This thesis concerns the novelist John Fowles and analyses his seven novels in the order in which they were written. The study reveals an emergent artistic trajectory, which has been variously categorized by literary critics as postmodern. However, I suggest that Fowles's work is more complex and significant than such a reductive and simplistic label would suggest. Specifically, this study argues that Fowles's work contributes to the reinvigoration of the novel form by a radical extension of the modernist project of the literary avant-garde, interrogating various conventions associated with both literary realism and the realism of the literary modernists while still managing to evade a subjective realism. Of particular interest to the study is Fowles's treatment of his female characters, which evolves over time, indicative of an emergent quasi-feminism. This study counters the claims of many contemporary literary critics that Fowles's work cannot be reconciled with any feminist ideology. Specifically, I highlight the increasing centrality of Fowles's female characters in his novels, accompanied by a growing focus on the mysterious and the uncanny. Fowles's work increasingly associates mystery with creativity, femininity, and the mythic, suggests that mystery is essential for growth and change, both in society and in the novel form itself, and implies that women, rather than men, are naturally predisposed to embrace it. Fowles's novels reflect a worldview that challenges an over-reliance on the empirical and rational to the exclusion of the mysterious and the intuitive. I suggest that Fowles's novels evince an increasingly mythopoeic realism, constantly testing the limits of what can be apprehended and articulated in language, striving towards a realism that is universal and transcendent.

Thesis (DPhil) (Geography and Environmental Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The subject is the rock art within the region known as the Little Karoo in the Western Cape that lies between the coastal plain and the Greater Karoo, penned in geographically by the Langeberg in the south and the Swartberg in the north. During a ten year site survey of 150 sites with rock art, content and details of the rock art images have been recorded on site forms and where possible traced on polyester film and photographed. The sites tend to be small with, on average, fewer than 50 images, but then 7 sites have more than 100 images per site. The sites are located mostly in ravines in the mountainous areas. Few sites with rock art have occupation deposits. Human figures in the rock art, predominantly male, are most commonly represented. Other images are animals, such as eland, smaller antelope, elephants, felines, canids and therianthropic figures of half-human, half-animal forms. Finger dots, handprints and geometric or non-representational marks are present in the rock art sample as well. The art can be linked to shamanistic experiences in altered states of consciousness. A number of depictions are interpreted as part of rainmaking ritual and the significance of the symbolism of water. There are resemblances in content and style to the rock art in the Hex River Valley, the Cederberg, and south of the Langeberg, on the coastal plain, but some imagery point to a variation more specific to the Little Karoo. These are rare rock art depictions of a combination of human head and upper torso with ichthyoidal lower limbs, at times reminiscent of bird-like human figures. Verbatim accounts recorded of stories and sightings of numinous watermeide (water maidens) at waterholes and rivers of the Little Karoo and correlations drawn with research on similar folklore in the Northern Cape and elsewhere make a traditional link between these regions. The myth of the watermeide takes on a therianthropic nature in form, that of half-human half-fish, reminiscent of the well-known westernized mystical concept of mermaid features; a description popular in the vernacular. The described form of the watermeid espouses a connection to the uniqueness of the rock paintings of therianthropic figures with distinctive fishtail and human shoulders, head and arms. A connection with explanatory accounts of rock paintings and folklore recorded in the Oudtshoorn district more than a hundred years ago, recorded information of stories and myths of mystical water creatures in the Northern Cape, and verbatim accounts of the watermiede, is made to suggest a basis for interpretation of the therianthropic nature of some of the rock art imagery in the Little Karoo. The rock art is produced in a space and a time frame that may be related to that of the current stories of the watermeide.

Det är inte ovanligt att viss rock- och annan populärmusik tillskrivs konstnärliga ambitioner, eller förses med epitet som "konstnärlig" och "konstmusikalisk". Sällan utvecklas emellertid på vilket sätt detta konstnärliga tar sig uttryck. Uppsatsens syfte är att musikanalytiskt undersöka vad som kan motivera formuleringarna och om de kan anses adekvata. Materialet för undersökningen är tre verk/låtar ur rockgenren, som beskrivits med ovanstående begrepp: Close to the Edge med gruppen Yes från 1972, Sense of Doubt med David Bowie från 1977 och Sleep med gruppen Godspeed You! Black Emperor från 2000. Metoden är den auditiva musikanalysen, vilket innebär att analysen utgår från ett aktivt lyssnande på musikens förlopp. Två fokus finns: ett på själva musiken; ett på de intentioner i och med verket/låten som kan föreligga. Analysen utgår från en definition av begreppen konst- och populärmusik som görs i början av uppsatsen. Denna grundar sig i sin tur på en genomgång av begreppsdefinitioner i framförallt lexikon och ordböcker, men också i musikvetenskaplig litteratur och den kan därmed göra anspråk på en viss allmängiltighet. Resultatet av analysen visar att samtliga musikexempel går utanför ramarna för definitionen av populärmusik, samtidigt som de uppvisar flera egenskaper som faller inom konstmusikdefinitionen. Beskrivningarna av låtarna som konstmusikaliska och konstnärliga kan alltså anses adekvata. Analysen och den föregående begreppsdiskussionen medvetandegör emellertid också den problematik som ryms i distinktionen konst- respektive populärmusik. Detta utvecklas i uppsatsens slutdiskussion, där begreppen relateras till ett idéhistoriskt sammanhang. Distinktionen visar sig ha rötter i 1800-talets kulturdebatt och under 1900-talet har den närts av en modernistisk kultur- och samhällssyn. De senaste decenniernas postmodernistiska strömningar, med ökad värderelativism och uppluckrade musikaliska genregränser, har dock bidragit till att begreppen i allt större utsträckning spelat ut sin roll. / It is not uncommon that certain rock and other popular music is attributed with artistic ambitions or is befitted with epithets such as "artistic" or "art music-like". However, it is rarely elaborated in which way these artistic qualities are conveyed. The purpose of this paper is to investigate from an analytical standpoint what can incentivize these wordings and if they can be viewed as adequate. The material for the investigation is three pieces/songs from the rock genre which have been described with the above terms: Close to the Edge by the group Yes from 1972, Sense of Doubt by David Bowie from 1977 and Sleep by the group Godspeed You! Black Emperor from 2000. The method is auditive music analysis which means that the analysis is based upon actively listening to the music. There are two areas of focus: one is on the music itself; one is on the intentions that may lie in and with the piece/song. The analysis is based upon a definition of the terms art music and popular music that is made at the beginning of the paper. This, in turn, is based upon a rundown of term definitions made in, above all, lexicons and dictionaries, but also in musicology, and thus it can claim a certain generality. The result of the analysis shows that all music examples move outside the boundaries of the definition of popular music and, at the same time, show qualities that fall inside the boundaries of the definition of art music. Thus, the descriptions of the songs as "art music-like" and "artistic" can be viewed as adequate. However, the analysis and the preceding term discussion raise awareness about the problems that are contained in the distinction between art music and popular music, respectively. This is elaborated in the concluding discussion in which the terms are interrelated to a contexture involving the history of ideas. The distinction is shown to have its roots in the cultural debate of the 19th century, and during the 20th century it has been nurtured by a modernist view of culture and society. The post-modernistic trends of the last few decades, characterized by increased value relativism and loosened musical genre boundaries, have contributed to making the terms obsolete.

In the 21st century, this planet has experienced an explosion of social movements and protests. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy Movement, global protests had become such a prominent feature of the first decade of the new millennium that Time Magazine named the protester as its person of the year in 2011. This project examines the relationship between social theory and political practice in an attempt to gain further insight into contemporary social movements. In particular, it examines the theoretical assumptions underlying the Occupy Movement in the United States and compares these assumptions with 19th century individual and collective anarchist theories, as well as with contemporary theories that have taken the postmodern turn.

Mentshlichkeit – Yiddish for the ‘art of being a good hu(man)’ - is offered as an invitation to participate in practices that may have the power to dispel the haunting of a ‘hegemonic masculinity’ (Connell 1995). Inspired by ‘Action Research’, what Reason & Bradbury call inquiry into the ‘quality of our acting’, the author uses futuristic narrative, interwoven with discussion and dialogue, to see if it is possible to reflect and act generatively, as a man who is mindful of feminism’s challenge that ‘the personal is political’ (Reason and Bradbury 2001). Within a post-modern discourse, the author heads towards the irony and discomfort to be found in a text that explores goodness and masculinity in the same breath. But he is not alone, like some hero on a quest – rather he is inspired by the voices of challenge and support he hears in the course of his roles in diverse communities: as a Jew, a facilitator/consultant at Roffey Park Institute and a father. It is my intention to playfully invite you into this story; to see if it moves you, if it usefully meets your own experience and helps you consider your own action, within the paradoxes and dilemmas you face. Too often we can disappear within the words we write. It is my intention to ‘show up’, and as a man to meet the challenge of feminism, to live within this territory and act with some awareness of its contours. The characters in this story are inspired by the people I encounter, who remind me I am not ‘selfmade’, and that we men, in the words of Philip Corrigan, may usefully ‘re-member our bodies’ (Corrigan 1988). Ultimately this is a human-scale story, designed to provoke good conversations. I look forward to hearing what you would like to discuss.

A partir da análise da peça Vale das facas voadoras, do dramaturgo e diretor alemão René Pollesch, procura-se abordar a obra desse diretor, bem como, refletir sobre as possibilidades que ele apresenta para dar conta de uma crítica da ideologia que sobreviva a um ambiente Pós-Moderno, segundo a definição do teórico americano Fredric Jameson. / Starting from the analysis of the play Valley of flying knives, written by German playwright and director René Pollesch, the dissertation seeks to analyze the work of this director, as well as reflect on the possibilities it has to account for a critique of ideology that survives to a Postmodern environment, as defined by the American theorist Fredric Jameson.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:46:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabrizzi Matos Rocha.pdf: 2115417 bytes, checksum: 5722c834ba91ff96667c75ab37623df9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-06 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The aim of this research is to investigate the compositive elements of Geração Trianon, a play written by Nunes in 1987 and first represented in 1988. Theme, characters and their conflicts, as well as other elements of the play are examined with the theoretical support of Ryngaert s analysis of the drama. The concepts of parody and irony are focused here, under Hutcheon s perspective, to support the study of dialogues and intertextualities between past and present events and the understanding of similarities in the atmosphere of the Stage in the early decades of the 20th century (atmosphere of the so-called Geração Trianon ) and now. Her theory is also the basis for the analysis of post-modern characteristics seen in Geração Trianon. The matter of intertextuality in the play is studied under Kristeva s perspective. And Abel s concept of metatheatre offers subsides for the study of the metalinguistical events of the text. / O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar, dentro do quadro do Pós-Modernismo, os elementos estruturantes da narrativa dramática de Geração Trianon, escrita por Nunes em 1987. Com base na teoria analítica do drama de Ryngaert, analisaram-se o tema, as personagens e seus conflitos, bem como os demais elementos que compõem este texto teatral. Considerando os aspectos históricos presentes na obra, são destacados os recursos da paródia e da ironia, conceitos estudados nesta pesquisa à luz da teoria de Hutcheon. Ainda, com base nos conceitos propostos pela mesma autora, são discutidas as características pós-modernas encontradas na peça. A questão da intertextualidade é investigada segundo a perspectiva de Kristeva. Para a presença das metalinguagens no texto, utilizaram-se os estudos de Abel.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T16:17:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vanice.pdf: 842357 bytes, checksum: 2953ea50216d9aa3851568c3c9e3f808 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-19 / This paper presents the results of a research which goal was understand the multifunctional character of National Curriculum Guides for Fundamental Teaching of 1998 DCNs/98. Those Guidelines are done by Câmara de Educação Básica do Conselho Nacional de Educação- a state organization- and its goal is define laws and principals and its purpose is to define laws and principals for the draw up of curriculums of public institutions that work with the fundamental teaching in Brazil.. The DCNs/98, which are educational policies, are part of a bigger group of social policies defined by the State, base don the contradictions of civil society. Therefore, they are the result of those contradictions. Moreover, to understand the nature and role of the State is compulsory to understand the goings of a social policy, once the State plays the central role in keeping the capitalist society. In this context of global capitalism, the State has its role defined by neoliberal policies came from countries of central capitalism. This new configuration of the State take it away of the productive sector just to regulate the economic relationships. Therefore, public expenses are also alternated with the social policies expenses; those are still functional to the State, once they help it to build the common sense around a certain kind of society. The State actions, like the social politics are influenced by the ideology that is built in the result of the rearticulating of capitalism, it s about post modern ideology. This ideology influences all the section of the social life, particularly in the educational field. The multiculturalism is one of the expressions of post modern ideology in education, which preach with regard the cultural diversity as a way to hold the society conflicts caused by the different cultures, as racial and cultural prejudices. The presence of multiculturalism in the DCNs/98 deals with the necessities of the State in the contemporary economic context, in a moderate form, it also deals with contradictory the social movements which fight for workers real gains. From the consulted references, it defends that the multiculturalism contribute with the conservation of the capitalism society, because it promotes the fragmentation of the work class. In this way, the presence of multiculturalism in the DCNs/98 marks its conservative character. / Esta dissertação apresenta o resultado da pesquisa que teve o objetivo de desvelar o caráter multicultural das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Fundamental de 1998 DCNs/98. Essas diretrizes são formuladas pela Câmara de Educação Básica do Conselho Nacional de Educação e tem o objetivo de definir normas, princípios e regulamentações para a elaboração dos currículos das instituições de ensino fundamental do Brasil. As DCNs/98, que se constituem como política educacional, fazem parte de um conjunto maior de políticas sociais definidas pelo Estado, conjunto este que está fincado nas contradições da sociedade civil o que torna tais políticas resultado da própria contradição. Dessa forma, compreender a natureza e a função do Estado de classe torna-se fundamental para compreender o direcionamento de uma política social, pois o Estado exerce função central na manutenção da sociedade capitalista. Nesse contexto de mundialização do capitalismo, o Estado tem seu papel redefinido por políticas neoliberais oriundas de países de capitalismo central. Essa nova configuração do Estado retira-o do setor produtivo para que apenas regule as relações econômicas. Assim, alteram-se também os gastos com o setor público e com as políticas sociais; estas continuam sendo funcionais ao Estado, na medida em que auxiliam no processo de construção do consenso em torno de um determinado tipo de sociedade. As ações do Estado, como as políticas sociais, são influenciadas pela ideologia que se constrói em decorrência da rearticulação do capitalismo, trata-se da ideologia pós-moderna. Esta ideologia influencia todos os setores da vida social, particularmente no campo educacional. O multiculturalismo é uma das expressões da ideologia pós-moderna na educação, que preconiza o respeito à diversidade cultural como forma de conter os conflitos sociais decorrentes das diferentes culturas, bem como do preconceito racial e cultural. A presença do multiculturalismo nas DCNs/98 atende as necessidades do Estado no contexto econômico contemporâneo, de forma mediada, como também atende contraditoriamente aos movimentos sociais que lutam por ganhos reais para trabalhadores. A partir das referências consultadas, defende-se que o multiculturalismo colabora para a conservação da sociedade capitalista, pois promove a fragmentação da classe trabalhadora. Nesse sentido, a presença do multiculturalismo nas DCNs/98 demarca o seu caráter conservador.

Crianças são seres em pleno desenvolvimento físico, intelectual, afetivo e moral. Envolvem-se em brincadeiras com alegria, entusiasmo e curiosidade. Porém, tem sido cada vez mais possível encontrar crianças com sinais de apatia, de desinteresse e de pouco envolvimento em atividades típicas da infância. A partir do reconhecimento de traços da pós-modernidade, como a fragmentação do tempo, a velocidade da evolução das tecnologias, o excesso de informação, o distanciamento de si mesmo, o desencontro das pessoas e a vida voltada para o consumo, é possível destacar o fenômeno do tédio como característica da nossa cultura atual. Ele está relacionado com a ausência de significado, a falta de projetos de vida e a dificuldade em lidar com o vazio diante da necessidade de estar sempre em movimento num mundo tão acelerado. Neste trabalho, procurou-se entender quais seriam as possíveis relações entre o consumo e a vivência do tédio infantil. Para tanto, verificou-se de que maneira se compõe a rotina extraescolar de crianças oriundas de famílias de alto poder aquisitivo de uma mesma escola particular internacional e bilíngue da cidade de São Paulo. As agendas dessas crianças estão ocupadas por inúmeras atividades que visam a um futuro promissor, os equipamentos eletrônicos estão mais acessíveis e ficam ligados por mais tempo e os adultos são cada vez mais controladores e superprotetores. O resultado é a falta de autonomia e a falta de sentido na própria vida. Neste cenário, o tédio se impõe / Children are beings that are undergoing full physical, intellectual, affective and moral development. They get involved in childrens play with joy, enthusiasm and curiosity. However, it has become much easier to come across children with signs of apathy, of lack of interest and of little involvement in activities that are typical of childhood. As from the recognition of traces of postmodernism, such as the fragmentation of time, the velocity of the evolution of technologies and the excessive information, the distancing from oneself, the dissent between people and a life that is focused on consumption, it is possible to bring to light the phenomenon of boredom as a characteristic of our current culture. It is related to the absence of meaning, the lack of life projects and the difficulty to deal with emptiness due to the necessity of being always in movement in a world that is so accelerated. In this work one has sought to understand what would be the possible relations between consumption and the existence of child boredom. For this it was verified what makes up the extracurricular routine of children coming from families with high purchase power of an international private bilingual school of São Paulo. The agendas of these children are occupied by numerous activities that aim at a promising future, the electronic devices are more accessible and are turned on for longer periods of time while the adults are increasingly controlling and overprotective. The result is lack of autonomy and lack of meaning in ones life. In this scenario, boredom imposes itself

This thesis presents an interrogation of curriculum practices and positionings, over time, of a feminist educator and curriculum worker seeking to centre gender and subjugated knowledges in a curriculum framework with the potential for transformative outcomes. The interrogation offers an opportunity to consider discourses in operation, to frame curriculum and pedagogy as sites of discursive struggle around knowledges, gender and power. The thesis, presented as a critical narrative, interweaves theories and theoretical ideas from four key areas: post modernism and post structuralism; feminism/s; education and curriculum, and critical social sciences, including critical theory. Interpretative feminist praxis is employed as the methodological approach. Central to the investigation is a curriculum project undertaken in Papua New Guinea (the Goroka Curriculum Project). This Project which is positioned as a case study, provides text for conceptual and contextual interrogation of a specific site of curriculum work, and a corrective moment in which the limitations of the writer's endeavours and position/s of advantage are acknowledged. Curriculum positionings described as oppositional are challenged as a result of the lack of attention to gender by radical and critical theorists. Further, the disjuncture between such theorising, and the development of curriculum models to inform oppositional work is made overt and problematic. Curriculum models and practices associated with the work of traditional empiricist approaches found to be dominant in Papua New Guinea, reify western intellectual endeavours to the disadvantage of indigenous and women's knowledges and knowledge practices. This naturalisation is framed as an example of a meta narrative in education, whereby the discursive practices associated with traditional / rational curriculum models both colonise the endeavours of curriculum workers, and position learners as colonised subjects. A central outcome of the traditional/rational model is the inherent positioning of such individuals and groups as marginalised, devalued Other. Such curriculum work is framed as a technology of governance, privileging attempts to establish order and homogeneity in an increasingly disorderly and fragmented world. The investigation by the curriculum writer of her theory/practice leads to recognition of oppositional work as a site of power, that also has the potential to 'oppress', extending the colonial project. Following this, the thesis investigates transformative curriculum work as problematic potentiality, questioning what the work of a feminist curriculum writer in a post modern world is to do and to be. While acknowledging there are no innocent discourses of liberation, the potential of the 'courage to know', to attend to pedagogical ethics and ethics of self, and acknowledge the messy, contradictory and deeply political work of curriculum design are posited. An emergent notion of curriculum work as textual practice, within a multi-dimensional framework that conceptualises curriculum as representation is advanced.