This study explores constructions and representations of boyhood in selected historical and recent boys’ school stories through the discourses they represent, propagate and, at times, subvert. Foucault’s views on discourse form the basis of the theoretical approach adopted in this study. A literature review on the ideas distinguishing Foucault’s perceptions of discourse from those of other theorists is therefore included. Raymond Williams’s differentiation between dominant, emergent and residual discourses is also demonstrated to be helpful in understanding and describing the relationships between discourses. The principles of critical discourse analysis, in particular, facilitated the discussion of dominant and alternative discourses in the context of the fictional school. A comparison of the dominant discourses implicit in historical and recent publications makes it possible to assess ways in which fictional constructions of boyhood have changed or remained the same over time. The acknowledged benchmark of traditional boys’ school stories, Thomas Hughes’s Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857), and selected school stories by authors such as Talbot Baines Reed, John Finnemore, Rudyard Kipling, Harold Avery and Frank Richards show that the effect of dominant discourses on the representation of the protagonists in historical texts of this kind generally culminate in a replication of an archetypal ideal British schoolboy. This type of boy is constructed as being characterised by his admirable physical and moral courage, outstanding athletic prowess, honesty and strict, though cheerful, adherence to a rigid code of honour that scorns backing down from a fight, discourages the outward display of emotions and rejects any form of snitching. A range of additional related texts confirms this tradition and archetype, albeit often in a more critical portrayal of the British school system of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The contemporary works selected for detailed discussion are texts published after 1990 which arguably fall within the ambit of boys’ school stories. The focus falls on the Harry Potter series (1997-2007) by J.K. Rowling, The War of Jenkins’ Ear (1993) by Michael Morpurgo, and John van de Ruit’s debut novel, Spud: A Wickedly Funny Novel (2005) and its sequel, Spud – The Madness Continues (2007). The findings show that although the recent boys’ school stories by Rowling, Morpurgo and Van de Ruit frequently include motifs and formulaic elements which are typical of traditional boys’ school stories within the texts (notably the motifs of corporal punishment, the fagging system, honesty, courage and the importance of sporting matches), they do not adhere strictly to the underlying discursive framework implicit in their historical counterparts. Thus, the study suggests that the discursive predictability apparent in traditional boys’ school stories is no longer present in contemporary examples of this genre. Instead, the findings of this study indicate that contemporary constructions of boyhood in the context of school are to some extent liberated from the dictates of convention, and that they have become essentially indeterminate and variable. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / English / Unrestricted

In a territorial population of pronghorn from Antelope Island, UT, interaction between male dominance and territory defense was examined. High-ranking males were more likely to defend territories. Closely ranked animals engaged in more dominance interactions than distantly ranked individuals, and middle-ranked animals were involved in disproportionately more interactions than either high- or low-ranking animals. Large males possessed large horns and prongs as well as small cheek patches. Results from a factor analysis suggested that large males defended territories with a high density of sage. However, in this study, we did not observe pronghorn feed on sage during the territorial season. Though male pronghorn practiced resource defense polygyny, large, dominant males did not defend territories with a high density of green vegetation or green forbs. Large males appeared to defend territories with low visibility. In 1996, intruders entered areas that contained females throughout the territorial season. During the next year, highly visible, small territories received the most intrusions. Together, these observations suggest defense of tactical locations. Defending a tactical location may help females avoid harassment and males hide the presence of females. Different populations of pronghorn practice different mating systems. To understand this variation, we examined the behavior patterns/rates of individual territorial and bachelor males. The highest rates of activity and behavior patterns occurred in March/April and in September. Territorial males cheek rubbed at a higher rate than bachelors. Territorial males were more active and SPUD (sniff, paw, urinate, and defecate) marked at a higher rate than bachelor males in 1996. After the formation of a bachelor herd in 1997, bachelor males showed higher rates of male-male interactions than territorial males. Territorial males maintained the same activity and behavioral rates in the presence and absence of females. Dispersion pattern of scent marks was more clumped in the presence of females. These findings suggest cheek rubs function more as a space-claiming behavior while SPUD marking is more strongly associated with male-male interactions. Comparison to male behavior in nonterritorial populations indicates that the behavioral mechanisms are present in all populations to accommodate shifts in social systems.