Thesis (MA (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation investigates the different forms of otherness and alterity (“Fremde”) in Bulgarian born German author, Ilija Trojanow’s novel, Der Weltensammler (2006). In this novel, alterity, as portrayed by Trojanow, is read as threatening and uncanny (“unheimlich”), on the one hand, and fascinating on the other. The novel, Der Weltensammler, translated by William Hobson and published under the title The Collector of Worlds (2008), narrates the life of the historical figure Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton, a colonist, traveller and explorer, undertakes a journey across continents: British-India, Arabia and East Africa. As one of the first Europeans to do so, Burton - disguised and converted to Islam - undertakes a pilgrimage to Mecca. Like the title of the novel suggests, Burton is a contradictory man who not only collects worlds, but also obsessively adopts the cultures of the colonised. However, this British officer’s bizarre lifestyle and unusual ability to adapt to and adopt the foreign world raises certain questions regarding the relationship between coloniser and colonised. More importantly, he grapples with the portrayal of otherness. Throughout the novel both the narrator and a writer (the Lahiya) try to put together the pieces of Burton’s life. As the narrator warns in the preface of his novel, Burton remains an enigma. His antipodes are another historical figure, the former slave Sidi Mubarak Bombay and his servant Naukaram. Unlike in Burton’s and Stanley’s travel diaries where Bombay takes a marginalised position, he comes to the fore in Der Weltensammler. Though Burton appears to become part of the foreign world, it is the change of narrative perspectives between coloniser and colonised that puts their relation into question, thereby dissolving binary opposites. This thesis begins with a general discussion of the novel and its significance within German post-colonial literature. The study moves on to a discussion of the discourses surrounding the concept of alterity, identifying one key form of alterity, namely mimicry, a term borrowed from the theorist Homi K. Bhabha. The greater part of the thesis is devoted to the analysis of the novel. The first part deals with the analysis of alterity and otherness by focussing attention on the portrayal of otherness as threatening and fascinating, the concept of mimicry, and finally, Burton’s transformation. The second part investigates the process of re-writing that takes place and the manner in which alterity is portrayed in the novel paying particular attention to the relation between author, writer and narrator. Following this analysis of alterity and its rewriting, this thesis moves to the more general question of how Ilija Trojanow’s novel, Der Weltensammler, functions as a refutation (Gegenschrift/Kampfabsage) of Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Relying on the words of Stephen Slemon, this study finally questions whether this novel can be read as another “scramble for post-colonialism”. Based on the theoretical framework developed on the concept of culture by Homi K. Bhabha on the one hand and the insights on cultures by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski on the other, this study demonstrates how it is through the processes of revision and re-writing of literary borrowings, e.g. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899), that the concept of alterity is redefined and the novel in itself gains a post-colonial voice. Furthermore, this thesis shows how otherness is deconstructed to such an extent that it is not difference that is highlighted, but instead a literary model for the co-existence of cultures. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is ‘n studie van die verskillende fasette van vreemde, die onbekende en alteriteit (“Fremde”) in die Duits-Bulgaarse skrywer, Ilija Trojanow se roman Der Weltensammler (2006). In hierdie roman word alteriteit, soos deur Trojanow uitgebeeld, gelees as bedreigend en unheimlich, en gelyktydig as fassinerend. Die Roman, Der Weltensammler, deur William Hobson vertaal as The Collector of Worlds (2008), beskryf die lewe van die historiese figuur Sir Richard Francis Burton. Hy onderneem as kolonis en ontdekkingsreisiger ‘n reis regoor verskeie kontinente: Brits-Indië, Arabië en Oos-Afrika. Vermom en bekeer tot Islam, onderneem hy as een van die eerste Europeërs ‘n pelgrimstog na Mekka. Soos deur die titel van die roman gesuggereer word, is Burton op sigself ’n ambivalente karakter wat nie net wêrelde nie, maar ook die kulture van die gekoloniseerdes approprieer. Dit is juis hierdie Britse offisier se vreemde leefstyl en buitengewone vermoë om die vreemde toe te eien, wat sekere vrae ten opsigte van die verhouding tussen die kolonisator en die gekoloniseerde laat ontstaan. Van grootste belang vir hierdie analise is veral die uitbeelding van die vreemde. Deurgaans poog die verteller en ‘n skribent (die Lahiya) om uitsluitsel oor Burton se lewe te kry. Soos die verteller alreeds in die voorwoord van sy roman waarsku, bly Burton egter ‘n enigma. Sy teenpole is die ander minder bekende historiese figuur, die gemarginaliseerde en voormalige slaaf Sidi Mubarak Bombay en sy bediende Naukaram. Anders as in onder andere Burton en Stanley se reisbeskrywings waar Bombay slegs ‘n randverskynsel is, kry hy nuwe betekenis in Trojanow se roman. Ofskoon Burton deel van die vreemde blyk te word, word die verhouding tussen die kolonisator en die gekoloniseerde veral bevraagteken deur die verandering van narratiewe perspektiewe. Terselfdertyd word binêre opposisies gedekonstrueer. Die tesis word ingelei deur ‘n algemene oorsig van die roman en sy betekenis binne die konteks van Duitse postkoloniale literatuur. Na afloop van die oorsig, volg ‘n bespreking van die diskoerse rondom die konsep alteriteit. Die klem val hier veral op een spesifieke vorm van alteriteit, naamlik mimiek, ‘n term ontleen aan die teoretikus Homi K. Bhabha. Die grootste deel van die tesis word gewy aan die analise van die roman. In die eerste deel van die analise word die konsep alteriteit onder die loep geneem. Die klem val hier veral op die uitbeelding van die vreemde as bedreigend en fassinerend, mimiek and laastens Burton se gedaanteverwisseling. Die tweede deel van die analise fokus deurentyd op die verhouding tussen die skrywer, skribent en verteller en bestudeer veral die herskrywingsproses (re-writing) wat plaasvind en die wyse waarop alteriteit beskryf word. Deur die loop van die studie volg die meer algemene vraagstuk van hoe Ilija Trojanow se roman Der Weltensammler beskou kan word as ‘n weerlegging (Gegenschrift/Kampfabsage) van Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Laastens word op Stephen Slemon se algemene vraagstuk gesteun of die roman beskou kan word as ‘n “scramble for postcolonialism”. Hierdie analise word volgens die teoretiese raamwerke van twee outeurs nl. Homi K. Bhabha en die Poolse verslaggewer Ryszard Kapuscinski ondersoek. Dit is veral deur die proses revisie en die herskrywing van literêre ontlenings, bv. Joseph Conrad se Heart of Darkness (1899), dat die begrip alteriteit geherdefinieer word en die roman op sigself ‘n postkoloniale perspektief inneem.Vervolgens word die begrippe vreemde en alteriteit tot so ‘n mate gedekonstrueer deurdat die aandag nie op ongelykheid val nie, maar ‘n literêre model vir die naasbestaan van kulture ontskep word.

This thesis describes the phenomenon of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Northeastern Africa, focusing on Egypt, Somalia and the Sudan. The core of the thesis lies in literary reflections of this practice and analysis of literary works tackling this subject. Presenting a wide range of literary works on the subject, this thesis aims at classifying and comparing them, with a special emphasis on the works of Nawal el Saadawi and Nuruddin Farah. The thesis also presents a summary of current local and international laws on FGM as well as a list of organisations dealing with FGM. It also briefly describes the religious background of FGM and current situation in Egypt and the Sudan.

Ma recherche vise à étudier la nouvelle anglo-américaine par rapport à une forme à laquelle elle est inextricablement liée, le cycle de nouvelles, qui, à mi-chemin entre histoire et roman, est érigé en une série d'histoires interconnectées et qui présente certains éléments récurrents (personnages, lieu, thèmes). La réflexion sur le cycle de nouvelles, considéré comme un genre en tant que tel, donnera la priorité à l’analyse de l’oeuvre d’Alice Munro placée dans une perspective comparative, en relation et en continuité, non seulement avec le travail d’écrivains canadiens "maîtres" du genre, mais aussi avec la tradition du cycle de nouvelles américaine. / My research aims at studying the Nord-American short story in relation to a form to which it is inextricably linked, the short story cycle, which, halfway between history and novel, is set as a series of interconnected stories presenting some recurring elements (characters, place, themes). The reflection on the short story cycle will give priority to the analysis of Alice Munro's work placed in a comparative perspective, in relation and continuity, not only with the work of 'Canadian writers' masters' of the genre, but also with the tradition of the American short story cycle. / Il presente lavoro si propone di analizzare la forma narrativa del ciclo di racconti, mettendone in luce le caratteristiche in relazione all’opera di Alice Munro. Il corpus narrativo di Munro, formato da quattordici raccolte in un arco temporale che copre più di quarant’anni (la prima raccolta, Dance of the Happy Shades esce ne 1968 e l’ultima, Dear Life nel 2012), ben si presta a questo tipo di studio. Nell’ arco della sua prolifica opera Munro ha esplorato le potenzialità della forma breve, rimodulando progressivamente i confini fra i generi, scomponendone le prospettive e gli esiti possibili ora nella direzione della novella modernista (cara a scrittrici come Katherine Mansfield ed Eudora Welty), ora nella creazione di cicli di storie o di serie di racconti interconnessi, destrutturando o risemantizzando la nozione di brevità e di genere letterario. Il lavoro, che si presenta come un case study, si propone un duplice obiettivo: quello di estendere la nozione di ciclo di racconti e di includerla in quella di “politesto” , (ossia quella categoria critica che concepisce l’opera letteraria, la raccolta di racconti ad esempio, come processo aggregativo mettendo in luce tutti quei legami intertestuali e intratestuali che i singoli testi intrattengono fra di loro) e quello di applicare questa categoria all’opera di Alice Munro, ovvero studiare, con gli strumenti della teoria della letteratura e della comparatistica, i rapporti tra i racconti, nella loro natura intra ed intertestuale, e tra le raccolte stesse analizzate sulla base della loro natura politestuale.

This thesis will investigate the fictional discourse that has developed around academia and how this discourse has manifested itself in the New Zealand literary tradition, primarily in the works of M.K. Joseph, Dan Davin and James K. Baxter. These three writers have been selected because of their status within Kai Jensen's conception of “a literary tradition of excitement about masculinity”; in other words, the masculine tradition in New Zealand literature which provides fictional representations of factual events and tensions. This literary approach is also utilised in the tradition of British university fiction, in which the behaviour of students and faculty are often deliberately exaggerated in order to provide a representation of campus life that captures the essence of the reality without being wholly factual. The fact that these three writers attempt, consciously or unconsciously, to combine the two traditions is a matter of great literary interest: Joseph's A Pound of Saffron (1962) appropriates tropes of the British university novel while extending them to include concerns specific to New Zealand; Davin's Cliffs of Fall (1945), Not Here, Not Now (1970) and Brides of Price (1972) attempt to blend traditions of university fiction with the masculine realist tradition in New Zealand literature, though, as we will see, with limited success; Baxter's station as the maternal grandson of a noted professor allows him to criticise the elitist New Zealand university system in Horse (1985) from a unique position, for he was more sympathetic towards what he considered the working class “peasant wisdom” of his father, Archie, than the “professorial knowledge” of Archie's father-in-law. These three authors have been chosen also because of the way they explore attitudes towards universities amongst mainstream New Zealand society in their writing, for while most novels in the British tradition demonstrate little tension between those within the university walls and those without, in New Zealand fiction the tension is palpable. The motivations for this tension will also be explored in due course, but before we can grapple with how the tradition of British university fiction has impacted New Zealand literature, we must first examine the tradition itself.

The thesis aims to analyse Sam Selvon's fiction between 1950 and 1990 in relation to the colonial subjects' identity crisis. The thesis will argue that Selvon's fiction is independent of traditional and canonical categories because his representation of colonial subjects is entirely innovative and unprecedented. I will analyse Selvon's novels A Brighter Sun (1952), An Island is a World (1955), The Lonely Londoners (1956), The Housing Lark (1965), Moses Ascending (1975), and Moses Migrating (1983). Each novel sheds light on a different facet of the colonial subject. Nevertheless, colonisation, migration, and identity crisis are common themes for the novels chosen. From A Brighter Sun to Moses Migrating, Selvon destroys the caricatured image of the colonised subject. He reaches authenticity on the level of character depiction and through the vernacular, ballad-like narrative. Additionally, the novels represent different aspects of colonisation and migration: "back at home", "the motherland", and "back and forth". I will display how every aspect is fluid and undefinable. A Brighter Sun takes place in the West Indies. An Island is a World displays "back and forth" experience in the West Indies, USA, and Britain. The Lonely Londoners, The Housing Lark, and Moses Ascending take place in "the motherland"....

My study aims to reveal how ideologies, the way we perceive our world, what we believe, and our value judgments inextricably linked to a dominant discourse, have real and material consequences. In addition to explicating how these ideologies stem from a Western philosophical tradition, this thesis examines this thought-system alongside selections from Sandra Cisneros’ Woman Hollering Creek and Caramelo or Puro Cuento. My project reveals how Cisneros’ spatial narratives challenge ideologies concerning the border separating the United States and Mexico, which proves significant as the project of decolonization and understanding of identity formation is fundamentally tied to these geographical spaces. Through the main chapters in this thesis, it is proposed that Cisneros’ storytelling does not attempt to counter fixed ideas of spaces and identity or an alleged objective Truth and single History by presenting a true or better version, but offers alternative narratives as a form of resistance to dominant discourse.

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and perceptions of 12th-grade literature teachers about curriculum, Post-Colonial literature, and students. Theories posed by Piaget (1995), Vygotsky (1995), and Rosenblatt (1995) formed the framework for this micro-ethnographic study. Seven teachers from public and private schools in South Florida participated in this two-phase study; three teachers in Phase I and four in Phase II. All participants completed individual semi-structured interviews and demographic surveys. In addition, four of the teachers were observed teaching. The analysis yielded three themes and two sub-themes: (a) knowledge concerned teachers’ knowledge of British literature content and Post-Colonial authors and their literature; (b) freedom described teachers’ freedom to choose how to teach their content. Included in this theme was dilemmas associated with 12th-grade classrooms which described issues that were pertinent to the 12th-grade teacher and classroom that were revealed by the study; and (c) thoughts about students described teachers’ perceptions about students and how literature might affect the students. Two subthemes of knowledge were as follows:(1) text complexity described teacher responses to a Post-Colonial text’s complexity and (2) student desirability/teachability described teachers’ perception about how desirable Post-Colonial texts would be to students and whether teachers would be willing to teach these texts. The researcher offers recommendations for understanding factors associated with 12th-grade teachers perceptions and implications for enhancing the 12th-grade experience for teachers and curriculum, based on this study: (a) build teacher morale and capacity, (b) treat all students as integral components of the teaching and learning process; teachers in this study thought teaching disenfranchised learners was a form of punishment meted out by the administration, and (c) include more Post-Colonial authors in school curricula in colleges and schools as most teachers in this study did not study this type of literature nor knew how to teach it.

Il presente elaborato si propone di esplorare la tradizione del romanzo di formazione caraibico considerando il genere del romanzo di formazione, le sue caratteristiche, la sua storia, e individuando le peculiarità che il genere ha sviluppato all'interno della tradizione post-coloniale, soprattutto nel contesto caraibico di lingua inglese. Il primo capitolo stabilisce cosa si intenda con “romanzo di formazione caraibico” e introduce i dodici romanzi selezionati per questo studio. La tesi quindi procede identificando quattro argomenti principali, o macro temi, a ciascuno dei quali è dedicato un capitolo, e confrontando il modo in cui questi vengono sviluppati nei diversi romanzi. I temi sono: la scuola e l’istruzione, la cultura e la storia, la politica, la partenza. La tesi si chiude con una breve riflessione sul tema del ritorno. / The present study aims to explore the Caribbean Bildungsroman tradition by considering the Bildungsroman genre, its features, and history, and by pointing out the peculiarities that the genre developed within the postcolonial tradition and specifically in the anglophone Caribbean context. The first chapter establishes what is meant by “Caribbean Bildungsroman” and introduces the twelve novels selected for this study. The study then proceeds by identifying four main topics, or macro themes, each developed in a separate chapter, and by comparing the way such themes are dealt with in each of the novels. The themes are: school and education, culture and history, politics, departure. The study closes on a brief reflection on the possibility of return.