This study explores the manifestation of piety and sensuality in the operas Manon and Thaïs by Jules Massenet. These two themes are prevalent in Massenet’s operas as well as his oratorios, although it is not clear why this is so. His admiration and love for the human voice and his ability to compose beautiful melodies are reflected in the fact that he composed primarily for the lyric theatre. Piety and sensuality in Manon and Thaïs are articulated predominantly by the eponymous female characters. In order to understand the characters and the motivations that steer their lives, it was necessary to gain an understanding of the socio-historical context of piety and sensuality. This understanding was reached through means of a traditional literature review, which also shed light on the nineteenth-century Zeitgeist and its influence on Massenet and his work. This is a hermeneutic study conducted in light of an interpretive paradigm. The libretti of Manon and Thaïs were explored by means of a close reading to identify sections dominated by piety and sensuality. Following the example of Lawrence Kramer, a combination of close reading and analysis was used to look at the ways in which piety and sensuality are articulated in the music. It became clear that Massenet used various compositional techniques to differentiate between piety and sensuality in his music scores. These techniques were applied with such skill that a listener can identify these two themes through close listening. / DMus (Performance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study explores the manifestation of piety and sensuality in the operas Manon and Thaïs by Jules Massenet. These two themes are prevalent in Massenet’s operas as well as his oratorios, although it is not clear why this is so. His admiration and love for the human voice and his ability to compose beautiful melodies are reflected in the fact that he composed primarily for the lyric theatre. Piety and sensuality in Manon and Thaïs are articulated predominantly by the eponymous female characters. In order to understand the characters and the motivations that steer their lives, it was necessary to gain an understanding of the socio-historical context of piety and sensuality. This understanding was reached through means of a traditional literature review, which also shed light on the nineteenth-century Zeitgeist and its influence on Massenet and his work. This is a hermeneutic study conducted in light of an interpretive paradigm. The libretti of Manon and Thaïs were explored by means of a close reading to identify sections dominated by piety and sensuality. Following the example of Lawrence Kramer, a combination of close reading and analysis was used to look at the ways in which piety and sensuality are articulated in the music. It became clear that Massenet used various compositional techniques to differentiate between piety and sensuality in his music scores. These techniques were applied with such skill that a listener can identify these two themes through close listening. / DMus (Performance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Les Thaïs dont il est question dans cette thèse ont été détachés et cédé avec l'ancien territoire siamois de Patchan Khirikhet ou Ko Kong à la colonie française du Cambodge en 1904. En conséquence, des Thaïs sont restés dans le territoire cambodgien de Ko Kong jusqu'à présent. À plusieurs époques, toutefois, les Thaïs-Ko-Kong ont choisi de traverser la frontière afin de rentrer définitivement dans la terre patrie de Thaïlande ; l'époque des Khmers Rouges tout particulièrement a provoqué la plus grande de ces immigrations et une nouvelle dispersion des Thaïs de Ko Kong. La majorité des immigrants thaïs-Ko-Kong a trouvé refuge dans le district de Khlong Yai, dans la province frontalière de Trat. Aujourd'hui, le district thaïlandais de Khlong Yai et la province cambodgienne de Ko Kong sont ainsi l'espace transfrontalier principal des Thaïs-Ko-Kong. Cette recherche a pour le but de répondre à trois questions principales sur l'ethnogenèse des Thaïs-Ko-Kong, les identités dynamiques des Thaïs-Ko-Kong et l'hégémonie des frontières des Thaïs-Ko-Kong. Les Thaïs-Ko-Kong ne sont pas un groupe ethnique, ils sont une « ethnie-frontières », un pseudo groupe ethnique, qui s'est formé par une histoire commune liée à la délimitation des frontières et par l'expérience des immigrations depuis le Cambodge. / The Thai people studied in this research have been separated with the ancient Siamese territory of Patchan Khirikhet or Ko Kong and given to the French colony of Cambodia in 1904. Consequently, they constitute nowadays a Thai ethnic minority in Ko Kong province of Cambodia. From generation to generation, at many occasions the Thais of Ko Kong have decided to cross the borderline to go back to their ancestor's homeland. But the main immigration, the dispersion and the disappearance of many Thais from Ko Kong occurred during the Khmers Rouges period. A majority of the Thai migrants from Ko Kong province have settled down at Khlong Yai district at the extreme East of Trat province, in Thailand. At the present time, Khlong Yai district of Thailand and Ko Kong province of Cambodia are therefore a core trans-boundary area for the Thais of Ko Kong. The aims of this research are at answering three mains questions concerning the ethnogenesis, the dynamic identities of the Thais of Ko Kong and their hegemonic controls of the borderlines and border areas. The Thais of Ko Kong are not an ethnic group. They are an « border ethnic group », a pseudo-ethnic group, who have been formed by their common history of the delimitation of frontiers in 1904 and their migration experiences from Cambodia.

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