This study is concerned with subject formation in the fiction of contemporary postcolonial authors Abdulrazak Gurnah, Yvonne Vera, and David Dabydeen. In contextualised readings of a total of nine works – Gurnah’s Admiring Silence (1996), By the Sea (2001), and Desertion (2005); Vera’s Without a Name (1996), Butterfly Burning (1998), and The Stone Virgins (2002); Dabydeen’s Disappearance (1993), Turner (1994), and A Harlot’s Progress (1999) – it explores thematic and formal aspects of the subject’s constitution in the texts. Investigating the representation of material and discursive traces that constitute the individual, this study has a double aim. First, it describes the particular historical formations that mould the individual in the different texts. Second, it investigates the tactics used to imaginatively upset these formations in order to present new and more enabling modes of being. Gurnah’s fiction depicts the intricate meshwork of social codes, emotions, and narratives that shape subjectivity in a highly unstable and cosmopolitan social reality. His novels repeatedly thematise cultural disorientation, migration, and the efforts of establishing a minimum of social and narrative stability in the form of a home. The chapter reads Gurnah’s fiction against a background of Zanzibari history and diaspora and suggests that various forms of “entanglements” paradoxically provide the means to pull the subject out of states of anxiety and alienation into more viable states of being. Vera’s novels engage a powerful Zimbabwean discourse on history, and the psychic and bodily wounds that result from its violent impact on the subject. Set at moments of special and contested historical importance, her novels address the exclusions and silences of this discourse in order both to assess its effects and the possibilities of imagining alternative versions that would allow other modes of subjectivity. These possibilities are manifested, thematically and textually, through an improvisational form of “movement,” geographical, linguistic, and musical. Dabydeen’s fiction investigates the textual dimensions of identity and its connections to larger cultural archives of tropes and languages. Focusing on the constraining yet constitutive impact of various modes of colonial and racial rhetoric, his literary texts display a manipulation of textual elements from these archives that approaches a re-conception of the subject. To describe this manipulation of English and Caribbean sources, thematised and dramatically staged in his fiction, I am using Dabydeen’s own phrase, “creative amnesia.”

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This master thesis integrates the work of the Floema research group - Study Center for aesthetics and education - and is linked to the research line Education and Arts (LP4) Education Program Post Graduate (PPGE) of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). The research deals with the subject countertenor s vocal formation, based on the discussion of natural and unnatural use of falsetto and countertenor voice, which involves the problem of working with this vocal classification in the training of singers, especially in courses degree in Music in Brazil. To this end, we aimed to analyze the voice of countertenor and the falsetto with respect to natural and non-natural voice and its implications in the formation of singers. The specific objectives sought to identify the reasons why there is resistance to work in higher education courses in Music with the voice of countertenor and know the reasons for resistance to own work with the identification of the vocal score. The orientation of the research presents qualitative approach, based on the autobiographical approach and method. The data consisted of fragments of personal and professional career of the researcher as countertenor. Thus, a presentation and historical context about the countertenor voice and falsetto was held. To think his voice and his performance, it was based mainly on the studies of Zumthor (1993; 2005; 2010; 2014), which deal with the complex range of meanings and possibilities of the voice. Based on these studies, it was discussed what is natural and what is called unnatural voice, entering the concepts of nature and culture based on anthropological studies (Lévi-Strauss, Eribon, 1990; Lévi-Strauss, 2009; among others) and passing by studies of Looser (2005) and Linklater (2006 [1976]). These studies, added to different areas such as music, speech therapy and other voice sciences possible to understand why there is resistance to the voice of countertenor and male voice and falsetto at the very identification of the vocal classification in the researched contexts. In the process, it also problematized the very vocal training of singers, based on the understanding of voice as subjective and constitutive dimension of the subject. / A presente dissertação integra os trabalhos do grupo de pesquisa Floema Núcleo de estudos em estética e educação - e vincula-se à Linha de Pesquisa Educação e Artes (LP4) do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação (PPGE) da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM). A pesquisa trata da formação vocal do sujeito contratenor, partindo da discussão acerca do natural e do não natural no uso do falsete e na voz de contratenores, a qual envolve a problemática do trabalho com essa classificação vocal na formação de cantores, especialmente, em cursos de graduação em Música no Brasil. Para tanto, teve como objetivo geral analisar a voz de contratenor e o falsete no que tange à naturalidade e a não naturalidade da voz e suas implicações na formação de cantores. Como objetivos específicos, buscou identificar as razões para que haja resistência ao trabalho nos cursos superiores de Música com a voz de contratenor, bem como conhecer os motivos da resistência ao próprio trabalho com a identificação dessa classificação vocal. A orientação da pesquisa apresenta enfoque qualitativo, baseado na abordagem e método autobiográfico. Os dados constituíram-se de fragmentos da trajetória pessoal e profissional do pesquisador como contratenor. Assim, foi realizada uma apresentação e contextualização histórica acerca da voz do contratenor e do falsete. Para pensar a voz e sua performance, fundamentou-se, principalmente, nos estudos de Zumthor (1993; 2005; 2010; 2014), que versam sobre a complexa gama de significados e possibilidades da voz. Partindo desses estudos, discutiu-se o que é natural e o que é chamado de não natural na voz, adentrando os conceitos de natureza e cultura tendo por base os estudos antropológicos (LÉVI-STRAUSS, ERIBON, 1990; LÉVI-STRAUSS, 2009; entre outros) e passando por estudos de Looser (2005) e de Linklater (2006 [1976]). Esses estudos, somados aos de diferentes áreas como Música, Fonoaudiologia e outras ciências da voz, possibilitaram compreender as razões pelas quais há resistências à voz de contratenor e ao falsete na voz masculina e a própria identificação dessa classificação vocal nos contextos pesquisados. Nesse processo, problematizou-se também a própria formação vocal de cantores, partindo da compreensão da voz como dimensão subjetiva e constitutiva do sujeito.

The purpose of this essay is to examine and problematize subject formation in relation to the materiality of picture books. A total of eight contemporary picture books are analyzed: Naturen by Emma AdBåge, Jag blir en bubbla som blir ett monster som blir ett barn by Malin Axelsson and Klara Persson, Gittan och gråvargarna by Pija Lindenbaum, I skogen and Olli och Mo by Eva Lindström, En egen flock by Maria Nilsson Thore, Om jag fötts till groda by Annika Sandelin and Karoliina Pertamo and Det var en gång en räv som sprang i mörkret by Anna-Clara and Thomas Tidholm. The questions to lead the analysis are: How are subjects created in the picture books and how does the position operate? How does the book’s materiality and form affect subject positions? How do subject formation and agency relate to each other? How do subjects relate to their surroundings? The text ”När du är bättre än vi – Jantelagen, skammen och barnlitteraturen” by Maria Jönsson is central to the study. Other important theoretical texts are Jenny Jarlsdotter Wikström’s dissertation Materiella vändningar – Läsningar av Parland, Lispector, Berg och Byggmästar, Maria Nikolajeva’s book Bilderbokens pusselbitar and Ulla Rhedin’s book Bilderboken – På väg mot en teori. The essay seeks theorethical and methodological support in Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s Touching Feeling – Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity and Karen Barad’s Meeting the Universe Halfway – Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning, since the analysis and method build on meaning as a material-discursive phenomenon and reading and knowledge as performative processes. Subject formation is analyzed in relation to narrativity, picture book form, meetings, compromise and power. The essay shows how subject formation is affected by material aspects such as the turning of pages, the use of pageturners, and composition and placement of text and picture. The analysis shows vulnerable, shifting and unstable subjects that problematize the idea of subjects as strong, individualized, intact and delimited. Barad’s concept of diffraction is fruitful for understanding meetings and connections built on deficiency and vulnerability. The essay shows the importance of analysing and problematizing subjects and connections through deficiency in contemporary picture books, because of the potential for challenging ideas of what a subject is and what it implies. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka och problematisera subjekt i förhållande till bilderbokens materiella förutsättningar. Sammanlagt åtta samtida bilderböcker analyseras: Naturen av Emma AdBåge, Jag blir en bubbla som blir ett monster som blir ett barn av Malin Axelsson och Klara Persson, Gittan och gråvargarna av Pija Lindenbaum, I skogen och Olli och Mo av Eva Lindström, En egen flock av Maria Nilsson Thore, Om jag fötts till groda av Annika Sandelin och Karoliina Pertamo och Det var en gång en räv som sprang i mörkret av Anna-Clara och Thomas Tidholm. Frågor som leder analysen är: Hur skapas subjekt i bilderböckerna och hur fungerar positionen? Hur påverkar bokens materialitet och form subjektpositioner? Hur förhåller sig subjektskapandet till handlande? Hur förhåller sig subjekt till sina omgivningar? Studien utgår från texten ”När du är bättre än vi – Jantelagen, skammen och barnlitteraturen” av Maria Jönsson. Andra viktiga teoretiska verk är Jenny Jarlsdotter Wikströms avhandling Materiella vändningar – Läsningar av Parland, Lispector, Berg och Byggmästar, Maria Nikolajevas Bilderbokens pusselbitar och Ulla Rhedins Bilderboken – På väg mot en teori. Uppsatsen söker även teoretiskt och metodologiskt stöd i Eve Kosofsky Sedgwicks Touching Feeling – Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity och Karen Barads Meeting the Universe Halfway – Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning, eftersom analys och metod utgår från mening som materiellt-diskursivt fenomen och läsning och kunskap som performativa processer. Subjektformationen analyseras i relation till narrativitet, bilderboksform, möten, kompromiss och makt. Uppsatsen visar på hur subjektskapandet påverkas av materiella förutsättningar som bläddrande, pageturners samt komposition och placering av text och bild. Analysen synliggör sårbara, skiftande och instabila subjekt som problematiserar en idé om subjekt som starka, individualiserade, intakta och avgränsade. Barads diffraktionsbegrepp visar sig fruktbart för att förstå möten och gemenskaper som bildas utifrån brist och sårbarhet. Uppsatsen lyfter vikten av att analysera bristgemenskaper och problematiserade subjekt i den samtida bilderboken, utifrån dess potential att utmana idéer om vad ett subjekt är och innebär.

This thesis mobilizes the concept of “colonial entanglement” to emphasize the deep complexity and unpredictability of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships within what is now known as the Banff-Bow Valley. Responding to various literatures—including Indigenous Studies, Settler Colonial Studies, Political Theory, and Canadian Politics—I posit that the concept of colonial entanglements offers a parallax view of contexts, such as the Banff-Bow Valley, and events like the Buffalo Reintroduction Project. Not only does such a concept reveal how Indigenous nations— both human and non-human—are targeted by the racializing and gendered entanglements of colonizing regimes that seek to break up and replace them, but it also shows how these nations continue to persist and resist despite colonizing efforts to achieve otherwise. In other words, colonial entanglements compel one to also consider how nations like the Ĩyãħé Nakoda also exert influence on other Indigenous and non-Indigenous life in the Banff-Bow Valley—albeit, in different ways and to different degrees. After unpacking the concept in the first chapter, I use colonial entanglement to show how colonizing regimes and their expansionist modes of relationship react to the Indigenous nations they become entangled with. Using the signing of Treaty 7 and the establishment of a national park in Banff, I reveal how the Canadian state seeks to erect colonizing regimes of property that cater to capital as they transit the Banff-Bow Valley by ‘breaking up’ and ‘breaking from’ Indigenous nations and their expansive modes of relationship. Next, I consider how such reactionary violence is continually justified and legitimated through the articulation and reiteration of state of nature fictions that rely on notions of wilderness and tropes of Indigeneity to delegitimize the enduring presence of Indigenous nations. Specifically, I look at the Indian Act, the prohibition of hunting in the Park, and the Banff Indian Days festival to show how state of nature fictions articulate a supposed transition from a “past state of nature” to a contemporary “state of (dis)possession” entangled with white supremacist and heteropatriarchal forms of power. In doing so, these fictions make and reproduce colonial subjects who buy into and support colonizing violence and breakage that disproportionately targets those Indigenous to place. In the final chapter, I turn to focus on the Buffalo Reintroduction Project. Here, I consider how the project presents contemporary opportunities for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to support and/or disrupt colonizing states of (dis)possession and the state of nature fictions they rely on, while also considering the project’s potential for a politics oriented towards expansive modes of relationship revolving around principles of decolonization and anti-colonial internationalism. / Graduate

My mini-dissertation gives the autobiography of Talent Nyathi, who was born in rural Zimbabwe in 1961. Talent was unwillingly conscripted into the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle. On her return to Zimbabwe, she has worked tirelessly for the education of her compatriots. Talent's story casts light on subject-formation in conditions of difficulty, suffering and victimization. Doubly oppressed by her race and gender, Talent has nevertheless shown a remarkable capacity for self-empowerment and the empowerment of others. Her story needs to be heard because it will inspire other women and other S/subjects and because it is a corrective to both the notions of a heroic Struggle and the `victim' stereotype of Africa. Together with Talent's autobiography, my mini-dissertation offers extensive notes that situate her life story in the context of contemporary postcolonial, literary and gender theory and further draws out the significance of her individual `history-from-below'. / English Studies / M.A.

My mini-dissertation gives the autobiography of Talent Nyathi, who was born in rural Zimbabwe in 1961. Talent was unwillingly conscripted into the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle. On her return to Zimbabwe, she has worked tirelessly for the education of her compatriots. Talent's story casts light on subject-formation in conditions of difficulty, suffering and victimization. Doubly oppressed by her race and gender, Talent has nevertheless shown a remarkable capacity for self-empowerment and the empowerment of others. Her story needs to be heard because it will inspire other women and other S/subjects and because it is a corrective to both the notions of a heroic Struggle and the `victim' stereotype of Africa. Together with Talent's autobiography, my mini-dissertation offers extensive notes that situate her life story in the context of contemporary postcolonial, literary and gender theory and further draws out the significance of her individual `history-from-below'. / English Studies / M.A.

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This thesis explores precarization of work and subject formation in seven post-referendum Brexit novels through theories of cognitive capitalism and biopolitical production. The analysis is anchored in Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s reconceptualization of Michel Foucault’s notion of biopolitics. Hardt and Negri combine the concept of biopolitics with contemporary theories of cognitive capitalism and immaterial labour, to illuminate how subjects are subsumed into a system of biopower in which capitalistic production has become biopolitical production. I argue that the Brexit novels examined in this thesis demonstrate how the intrinsic bond between production and life shapes the characters’ relationship to the referendum. As the characters are caught between individual goals and communal values, in a system that demands that they take sole responsibility for their own success while also being responsible democratic citizens, the referendum produces conflicted subjects that experience deep internal and external conflicts in relation to Brexit.

This assignment aims to explore and analyze the picture books I skogen by Eva Lindström, Furan by Lisen Adbåge, Om dagen tar slut by Lisa Hyder and Naturen by Emma AdBåge, through an ecocritical study of subjekt formations. The studying of children's literatre, in relatoin to both the anthropocene and environmenantal discourse, gives an insight into the way man and nature are narrated and how subject positions are challenged. When analyzing such subjects this essay uses The Nature in Culture Matrix, created by the research group Nature in Children's Literature and Culture. The main concepts presented throughout this text include anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, celebrated nature and problematasing nature. This thesis examines how modern picture books protest against the former independent, free and courageous child that was encouraged to put themselves before others. Such a chliche is evident when characters defy a common pattern of action and how anthropomorphizations of nature can highlight the ecocritical way of thinking. It is further evident that pictre books, through intrigue, problematize the human subject and draw parallels to everything that is living. To conclude, the results show that the child as a subject either is challenged or replaced by nature.