains why it was necessary to seek such subterfuge. It describes how certain grammatical and rhetorical resources were used to build and maintain 'cover', while at the same time allowing the narrative 'you' to express a particular aspect of the fictional protagonist, address the reader, and sustain the story of which it is the intradiegetic narratee. Related narrative elements include construction of the characters through the use of the narrative 'you', for example the narcissistic mother, Stella; the phantom double, 'Mrs. Whitegloves'; the sufferer of Capgras' delusion, Kara; and the ultimate bearer of the singular 'you' voice, the protagonist Linda.

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), British Modernist writer whose search for authentic selves in the lives of the characters in her short stories, is reflected in her innovative style of writing in which she examines the interior consciousness of their minds. Mansfield questions the inauthentic lives of the characters, revealing that the roles they play are socially imposed forcing them to hide their true selves behind masks. The stories which have been chosen for this study focus on women characters (and men also) who grapple with societal prescriptions for accepted actions, and are rendered mute as a result. The women characters include all age groups and social classes. Some are young and impressionable (The Tiredness of Rosabel, The Little Governess and The Garden Party), others are married and older (Bliss, Prelude and Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding ), while there are also middle-aged women in Miss Brill and The Life of Ma Parker. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), British Modernist writer whose search for authentic selves in the lives of the characters in her short stories, is reflected in her innovative style of writing in which she examines the interior consciousness of their minds. Mansfield questions the inauthentic lives of the characters, revealing that the roles they play are socially imposed forcing them to hide their true selves behind masks. The stories which have been chosen for this study focus on women characters (and men also) who grapple with societal prescriptions for accepted actions, and are rendered mute as a result. The women characters include all age groups and social classes. Some are young and impressionable (The Tiredness of Rosabel, The Little Governess and The Garden Party), others are married and older (Bliss, Prelude and Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding ), while there are also middle-aged women in Miss Brill and The Life of Ma Parker. / English Studies / M.A. (English)