This thesis, situated in the context of francophone and maghrebian postcolonial studies, examines the impact of identity discourses on the protagonists’ subjectivity in Assia Djebar’s La Femme sans sépulture (2002) and La Disparition de la langue française (2003) and Nina Bouraoui’s Garçon manqué (2000) and Mes mauvaises pensées (2005). These novels draw a parallel between two historically connected spaces, France and Algeria, and periods,  the years of the Algerian war of independence and the rise of Islamists in 1990s  Algeria. The movement between the two spaces and periods constitutes in a literal and figurative sense a third space that contributes to the protagonist’s hybridisation. Hybridity is analysed as a narrative and discursive strategy that subverts and recodifies different identity dis­courses that transmit normative ideas about cultural, ethnic and gendered belonging. Hybridity is also shown in the literary genre. By connecting the past and the present through individual and collective reminiscence, the four novels reinterpret history while transgressing the frontiers of classical genres: the fictional, the testimonial and the autobiographical intertwine with the historiographical. Through the character of the narrator-cineaste and the story of Zoulikha, Assia Djebar reconstitutes in La Femme sans sépulture her own heritage and that of the interviewed women which is associated with Luce Irigaray’s theory of feminine genealogy as a model of identification. The languages’ different transcultural influences are shown in La Disparition de la langue française in the light of Homi Bhabha’s theory of cultural translation. Bouraoui’s fiction shows more radically than Djebar’s the body as a surface of cultural inscription, determined by ethnic and gendered norms. To emphasize the sociocultural dimension of the Bouraouian protagonist’s problems of identity the analysis uses Judith Butler’s theories about the performativity, the recognition and the melancholy of gender. In the four novels the return to one’s origins remains an illusion. The only place where the protagonists can negotiate and express their hybrid subjectivity is constituted in and through their writing. / Cette thèse, située dans le contexte des études francophones maghrébines et postcoloniales, analyse l’impact des discours identitaires sur la subjectivité des protagonistes dans La Femme sans sépulture (2002) et La Disparition de la langue française (2003) d’Assia Djebar, et dans Garçon manqué (2000) et Mes mauvaises pensées (2005) de Nina Bouraoui. Ces romans  mettent en parallèle deux espaces historiquement liés, la France et l’Algérie, et deux périodes, le temps de la guerre d’indépendance algérienne et les années 1990 avec la montée des islamistes en Algérie. Le mouvement entre les deux espaces et temps constitue au sens littéral et au sens figuré un tiers espace, qui contribue à l’hybridation des protagonistes. L’hybridité est analysée comme une stratégie narrative et discursive qui subvertit et récodifie différents discours identitaires véhiculant des idées normatives concernant l’appartenance culturelle, ethnique et genrée des protagonistes. L’hybridation se reflète également dans le genre littéraire. À travers la remémoration individuelle et collective des événements passés mis en rapport avec le présent, les quatre romans donnent une nouvelle signification à l’Histoire en transgressant les frontières entre les genres classiques : le fictionnel, le témoignage et l’autobiographique s’inscrivent dans l’historiographique. Moyennant le personnage de la narratrice-cinéaste et l’histoire de Zoulikha, Djebar reconstitue dans La Femme sans sépulture, son propre héritage et celle des femmes interviewées, ce qui est associé à la théorie de Luce Irigaray sur la généalogie féminine au sens d’un modèle d’identification. Les différentes influences transculturelles des langues sont éclairées dans La Disparition de la langue française à la lumière de la théorie de la traduction culturelle de Homi Bhabha. Bouraoui montre plus radicalement que Djebar le corps comme surface d’inscription culturelle gérée par des normes ethnicisantes et genrées. Pour souligner la dimension socioculturelle des problèmes identitaires de la protagoniste bouraouienne, les théories de Judith Butler concernant la performativité du genre, la reconnaissance et la mélancolie genrée sont utilisées. Le retour à l’origine reste dans les quatre romans illu­soire. Le seul lieu où les protagonistes puissent négocier et exprimer leur subjectivité hybride est constitué dans et à travers l’écriture.

This research provides an analytical reading of four contemporary novels, in a transcultural study of magical realism and dreams. Two of the novels, Ben Okri's The Famished Road and its sequel Songs of Enchantment, examine dreams through magical realism in postcolonial African literature. The third novel, Toni Morrison's Beloved, is used to depict the use of memory within an African-American magical realist novel. And the fourth narrative is Irvine Welsh's Marabou Stork Nightmares, which focuses on the use of hallucination within what can be seen as a magical realist mode. The analysis of these novels examines certain aspects of magical realism, including the use of the subconscious, focusing primarily on dream, memory and hallucination. In examining this topic, I aim to suggest that the use of the subconscious, within this literature, allows the writer to comment on a particular society. As can be seen in previous studies of magical realism, the writer is able to express his or her dissatisfaction with society by destabilising conventionally accepted truths. A writer can therefore convey a sense that the surface of a particular culture or society is a facade, disguising certain hidden truths, which require a more in depth examination, in order to more fully understand the workings behind that society. The subconscious works to reveal these hidden realities, and is therefore a mode of resistance in that it allows the writers an avenue through which to express their dissatisfaction with their particular society. This is achieved through the exploring and deconstruction of certain boundaries within the novels which, along with several other factors, essentially concords the magical realism inherent in these texts. It is additionally enhanced through the use of the device of the subconscious, which allows the writers to transgress borders, and further explore their particular cultures. Through the use of novels from various contemporary societies, I hope to establish the fact that the subconscious, and therefore magical realism, is a transcultural technique, in that it traverses a multitude of cultures, without being specific to any one in particular. While the use of dreams requires a culture specific interpretation, the use of the subconscious in this literature can be seen as a global technique of expressing dissatisfaction within these societies. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Globalization and English-language predominance situate English teachers as increasingly influential mediators of both language and culture. In the iconic multicultural hub of Ontario, Canada, teachers work within a causal nexus of social theories of language, the information and communication technologies revolution, and unprecedented global interdependency. Changes in English curriculum reflect these trends, from references to “global citizenship,” to stress on “intercultural communication,” “cultural sensitivity,” and Information and Communication Technology (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007). Delegated gatekeepers of both linguistic and critical literacies, and facing new questions about the purposes and priorities of their discipline, Ontario English teachers must negotiate the divide between an inherited curriculum and the impacts of sociocultural transformation on changing literacy needs. To contribute to a professional dialogue about teaching English in a multicultural society and global age, this thesis presents findings from interviews with fifteen Ontario secondary English teachers. The focal question, “How is English changing?” introduces a range of pressing issues, such as: displacing the canon, practicing intercultural communication, balancing a democratic discourse, or “common culture,” with respect for diverse values, and managing opposing views and resistance to English curriculum change. The data reveal how English teachers across levels of experience occupy contrasting positions on the curriculum change debate. In part, this can be explained in terms of epistemological orientations. The participants represent three categories: Adaptation, Applied Research / Collaborative Inquiry, and Activism, each by turn more geared toward reconceptualizing English for social diversity and global consciousness. Beyond these classifications, the teachers reflect dissonant perceptions, sometimes personal ambivalence, on the changing role of text choice, and written and oral dialogue in the English classroom. From passionate defenses of Shakespeare, to radical measures to revamp book lists for cultural relevance, to remarkable illustrations of curriculum linked with global consciousness and civic action, the responses of the English teachers delineate zones of difficulty, change, and possibility. They help, too, to catch sight of a new horizon: the English classroom as a space for “cultural conversation” (Applebee, 1994) where canon- and teacher-centred dialogue give way to intertextual (Bakhtin, 1981; Kristeva, 1980) and intercultural (R. Young, 1996) transactions.

This study critically explores the numerous strains of “madness” that Zimbabwean authors represent in their postcolonial literature. My focus is on their reflection of “madness” as either an individual state of being, or as symptomatic of the socio-political and economic condition in the country. I have adopted insights from an existential psychoanalytic framework in my literary analysis in order to bring in an innovative dimension to this investigation of the phenomenon. I consider this an appropriate stance for this study as it has enriched my reading of the literary texts under study, as well as played a crucial role in providing me with effective conceptual tools for understanding the manifestations of “madness” in the texts. The literary works that I critique are Shimmer Chinodya’s Chairman of Fools (2009), Mashingaidze Gomo’s A Fine Madness (2010), Brian Chikwava’s Harare North, Petina Gappah’s An Elegy for Easterly (2009), Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not (2006) and Yvonne Vera’s Without a Name (1994) and Butterfly Burning (1998). These selected texts offer me an opportunity to analyse the gender dynamics and discourses of “madness”, which I do from a peculiarly indigenous and feminist perspective. My study reveals that these authors’ representations are located in and shaped by very specific temporal and spatial contexts, which, in turn, shed light on the characters’ existential reality, revealing aspects of their relationship with the world around them. It demonstrates that their notions of “madness” denote different markers of identity, such as race, class, gender, and religion, amongst others. Significantly, my literary analysis illustrates the varied permutations of “madness” by exposing how these authors characterise the phenomenon as trauma, as alienation, as depression, as insanity, as subversion, as freedom, and even as a sign of the state of affairs in Zimbabwe. This investigation also reveals that because “madness” in these authors’ fiction is intricately linked to the question of identity, it manifests in situations where the characters’ sense of ontological security is compromised in some way. What emerges is that “madness” can either signify a grapple with identity, a loss of it, or a struggle for its redefinition / English Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (English)

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Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie verhandeling word die tekste van onderskeidelik Mireille Cottenje (Dagboek van Carla - 1968), Daisy Ver Boven (Mayana - I974 ), Henriette Claessens (Afscheid van Rumangabo - 1983) en Lieve Joris (Terug naar Kongo - 1987) bespreek as verteenwoordigend van die koloniale literatuur deur die vroulike outeur. Die doel is om vas te stel hoe daar deur die vroue outeur in die Vlaamse letterkunde aan die Afrika-ervaring gestalte gegee is. Eerstens word 'n oorsig van die begrip koloniale literatuur gegee en daama word literer-histories op die Vlaamse Afrika-literatuur vanaf die prekoloniale- tot die postkoloniale era gefokus. Nadat 'n analise van die tekste gedoen is om die individuele perspektiewe te evalueer, blyk dit dat die vroue outeurs in 'n groot mate gemeenskaplike visies in hul siening van die koloniale era openbaar. 'n Beeld van die koloniale Kongo soos dit in die ervaringswereld van die vroue outeurs bly voortleefhet, kan so verkry word / In this thesis, the texts of Mireille Cottenje (Dagboek van Carla - 1968), Daisy Ver Boven (Mayana - 1974), Henriette Claessens (Afscheid van Rumangabo - 1983) and Lieve Joris (Terug naar Kongo - 1987) were respectively studied as representative of the colonial literature written by female authors. The aim is to establish how stature is given in the literature to the Africa experience by the female author. In the first instance the concept colonial literature is discussed followed by a historical review of the Flemish African literature from the pre-colonial to the postcolonial era. After an analysis has been completed to evaluate the individual perspectives of the different authors, it appears that the female authors reveal shared perspectives in their views on the colonial era. Through knowledge of the work of these authors, an image of the colonial Congo can be found, as it lives on in the world of the female literator / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie verhandeling word die tekste van onderskeidelik Mireille Cottenje (Dagboek van Carla - 1968), Daisy Ver Boven (Mayana - I974 ), Henriette Claessens (Afscheid van Rumangabo - 1983) en Lieve Joris (Terug naar Kongo - 1987) bespreek as verteenwoordigend van die koloniale literatuur deur die vroulike outeur. Die doel is om vas te stel hoe daar deur die vroue outeur in die Vlaamse letterkunde aan die Afrika-ervaring gestalte gegee is. Eerstens word 'n oorsig van die begrip koloniale literatuur gegee en daama word literer-histories op die Vlaamse Afrika-literatuur vanaf die prekoloniale- tot die postkoloniale era gefokus. Nadat 'n analise van die tekste gedoen is om die individuele perspektiewe te evalueer, blyk dit dat die vroue outeurs in 'n groot mate gemeenskaplike visies in hul siening van die koloniale era openbaar. 'n Beeld van die koloniale Kongo soos dit in die ervaringswereld van die vroue outeurs bly voortleefhet, kan so verkry word / In this thesis, the texts of Mireille Cottenje (Dagboek van Carla - 1968), Daisy Ver Boven (Mayana - 1974), Henriette Claessens (Afscheid van Rumangabo - 1983) and Lieve Joris (Terug naar Kongo - 1987) were respectively studied as representative of the colonial literature written by female authors. The aim is to establish how stature is given in the literature to the Africa experience by the female author. In the first instance the concept colonial literature is discussed followed by a historical review of the Flemish African literature from the pre-colonial to the postcolonial era. After an analysis has been completed to evaluate the individual perspectives of the different authors, it appears that the female authors reveal shared perspectives in their views on the colonial era. Through knowledge of the work of these authors, an image of the colonial Congo can be found, as it lives on in the world of the female literator / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

A travers une étude interculturelle détaillée et comparée de la production théâtrale minoritaire canadienne et américaine, ma thèse cherche à mettre en lumière les les apports thématiques et esthétiques du théâtre multi-ethnicque nord-américain contemporain à la tradition anglo-américaine du 20ème siècle. Les communautés asiatiques, africaines et aborigènes sont retenues comme poste d'observation privilégié de l'expression esthétique de la condition multiculturelle postcoloniale dans le théâtre nord-américain de la période allant de 1972 à nos jours. Sur base d'un corpus de pièces de théâtre, ma recherche m'a permis de redéfinir les grandes articulations des notions d'hybridité, d'identité et de communauté/nation postcoloniale.<p><p>Through a detailed cross-cultural approach of the English Canadian and American minority theatrical production, my thesis aims to identify the thematic and aesthetic contributions of multi-ethnic North American drama to the Anglo-American tradition of the 20th century. My study examines North American drama from the vantage points of African, Asian, and Native communities from 1972 until today. Relying on a number of case studies, my research opened up new avenues for rethinking the notions of hybridity and identity in relation to the postcolonial community/nation. <p> / Doctorat en Langues et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished