Thesis (MA (English Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As existent beings, we identify with the world through our thoughts and perceptions. Man is driven to seek meaning by the very complexities and contradictions of existence. As self-conscious beings, we cannot live without a sense of awareness and understanding. Creativity allows an individual to develop a unique understanding of the nature and destiny of man. This study draws attention to writers who were able to transcend their external environment and immerse themselves in a setting where man’s individuality is fundamental to living an authentic life. Camus, Dostoevsky and Kafka made every effort to live consciously and authentically. They believed that inwardness was not to be defined by an external, social setting, but rather through an intimacy of consciousness. This awareness and unveiling of being enables us to create meaning. These authors removed their social mantles and were willing to sacrifice acceptance in the pursuit of this cause. They believed that every man has a responsibility to live an individual and authentic life. This psychological and even physical isolation is not easy, however, and often causes much suffering. Using existentialism as a framework, this thesis will focus on solitariness, suffering and creativity, all of which point to the importance of individual consciousness rather than living a life of societal pressures and conformity. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: As lewende wesens identifiseer ons onsself met die wêreld deur middel van gedagtes en waarnemings. Die mens word gedryf deur die soeke na betekenis in die kompleksiteit en teenstellings van sy bestaan. As wesens met selfkennis kan ons nie leef met ‘n gebrek aan bewustheid en begrip nie. Kreatiwiteit laat die individu toe om ‘n unieke begrip van die aard en lot van die mens te ontwikkel. Hierdi verhandeling vestig die aandag op skrywers wat verby hul uiterlike omgewings kon uitreik en hulself kon indompel in ‘n mileu waar die mens se individualiteit grondliggend is om ‘n onvervalste lewe te lei. Camus, Dostoevsky en Kafka het alles in hul vermoë gedoen om bewustelik en suiwer te lewe. Hulle het geglo dat die innerlike nie gedefinieer kan word deur die uiterlike, sosiale omgewing nie, maar eerder deur ‘n intimiteit van bewustheid. Hierdie bewustheid en openbaring van bestaan laat ons toe om betekenis te skep. Hierdie skrywers het hul sosiale mantels afgewerp en was bereid om sosiale aanvaarbaarheid op te offer in hul strewe na hierdie doelwit. Hulle het geglo dat elke mens oor ‘n individuele en onvervalste lewe beskik. Die sielkundige en selfs fisieke afsondering is egter nooit maklik nie en het dikwels groot lyding tot gevolg. Met eksistensialisme as raamwerk sal hierdie tesis focus op afsondering, lyding en kreatiwiteit.

O presente trabalho de doutoramento em Literatura Brasileira, intitulado Graciliano Ramos: a dor e a náusea, consiste na análise dos quatro romances de Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) e Vidas Secas (1938) - à luz de alguns preceitos básicos do expressionismo alemão, com o objetivo de propor um deslocamento de perspectiva em relação ao discurso hegemônico da historiografia e da crítica literária tradicional, que vêem essas obras como a expressão máxima de uma determinada região, em uma determinada época, limitando-as, portanto, a um contexto sócio-histórico e cultural bem definido. Para a leitura que aqui se propõe, no entanto, esses romances iluminam, numa linguagem enxuta e prenhe de significados intemporais, a força de convicção moral desse escritor que ostenta, através da deformação da realidade, uma emoção intensa, com toda uma carga de prospecção da dor humana. / The present doctorate work on Brazilian Literature, entitled Graciliano Ramos: the pain and the nausea, consists on the analysis of four novels by Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) and Vidas Secas (1938) - at the light of some basic precepts of the German Expressionism, with the aim of purposing a perspective's displacement with regard to the hegemonic speech from the historiography and the traditional literary criticism which see these works as the maximum expression from a certain region on a certain period, restraining them, therefore, to a sharp-cut cultural and socio-historical context. To the reading purposed here, however, these novels enlighten, on a concise language full of timeless meanings, the force of moral conviction of this writer who exhibits, through reality's deformation, an intense emotion with a whole burden of human pain prospection. / El presente trabajo de doctorado en Literatura Brasilera, intitulado Graciliano Ramos: a dor e a náusea, consiste en el análisis de las cuatro novelas de Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) y Vidas Secas (1938) - a la luz de algunos preceptos básicos del expresionismo alemán, con el objetivo de proponer un desplazamiento de perspectiva en relación al discurso hegemónico de la historiografía y de la crítica literaria tradicional, que ven esas obras como la expresión máxima de una determinada región, en una determinada época, limitándolas, por lo tanto, a un contexto socio-histórico y cultural bien definido. Para la lectura que aquí se propone, esas novelas alumbran, en un lenguaje enjuto y lleno de significados intemporales, la fuerza de convicción moral de ese escritor que ostenta, a través de la deformación de la realidad, una emoción intensa, con toda una carga de prospección del dolor humano.

This dissertation attempts to show that the phenomenon of loneliness is written into Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient. The Introduction offers a description of the origins of loneliness as a field of study, presents key instances of loneliness in literature, and investigates the nature of loneliness. In the first chapter, the Villa is introduced as a figural and conceptual framework for analysis. The second chapter focuses on the patient’s room and the library, leading to a discussion of personal and existential loneliness, identity and naming. The third chapter investigates social loneliness with reference to the kitchen, garden and hallway, addressing notions of race and othering, home and family. The fourth chapter discusses the body and embodiment, as well as emotion and metaphor. The dissertation argues that the stylistic, thematic and structural features of The English Patient suggest and reflect the complexities and characteristics of loneliness. / English / M. A. (English)

The study makes an analysis of Charles Mungoshi's Shona works from a Modernist perspective. In this study, Modernist literature is shown as full of change and adventure that has seen characters failing to catch up with the speed at which their social lives are going. The change is continuos and has resulted in many characters continuously failing to cope, which in turn has resulted in continuous frustrations, here described as despair. The study also shows how the despair is being nurtured in the circumstances of crumbling social institutions which, in the past, had acted as the haven for devastated individuals. The crumbling social institutions are shown to be triggering the despair and the characters are given no room to recuperate. The study makes an analysis of what brings this despair and how in the end, particular individual characters fight to ward off the despair. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

O presente trabalho de doutoramento em Literatura Brasileira, intitulado Graciliano Ramos: a dor e a náusea, consiste na análise dos quatro romances de Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) e Vidas Secas (1938) - à luz de alguns preceitos básicos do expressionismo alemão, com o objetivo de propor um deslocamento de perspectiva em relação ao discurso hegemônico da historiografia e da crítica literária tradicional, que vêem essas obras como a expressão máxima de uma determinada região, em uma determinada época, limitando-as, portanto, a um contexto sócio-histórico e cultural bem definido. Para a leitura que aqui se propõe, no entanto, esses romances iluminam, numa linguagem enxuta e prenhe de significados intemporais, a força de convicção moral desse escritor que ostenta, através da deformação da realidade, uma emoção intensa, com toda uma carga de prospecção da dor humana. / The present doctorate work on Brazilian Literature, entitled Graciliano Ramos: the pain and the nausea, consists on the analysis of four novels by Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) and Vidas Secas (1938) - at the light of some basic precepts of the German Expressionism, with the aim of purposing a perspective's displacement with regard to the hegemonic speech from the historiography and the traditional literary criticism which see these works as the maximum expression from a certain region on a certain period, restraining them, therefore, to a sharp-cut cultural and socio-historical context. To the reading purposed here, however, these novels enlighten, on a concise language full of timeless meanings, the force of moral conviction of this writer who exhibits, through reality's deformation, an intense emotion with a whole burden of human pain prospection. / El presente trabajo de doctorado en Literatura Brasilera, intitulado Graciliano Ramos: a dor e a náusea, consiste en el análisis de las cuatro novelas de Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) y Vidas Secas (1938) - a la luz de algunos preceptos básicos del expresionismo alemán, con el objetivo de proponer un desplazamiento de perspectiva en relación al discurso hegemónico de la historiografía y de la crítica literaria tradicional, que ven esas obras como la expresión máxima de una determinada región, en una determinada época, limitándolas, por lo tanto, a un contexto socio-histórico y cultural bien definido. Para la lectura que aquí se propone, esas novelas alumbran, en un lenguaje enjuto y lleno de significados intemporales, la fuerza de convicción moral de ese escritor que ostenta, a través de la deformación de la realidad, una emoción intensa, con toda una carga de prospección del dolor humano.

O presente trabalho de doutoramento em Literatura Brasileira, intitulado Graciliano Ramos: a dor e a náusea, consiste na análise dos quatro romances de Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) e Vidas Secas (1938) - à luz de alguns preceitos básicos do expressionismo alemão, com o objetivo de propor um deslocamento de perspectiva em relação ao discurso hegemônico da historiografia e da crítica literária tradicional, que vêem essas obras como a expressão máxima de uma determinada região, em uma determinada época, limitando-as, portanto, a um contexto sócio-histórico e cultural bem definido. Para a leitura que aqui se propõe, no entanto, esses romances iluminam, numa linguagem enxuta e prenhe de significados intemporais, a força de convicção moral desse escritor que ostenta, através da deformação da realidade, uma emoção intensa, com toda uma carga de prospecção da dor humana. / The present doctorate work on Brazilian Literature, entitled Graciliano Ramos: the pain and the nausea, consists on the analysis of four novels by Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) and Vidas Secas (1938) - at the light of some basic precepts of the German Expressionism, with the aim of purposing a perspective's displacement with regard to the hegemonic speech from the historiography and the traditional literary criticism which see these works as the maximum expression from a certain region on a certain period, restraining them, therefore, to a sharp-cut cultural and socio-historical context. To the reading purposed here, however, these novels enlighten, on a concise language full of timeless meanings, the force of moral conviction of this writer who exhibits, through reality's deformation, an intense emotion with a whole burden of human pain prospection. / El presente trabajo de doctorado en Literatura Brasilera, intitulado Graciliano Ramos: a dor e a náusea, consiste en el análisis de las cuatro novelas de Graciliano Ramos - Caetés (1933), São Bernardo (1934), Angústia (1936) y Vidas Secas (1938) - a la luz de algunos preceptos básicos del expresionismo alemán, con el objetivo de proponer un desplazamiento de perspectiva en relación al discurso hegemónico de la historiografía y de la crítica literaria tradicional, que ven esas obras como la expresión máxima de una determinada región, en una determinada época, limitándolas, por lo tanto, a un contexto socio-histórico y cultural bien definido. Para la lectura que aquí se propone, esas novelas alumbran, en un lenguaje enjuto y lleno de significados intemporales, la fuerza de convicción moral de ese escritor que ostenta, a través de la deformación de la realidad, una emoción intensa, con toda una carga de prospección del dolor humano.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

En ce début du XXIème siècle, un nombre d’auteurs sans cesse plus important développe un véritable enthousiasme pour des thématiques féminines. Plus précisément, il s’agit pour eux de mettre en exergue la quête identitaire des femmes dans notre société. Cette littérature révèle une omniprésence du corps et de la sexualité en lien étroit avec la société et les schémas culturels imposés tenant ainsi un discours novateur sur les femmes. Le but de cette recherche est de montrer comment un discours littéraire, en reprenant les discours socioculturels, féministes et psychanalystes du moment, conçoit la question de la femme et quelle représentation de la femme il produit. Face à cette réflexion sur la question de la femme et son identité, cette thèse centre son étude sur les romans de trois auteurs, Virginie Despentes, écrivain français, Lucía Etxebarria, écrivain espagnol et Maïssa Bey, écrivain algérien francophone. L’être femme est représenté dans un rapport avec la violence masculine mais aussi avec sa propre violence, dans son rapport au corps et à la sexualité, par des relations humaines conflictuelles ainsi que par une aliénation sociale et culturelle. Le personnage féminin est un personnage seul, enfermé dans une identité dans laquelle il ne se reconnaît plus et qu’il rejette. La quête de soi et de la reconnaissance de soi laisse apparaître leurs aspirations, en contradictions avec leurs attributions. A la fin de chaque roman, l’individualisation de la femme est envisagée par la reprise de parole. La reconstruction de soi ne peut être permise que par la maîtrise de la parole sur soi, et la quête d’individualisation doit se poursuivre / In our early 21th century, an increasingly number of writers gets a real enthusiasm for woman-related themes. More precisely, their purpose is to underline the identity quest of women in our society. This kind of literature uncovers a constant involvement of body and sexuality closely linked to society and to cultural schemes that society imposes - thus leading these authors to hold an innovative discourse about women. Our research aims to show how a literary discourse, drawing from actual sociocultural, feminist and psychoanalytic discourses, conceives the Woman issue and which representation of woman it can create. At the hands of this reflection about the Woman issue and her identity, the study focuses on three female authors’ novels, Virginie Despentes, a french writer, Lucia Extebarría, a spanish writer and Maïssa Bey, an algerian French-speaking writer. The woman being is portrayed in her relations with male violence but also with her own violence linked to her relation to body and sexuality, and through human struggles and a social and cultural alienation. The female character is lonely, confined to an identity in which she does not recognize herself anymore and that she rejects. The quest for self-knowledge and for self-recognition lets its longings emerge, in contradiction with their remit. In the end of each novel, woman’s individualization is imaged through a takeover of speech. Self-reconstruction can only be possible thanks to a control of speech about oneself and the individuation quest has to keep going

Avec l’allongement de la durée de vie, les écrits sur la psychologie du vieillissement se sont développés à une moindre échelle que ceux concernant la clinique de l’adulte et de l’enfant. Il nous est donc apparu intéressant, passionnant et fécond de réfléchir à cette période de senescence en reprenant la dualité somat/psyché à travers l’événement chute. L’utilisation d’une méthodologie quantitative et qualitative permet d’aborder l’évènement chute comme une expérience traumatogène selon les données corporelles (sujet dit fragile ou valide, conséquences somatiques et psychomotrices…), temporelles (délai de la dernière chute, moment de la chute, âge objectif et subjectif de la chute…) et psychiques (défenses mises en place, réminiscence, travail du vieillir…). Nous nous sommes donc plus particulièrement penchés sur le point de bascule de cet événement dans un contexte de traitement coûteux des conflits issus de cette période pour y découvrir des défenses de type obsessionnel et une régression maternelle primaire. Par conséquent, le développement des réflexions psychologiques et psychanalytiques sur la clinique de la chute du sujet âgé ne peut être appréciable qu’à la condition de ne pas « tomber » dans le mythe d’un lien de causalité unique, dans une classe démographique indifférenciée dont l’âge serait vu comme un facteur étiologique. L’utilisation de l’analyse quantitative et qualitative du discours donne accès aux données réactionnelles post chute mais également aux modalités de traitement psychique des affects et conflits éveillés par cet événement. Nous avons associé le discours en libre association avec la technique du dessin pour avoir un aperçu des images mentales fixées dans le récit historien de la mémoire. La chute est alors exposée comme un agir, pour pallier la défaillance du système pare-excitation, des capacités d’élaboration et de liaison de la blessure narcissique de la sénescence. Cependant, elle peut également être appréciée comme un retour au corps pour une reprise élaborative des liens d’attachement en vue d’une fin inéluctable. C’est alors que « ce qu’on appelle une raison de vivre est en même temps une excellente raison de mourir » (Albert Camus). En effet, les communications sur la question de la psychologie de la chute du sujet âgé sont principalement étudiées dans le cadre de processus déficitaires ou psychopathologiques du sujet âgé fragile, hospitalisé, sans réellement prendre en compte les remaniements complexes individuels et groupaux inhérents au travail du vieillir. Nous nous sommes donc intéressés au mouvement psychique chez le sujet âgé valide afin d’en tirer de nouvelles réflexions cliniques sur le type d’angoisse et de relation d’objet. Le TAT/SAT proposé au sujet de notre étude a établi la constitution psychique d’un modèle interne de relation insécure du chuteur, en lien avec des expériences d’empiètement relationnel avec un objet maternel défaillant et décevant. / With the increase of life expectancy, psychological writings about ageing have not developed as much as those concerning adults and children. It seemed to us interesting, fascinating and fruitful to think about this senescence period by restating the « somat/psyche » duality throughout the deterioration event. The use of a quantitative and qualitative methodology allows us to tackle the fall event as a traumatic experience according to physical data (fragile ou valid subject, somatic or psychomotor consequences…), temporal (since the last fall, moment of the fall, objective and subjective age of the fall…) and psychic (defenses set up, reminiscence, the work of getting old…) So we specifically looked at the turning point of this event in the context of expensive treatment of conflicts emerging at that time to discover obsessive defense mechanisms and primary maternal regression. In consequence, the development of psychological and psychoanalytical reasoning on the observation of the fall of the ageing subject can only be appreciated by not « falling » in the belief of a unique link of casuality, within an indistinguishable demographic class where age would be seen as an etiological factor. The use of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the discourse gives access to postfall reactive data but also to psychic treatment methods of the conflicts and affects which emerged from this event. We combined verbal communication with the drawing technique to get an insight of the mental images set in the historical narrative of memory. The fall is then exposed as an action, to mitigate the failure of the protective shield system and the capacities of development and connection to the narcissistic injury of senescence. However, it can also be appreciated as a coming back an elaborative resumption of attachment that leads to an inevitable end. It was then that "what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying" (Albert Camus). Indeed writings on the subject of the psychological deterioration of the ageing person are mainly studied in the context of the psychopathological or deficient process of the frail person in question, hospitalized without really taking into account the individual and collective complex alterations common to the process of ageing. We therefore concentrated on the psychic process of a valid old subject in order to glean more clinical reflections on the type of anxiety and object interaction. The TAT/SAT proposed concerning our study has established the psychic constitution of an internal model of an insecure relationship of the ageing, linked with an infringing relational experience with a failing and disappointing maternal object.

Au cours des premiers jours de la pandémie et dans le contexte d'une menace mondiale apparemment inconnue, plusieurs perturbateurs majeurs potentiels du sommeil ont été identifiés par des chercheurs et des praticiens du sommeil à travers le monde. La pandémie de COVID-19 a combiné plusieurs caractéristiques qui, prises individuellement, ont montré qu’elles affectaient négativement la santé du sommeil dans la population générale. Ces caractéristiques comprenaient le stress, les restrictions sur les interactions sociales en personne, ainsi que l'adversité financière. En conséquence, les chercheurs et les praticiens se sont précipités pour identifier des preuves qui pourraient être utilisées pour améliorer les politiques de santé publique et se sont inspirés des premières études COVID-19, des précédentes épidémies de maladies infectieuses, ainsi que de la littérature scientifique portant sur l'isolement social et l'adversité financière. Pour remédier à l'absence d'un résumé complet de la recherche sur le sommeil dans ces trois domaines distincts, je mène une revue systématique et qualitative de la littérature, en utilisant la version adaptée du cadre d'Arksey et O'Malley pour les examens de la portée. Au cours de ce travail, nous avons systématiquement examiné 16 959 résumés et nous nous sommes efforcés de « cartographier » et de résumer les preuves scientifiques pertinentes existantes disponibles en début 2020 sur la santé du sommeil dans le contexte de : 1) la COVID-19, les autres pandémies et/ou crises ; 2) l’isolation sociale, la solitude ou le confinement ; et 3) l'adversité économique ou financière. Des facteurs modérateurs potentiels tels que l'âge, le sexe, l'origine ethnique, le statut socio-économique, la prédisposition psychologique, la profession et d'autres circonstances personnelles dans ces 3 contextes ont également été inclus dans notre revue. Pour conclure, nous soulignons la nécessité de développer des interventions de santé publique qui favorisent la santé du sommeil et qui peuvent réduire l'impact potentiel des crises futures. / During the early days of the pandemic and in the context of a seemingly unknown global threat, several potential major sleep disruptors were identified by sleep researchers and practitioners across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic combined several features that, individually, had been shown to negatively affect sleep health in the general population. Those features included stress, restrictions on in-person social interactions, as well as financial adversity. Accordingly, researchers and practitioners scrambled to identify evidence that could be used to inform public policy and drew on early COVID-19 studies, past infectious disease outbreaks, as well as from the scientific literature on social isolation and financial adversity. To address the lack of a comprehensive summary of sleep research across these three distinctive domains, I lead a systematic, qualitative review of the literature, using the adapted version of Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for scoping reviews. Over the course of this work, we systematically screened 16,959 abstracts and we endeavored to “map” and summarize the existing relevant scientific evidence available in early 2020 on sleep health in the context of: 1) COVID-19, other pandemics and/or crises; 2) social isolation, loneliness or confinement; and 3) economic or financial adversity. Potential moderating factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, psychological predisposition, occupation and other personal circumstances across these 3 contexts were also included in our review. To conclude, we highlight the need to develop public health interventions that foster sleep health and that can lessen the potential impact of future crises.