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Joan Metelerkamp : poet of connectionWeyer, Christine Louise 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This thesis examines the academically neglected work of contemporary South African poet Joan Metelerkamp. It focuses specifically on the drive towards connection displayed in her poetry. The first chapter explores the embodied subjectivity Metelerkamp’s poetry employs, which insists upon connections between language and the body, the self and the natural world. The second chapter examines the connections between Metelerkamp’s poetry and her literary, mythological, academic, sociological and familial legacies which have shaped her work. The third chapter foregrounds the socio-historic location of her poetry, concentrating on the connection her poetry draws between the political and the personal.
All the insights in this thesis are directly initiated by, and accountable to, the poetry. These insights are developed into integrated arguments through recourse to three different but compatible theoretical frameworks: embodiment theory, second wave Anglo-American feminism and contemporary South African literary theory.
By exploring the revelatory connections drawn in her poetry, this thesis will argue that Metelerkamp is an important figure in the South African literary arena. Her poetry, sensual, subtly nuanced and ruthlessly honest, traverses uninhabited areas in South African literature and therefore deserves to receive the detailed critical attention which it has thus far been denied.
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Embedded subjectivity in the work of J.M. CoetzeeSmuts, Merriman Eckard 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is the result of an immersion in the work of J.M. Coetzee. I have taken
various of Coetzee’s novels, namely Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons, Disgrace, The
Master of Petersburg, Foe, Life & Times of Michael K and Slow Man, and constructed
readings of these novels from the inside out. The overarching concern of the
dissertation is the notion of subjectivity and Coetzee’s methods of representing
subjectivity. It is my contestation that the experience of authentic subjective
awareness arises from the process of reading itself. It is not a state of being that is
described by the text, but rather a layered constellation of substitutive exchanges that
emerges from the process of textual relation. The notion of embeddedness serves as a
description of the way in which the text materializes this experience of subjectivity.
The structure of exploration in each chapter has taken as its paradigm a conceptual
concern arising from the text itself. In the first chapter (Elizabeth Costello) the
concern is with structure itself. The character of Elizabeth struggles against the
limitation inherent in the process of representation; this struggle is read as an
indication of authentic subjective experience in the face of reduction to a system of
codes. The second chapter (Disgrace) attempts to formulate the dynamic of
subjective awareness in romantic terms. I construct a reading of Lurie’s predicament
in terms that arise from his conceptual environment, in order to indicate the primacy
of textual materiality as the locus of subjective awareness. The notion of the classic
informs the third chapter (The Master of Petersburg). I use an essay by Coetzee to
delineate a conception of the classic, which is then applied as a theoretical framework
for an exploration of Dostoevsky’s pursuit of his stepson. The fourth and last chapter
(Foe, Life & Times of Michael K and Slow Man) focuses on Coetzee’s use of the body
as a figure for embedded subjectivity. It emerges that the body as a trope of
embeddedness forms an important aspect of Coetzee’s work throughout his career.
As such it is a very suitable figure for describing the dynamics of embeddedness as a
mode of representation that aligns itself with the textual materiality of subjective
being. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis het ontstaan as die gevolg van ‘n noukeurige ondersoek na die werk van
J.M. Coetzee. Ek het myself laat begelei deur die inhoud van verskeie van Coetzee se
boeke, naamlik Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons, Disgrace, The Master of
Petersburg, Foe, Life & Times of Michael K en Slow Man, om intensiewe lesings van
hierdie boeke te konstrueer. Die oorkoepelende bemoeienis van die verhandeling is
die konsep van subjektiwiteit en Coetzee se metodes van subjektiewe voorstelling.
Ek beweer dat die ervaring van outentieke subjektiewe gewaarwording gesetel is in
die leesproses. Dit is nie ‘n toestand van wese wat deur die teks beskryf word nie,
maar eerder ‘n verweefde raamwerk van substituwe wisseling wat kom uit die proses
van tekstuele relasie. Die konsep van inlywing (“embeddedness”) dien as 'n
beskrywing van die manier waarop die teks hierdie ervaring van subjektiwiteit
konkretiseer.
Die struktuur van ondersoek in elke hoofstuk neem as paradigma 'n konsepsuele
vraagstuk wat reeds gesetel is in die teks. In die eerste hoofstuk (Elizabeth Costello)
is die bemoeienis met struktuur as sodanig. Elizabeth se karakter stry teen die
inperking wat noodwending saamgaan met die proses van voorstelling; hierdie stryd
word gelees as 'n aanduiding van outentieke subjektiewe ervaring teenoor die druk
van vermindering tot 'n stel kodes. Die tweede hoofstuk (Disgrace) poog om die
dinamiek van subjektiewe bewustheid te formuleer in terme wat afkomstig is van die
romantiek. Ek konstrueer 'n lees van Lurie se toestand in terme wat kom van sy
konsepsuele omgewing, om sodoende die voorrang van tekstuele materialiteit as die
lokus van outentieke subjektiwiteit aan te dui. Die konsep van die klassieke belig die
derde hoofstuk (The Master of Petersburg). Ek gebruik 'n essay van Coetzee om 'n
begrip van die klassieke te formuleer, wat dan toegepas word as 'n teoretiese
raamwerk waarbinne Dostoevsky se soeke na sy stiefseun ondersoek word. Die
vierde en laaste hoofstuk (Foe, Life & Times of Michael K en Slow Man) fokus op
Coetzee se gebruik van die liggaam as 'n figuur vir ingelyfde subjektiwiteit. Dit blyk
dat die liggaam as 'n figuur van inlywing 'n prominente aspek van Coetzee se werk
vorm deur sy loopbaan. As sodaning is dit 'n baie handige figuur om die dinamiek van inlywing te beskryf as 'n modus van voorstelling wat sigself koppel aan die
materialiteit van die teks.
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Fusions of the feminine and technology : exploring the cyborg as subversive tool for feminist reconstructions of identityVolschenk, Jacolien 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / In this dissertation the dominant metaphor for the fusion between the feminine and
technology, the cyborg, will be examined through various texts to assess the value the
cyborg has for feminism as a tool to exposes the constructedness of boundaries of identity
and gender, thereby enabling a reconstruction of a new feminine identity in a subversive
and transgressive space. The main themes which will be addressed are those that often
feature in feminist science fiction: reproduction, sexuality, the construction of identity
and gender through science, culture and ideology, and the power relations between men
and women. Other related concepts which will be dealt with are language, self and
Other, representation and perspective. Feminist science fiction and theory attempt to
destabilise conventional boundaries concerned with gender and identity and the texts
which this dissertation deals with are all, to varying degrees, concerned with this
destabilisation, each offering a unique perspective on feminine identity and the attempted
transformation of current gender categories which will be explored in detailed analysis.
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V.S. Naipaul : homelessness and exiled identityCader, Roshan 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (English Literature))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Thinking through notions of homelessness and exile, this study aims to explore how V.S. Naipaul engages with questions of the construction of self and the world after empire, as represented in four key texts: The Mimic Men, A Bend in the River, The Enigma of Arrival and A Way in the World. These texts not only map the mobility of the writer traversing vast geographical and cultural terrains as a testament to his nomadic existence, but also follow the writer’s experimentation with the novel genre. Drawing on postcolonial theory, modernist literary poetics, and aspects of critical and postmodern theory, this study illuminates the position of the migrant figure in a liminal space, a space that unsettles the authorising claims of Enlightenment thought and disrupts teleological narrative structures and coherent, homogenous constructions of the self. What emerges is the contiguity of the postcolonial, the modern and the modernist subject.
This study engages with the concepts of “double consciousness” and “entanglements” to foreground the complex web and often conflicting temporalities, discourses and cultural assemblages affecting postcolonial subjectivities and unsettling narratives of origin and authenticity. While Naipaul seeks to address questions of postcolonial identity, his oeuvre is simultaneously entangled within the Anglophone literary tradition. The texts in this study foreground the convergence of the politics of writing and the politics of subjectivity.
Through continuous re-writing of the self, the past and history, Naipaul focuses on the fragmentary, the partiality of knowledge and the obscurity of the present to evince the continuous renewal of subjectivities. His narratives enact deep feelings of despair and melancholy that attend the migrant position in the current age of mass migrations, technological advancement, militarism, and essentialised ethnocentrisms and cultural constructions. In his poetics of exile, he endorses the particular over the universal. His commitment to a “politics of difference” underscores the texts in this study and serves to foreground Naipaul’s position of otherness.
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Ethics of the real : Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost and the touch of the worldRosochacki, Elke 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (English))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This dissertation rests on the assumption that the literary text is fundamentally part of the world from which it emerges. Following Heidegger's understanding of the work of art as a form of unconcealment, it argues that Michael Ondaatje's fictional work Anil's Ghost discloses the particular, historically contingent conditions that determine the ethical relations people are cast into during a time of war in the present era of globalization. The novel interrogates the idea of truth in its meta-fictional discourse and stakes out the grounds of its own fictional truth in contra-distinction to truth as fact offered by Western empiricism. Alongside the implicit criticism of Western epistemology, the novel mounts a critique of the universal human rights discourse and suggests that an ethical approach to the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka is preferable to a political solution imposed from the outside. War is presented as a radically embodying event in which the body is made vulnerable to death and injury: and the ethical imperative to alleviate physical suffering is identified as the most immediate and appropriate response to the crisis of war. Following Levinas, ethics is understood to transpire in the corporeal relation between individuals. By attending in detail to the embodied experience of being in the world, the novel prepares the ground for an ethics of the body that is closely aligned to the ethics as first philosophy espoused by Levinas. The dissertation argues throughout that the novel discloses the nature of ethical relations between people in the world by means of its aesthetic forms of language. The domain of the ethical and aesthetics are thus commensurate.
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Screen bound/skin bound : the politics of embodiment in the posthuman ageVan der Schyff, Karlien 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The end of the second millennium saw a sudden return to corporeality, especially within
feminist scholarship, where embodiment and issues surrounding the body were, for the
first time, made explicit. This study examines the corporeal body in relation to
technology and the impact that newly emerging virtual technologies have on our
understanding of the body, not only through examining representations of the
technologically modified body, but also by exploring how contemporary cultural
practices produce corporeal bodies that view themselves as somehow integrated with
technology. It focuses on the material artefacts of contemporary culture in relation to
explicitly virtual technologies, both arguing for a return to corporeality and contesting the
pervasive trope of disembodiment that characterises so-called “posthuman” age.
This study thus takes one of the most popular metaphors for the relationship between the
corporeal body and technology as its starting point, namely Donna Haraway’s cyborg
figures. Following the publication of Haraway’s “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” (1985), the
female cyborg became an icon of emancipation for many feminist scholars, who utilised
Haraway’s cyborg discourse as a means of discussing the cultural practices that both
construct and limit female gendered identity. Through closely examining the metaphor of
Haraway’s cyborg figures in relation to cultural representations of female cyborg bodies,
this study argues that, ultimately, the metaphor of the cyborg is inherently neither
challenging nor liberating. It then examines the failure of the cyborg as an icon of
postgenderedness in terms of its negation of the corporeal, as cyborg figures
paradoxically only strengthen the same Cartesian dualism Haraway’s cyborg discourse
attempts to deconstruct. It explores representations of three female cyborg figures found
in contemporary popular culture to illustrate how the cyborg body’s negation of the
corporeal only results in the reiteration of conventional gendered stereotypes, rather than
liberation from oppressive gendered practices.
Finally, this study examines the crucial interplay between the corporeal and the
technological, not only when speaking of more imaginary cyborg configurations and tropes, but also when speaking of the physical reality of lived bodies and embodied
experiences. By examining the increasingly embodied nature of cyberspace, this study
explores possible alternatives to the figure of the hypersexualised and disembodied
cyborg, through investigating new figurations with which to describe the embodied
postmodern subject and his/her dependence on technology. Since the central task for a
feminist ethics of embodiment would be grounded in the project of representing the
female body, in such a way that it constructs autonomous women’s representations
without falling prey to patriarchal, stereotypical or estranging images of women’s bodies,
this study concludes with more useful methods of representing the corporeal body in
relation to virtual technology through an appeal to an ethics of embodiment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die einde van die tweede millennium het ‘n skielike belangstelling in beliggaamdheid
ontlok, veral binne feministiese vakgeleerdheid, waar beliggaamdheid en kwessies
rondom die ligaam vir die eerste keer eksplisiet gestel is. Hierdie studie ondersoek die
stoflike liggaam in verhouding tot tegnologie en die invloed wat nuwe, virtuele
tegnologiëe op ons begrip van die liggaam het, nie slegs deur voorstellings van die
tegnologies-gemodifieërde ligaam te ondersoek nie, maar deur ook te kyk na hoe
kontemporêre kulturele praktyke beliggaamde subjekte produseer wat huself op een of
ander wyse as geïntegreerd met tegnologie sien. Die studie fokus op die materiële
artefakte van kontemporêre kultuur in verhouding tot eksplisiet virtuele tegnologiëe. Dit
bevorder ‘n terugkeer tot beliggaamdheid, terwyl dit teen die sogenaamde “postmenslike”
era se mees kenmerkende troop van ontliggaamdheid argumenteer.
Die studie begin dus deur een van die mees populêre metafore vir die verhouding tussen
die liggaamlike en die tegnologiese te ondersoek, naamlik Donna Haraway se siborgfigure.
Sedert die publikasie van Haraway se “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” (1985), het
verskeie feministiese vakgeleerdes die vroulike siborg-figuur beide as ’n ikoon vir
emansipasie beskou en gebruik om die kulturele praktyke wat vroulike geslagsidentiteit
gelyktydig konstrueer én beperk te bespreek. Deur Haraway se siborg-figure met
kulturele voorstellings van vroulike siborg-liggame te vergelyk, kom hierdie studie tot die
gevolgtrekking dat die metafoor van die siborg inherent nóg uitdaagend nóg bevrydend
is. Gevolglik ondersoek die studie die onbevoegdheid van die siborg-figuur as ‘n ikoon
vir postgeslagtigheid in terme van die siborg-liggaam se negering van beliggaamdheid,
aangesien siborg-figure op ‘n paradoksale wyse die selfde Cartesiaanse dualisme versterk
wat Haraway se siborg-diskoers wou dekonstrueer. Dit ondersoek voorstellings van drie
vroulike siborg-figure in kontemporêre populêre kultuur om te illustreer hoe die siborgliggaam
se negering van beliggaamdheid slegs konvensionele geslagstereotipes versterk,
eerder as om ons van beperkende, patriargale geslagspraktyke te bevry. Ten slotte ondersoek hierdie studie die deurslaggewende tussenspel tussen die ligaamlike
en die tegnologiese, nie slegs in terme van meer denkbeeldige siborg tropes nie, maar ook
in terme van die fisiese reailiteit van konkrete, beliggaamde lewenservaringe. Deur die
toenemend beliggaamde kwaliteit van kiberruimtes te ondersoek, stel hierdie studie
moontlike alternatiewe maniere voor om die postmoderne subjek en sy/haar
afhanklikheid van tegnologie te beskryf, eerder as om op ontliggaamde en hipergeseksualiseerde
siborg-figure staat te maak. Aangesien ‘n feministiese beliggaamde
etiek gegrond is in ‘n projek om die vroulike liggaam op só ‘n wyse voor te stel dat
patriargale, stereotipiese of vervreemdbare beelde van die vroulike liggaam vermy word,
eindig hierdie studie met meer nuttige metodes om die stoflike liggaam in verhouding tot
virtuele tegnologie voor te stel deur ‘n beroep tot ‘n meer beliggaamde etiek te maak.
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Complex urban identities : an investigation into the everyday lived realities of cities as reflected in selected postmodern textsSnyman, Adalet 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The concept of the city has evolved over time with generations of city dwellers. The
rapid advance of technology has promoted globalisation, which has brought about
increased familiarity with diverse cultures, but has also exposed issues of
marginalisation among communities in cities.
In order to approach a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the
“open” postmodern view of the city it is essential to consider the relevant literature
that grapples with issues of human identity and appropriation in the city.
This dissertation examines narrative perspectives in the literary works of four
postmodern writers: Jonathan Safran Foer, Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, and Lauren
Beukes. References to underlying philosophical viewpoints, various perceptions, both
“real” and fictional, were incorporated in the discussion.
Close attention is paid to the correlation between the novel and the city, and to what
extent the city itself can be viewed as a narrative – since, within a postmodern
approach, fictional narratives may form discourses that represent, and in a fashion
constitute, the city, while subjects at the same time form themselves in terms of their
environment. Fiction becomes an invaluable tool for exploring the cityscape and
commenting on contemporary issues.
In conclusion, the urbanised human subject may be said to play a vital role in
establishing the concept of the city, both in “real” culture and in fictional narrative.
The representation of the contemporary South African urban milieu in the discussed
literature serves to confirm the relevance of local as well as global influences. To
justify multiple perspectives on the city consequently means to grant each individual
viewpoint validity. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die konsep van die stad het deur die jare ontwikkel saam met geslagte van stadsbewoners.
Die vinnige vooruitgang van tegnologie het globalisasie bevorder, wat op
sy beurt weer bewustheid van diverse kulture bevorder het, maar ook kwessies
blootgelê het rondom marginalisasie in stadsgemeenskappe.
Ten einde ‘n meer omvattende begrip van die kompleksiteit van die “oop”
postmoderne perspektief op die stad daar te stel, is dit belangrik om te kyk na die
relevante literatuur wat bemoeienis maak met kwessies van menslike identiteit en
eienaarskap in die stad.
Hierdie dissertasie het gekyk na vertellerperspektiewe in die literêre werke van vier
postmoderne skrywers: Jonathan Safran Foer, Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, en
Lauren Beukes. Met verwysing na onderliggende filosofiese gesigspunte is verskeie
persepsies, gegrond op die werklikheid sowel as fiktief, in die bespreking ingesluit.
Daar is aandag gegee aan die verband tussen die roman en die stad, en in watter mate
die stad self as ‘n teks beskou kan word, aangesien die teks volgens ‘n postmoderne
aanslag die stad kan “representeer” en “laat ontstaan”, terwyl menslike subjekte
hulself terselfdertyd vorm in terme van hul omgewing. Fiksie word dus ‘n
waardevolle werktuig vir waarneming van en kommentaar lewer op komtemporêre
sake.
Ten slotte kan gesê word dat die verstedelikte menslike subjek ‘n belangrike rol speel
in die bevestiging van die stad as konsep, beide in reële kultuur en in fiktiewe
vertelling. Die verteenwoordiging van die kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse stedelike
milieu in die bespreekte tekste bevestig die relevansie van lokale sowel as
internasionale invloede. Om veelvuldige perspektiewe op die stad gelyk te beregtig
beteken gevolglik dat elke individuele gesigspunt geldig is.
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Things fall apart, power and KrishnamurtiEybers, Oscar Oliver 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The following mini-thesis, Things Fall Apart, Power and Krishnamurti, is
concerned with the nature by which power is possibly viewed, maintained and
transferred by the characters of Chinua Achebe' s novel, Things Fall Apart. The
intent of this analysis is to incorporate traditional literary approaches to issues of
power in the novel via polarised conceptions, such as east versus west, black
versus white or indigenous culture and traditions versus Christianity. Yet
simultaneously, by incorporating the unique world-view of Krishnamurti, power,
as possibly represented in Things Fall Apart, will be scrutinised as a selfperpetuating
entity which chooses its own agents for its manifestation, outside and
not necessarily as results of constructions of race, religion or economical design.
Specifically, I am interested in Achebe's fictional construction of the indigenous-
African maintenance of power and authority within the novel; before and after the
arrival of the European colonialists. Did all African villagers, as represented in the
fictitious Umuofia, accept the powers-that-be with non-critical minds, or, was
power and authority embedded in the processes whereby the Umuofians became
accustomed and socially conditioned by the cultural constructs of their particular
society? Personally, I do not perceive either of these approaches to be sufficient in
the process of holistically comprehending African adaptation to and adoption of
'western' modes of culture. Instead, I believe that though the encroachment of
European mercantilism and Christianity upon the African mental and physical
landscape was undeniably brutal, this very brutality was in and of itself not
variant, compared to psychological and physical maintenance of power in the
indigenous realm. This is a primary area of concern of this thesis. I perceive that
the African elite, like the European missionaries, used religion and perceptions of
tradition and identity to hold on to their elitist and prestigious positions in the
indigenous social network.
Secondly, this thesis is critical ofthe perception that the dominant emergence of
western spiritual and political constructs, over indigenous structures, is a direct result
of the acquiescence or absolute physical and mental defeat of African people. Rather,
I perceive that African people - in the processes of becoming aware of a new way of life and in making conscious decisions to incorporate this new world-view into their
own life-scheme - altered the manipulation and maintenance of power and authority
in indigenous society, within the context of Things Fall Apart. In effect, the transfer
of political power in Things Fall Apart is not simply a matter of the destruction of
African culture by the Europeans. Instead, it is a result of Africans becoming aware of
a new way of life, and adopting aspects of this lifestyle in the place of their traditional
norms.
Krishnamurti's ideas will be incorporated into the above analysis to present a
particular world-view that deliberately strives to counteract the human tendency to
cling to philosophies, political persuasions, theories or religious fervor. I have
included Krishnamurti in the examination of the tension and psychological conversion
of African people (as represented in Things Fall Apart) due to moments when they
themselves, in the process of introspection, sought to let go of ancient customs and
explore the new and foreign, as represented by Christianity. It is my position that in
the moments when indigenous authority was questioned by the masses, so began a
multifold process: this included the reconstruction of the African self and the readjustment
of power relations within the African collective. Krishnamurti posed the
following question:
When you are told what to do, what to think, to obey, to follow, do you know
what it does to you? Your mind becomes dull, it loses its initiative, its
quickness. This external, outward imposition of discipline makes the mind
stupid, it makes you conform, it makes you imitate (1974:29).
I am aware that by juxtaposing the above idea next to African culture might appear
blasphemous in the 'new' South Africa, given the great effort to revive 'African'
culture. I do not object to this revival and consciousness of tradition and heritage. Yet,
I strongly agree with Krishnamurti that the maintenance of power by a select group of
elite Africans in the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial dispensations is a result
of the conformity and acceptance of the masses of African people of the social,
spiritual and economic constructions of the elite. The very patterns whereby Africans
think was, through centuries, developed by a select group of individuals, as reflected
in Things Fall Apart. Culture and tradition have acted as standards whereby individuals measure the worth of their individuality. Hence, Krishnamurti views the
struggle of freedom; the struggle of individuals to shake of cultural or traditional
constraints, as crucial to the full development of the human self. "Freedom," he says,
"liberty, the independence to express what one thinks, to do what one wants to do, is
one of the most important things in life. To be really free ... within oneself, is one of
the most difficult and dangerous things" (1974:30. As this thesis progresses, we will
probe Krishnamurti's claim that the individual attempt to be free, as possibly
represented in Achebe's Things Fall Apart, may be both difficult and dangerous. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die volgende mini thesis, "Things Fall Apart, Power and Krishnamurti" is besorg op
die manier hoe mag anskou, behou en oorgedra work binne karakters van Chinua
Achebe se novel, "Things Fall Apart". Die doel van hierdie analise is om bewus te
raak van die tradisionele liturere benadering tot konsepte soos mag gesien vanuit ft
polografiese oogpunt, soos bv. oos teenoor wes, swart teenoor wit of inheemse kuluur
en tradisie teenoor Christenskap.
Inteendeel, deur die unieke sienswyse van Krishnmurti in te sluit, sal mag soos vervat
in "Things Fall Apart", in totaliteit gekritiseer word deur sy eie manifesteringe en nie
noodwendig vanuit ft oogpunt van ras, geloof of ekonomie nie.
Ek is spesifiek geinteriseerd in Achebe se fiktioneie konstruksie van die Inheemse
Afrikaanse behouing van magsbeheer in hierdie novel. Beide voor en nadat Europese
kolonisme hier gearriveer het, het Afrikaner inwoners, soos voorgehou in die fiktiese
"Umofia" magsbeheer in hulle gedagtes aanvaar? Of was magsbeheer
onvoorwaardelik in hulle ingeplant deur die sosiale en kulturele aspekte van hul
spesifieke gemeenskap. My persoonlike sienswyse is dat hierdie banadering ft
oordeelkundige benadering is om gevolglik die Afrikaner aanvaring en uitoefening
van westerse kulturele modes te verstaan.
Inteendeel argumenteer ek dat die indringing van Europese merkantalisme en
Christendom bo-op die Afrikaner geestelike en natuurkundige landskappe
onerkenbaar geweldadig was en dat hierdie geweldadigheid in en vanself nie
veranderlik was nie, invergelyking met die sielkundige en fisiese behouing van mag
soos voorbehou in die Inheemse koningkryk. Die elite wie die opperpriester van prekoloniale
Afrikaner gemeenskap saamgestel het, wie aangedring het op ft vorm van
getrouheid tot kulturele en politieke konstruksies soos deur hulle bepaal, het ook die
psige krag van die plaaslike dorpsbewoners misbruik. Dit is my primere punt van
fokus in hierdie thesis. My argument is dat die Afrikaanse elite, soos Europese
sendelinge, geloof en persepsies van tradisie en identitiet gebruik het om vas te kleef
aan hul eie elite en invloedryke posisies binne die Inheemse en sosiale netwerk. Tweedens, hierdie thesis is krities van die persepsie dat die verskyning van Westerse
spiruturele en politieke konstruksies oor inheemse strukture, ft direkte gevolg was
van die instemming tot absolute psise en geestelike omverwerping van Afrikaner
mense. Ek sal beweer dat Afrikaner mense, in die proses van gewoont raak aan ft
nuwe lewenstyl, doelbewuste keuses gemaak het om hierdie nuwe wereld sienswyse
in hul eie lewenstyl te inkorpireer. In hierdie proses is die magsbeheer soos voorbehou
in die Inheemse gemeenskap gemanupileer binne die konteks van "Things Fall
Apart". Gevolglik, die direkte oordrag van politieke mag in "Things Fall Apart" was
nie net eenvoudig ft vernietiging van Afrikaner kultuur deur Europese nie. Inteendeel,
dit was ft direkte gevolg van Afrikaners wat bewus geraak het van ft nuwe lewenstyl,
en in die proses het Afrikaners hierdie lewesstyl as hul eie aanvaar.
Krishnamurti se sienswyse sal geinkorpireer word in die boostaande analise wie se
wereldwye sienswyse doelbewus stry teen die mens se geneighheid om aan te kleef
aan filosofiese en politieke oortuigende gedagtes van theorie en geestelike
opgewondenheid. Ek het spesifiek Krishnamurti se sienswyse ingekorpireer om die
konflik en filosofiese veranderinge in Afrikaner mense te ondersoek (soos voorbehou
in "Things Fall Apart") as gevolg van oomblikke waarin die Afrikaners hulself
introspeksie doen en in dié proses, van hul eie eeue oue tradisies en gewoontes
afstand gedoen het om die nuwe forum soos voorbehou deur Christenskap aan te
kleef. Dit is my sienswyse dat gedurende hierdie tydperk magsbeheer bevraagteken
was deur die magdom van mense. Dis hoe die rekonstruksie van die Afrikaner "Ek"
en die herskedulering van magsbeheer verhoudinge binne die Afrikaner kollektief
plaasgevind het.
Krishnamurti stel die volgende vraag: Wanneer ft mens gesê word wat om te doen,
wat om te dink, wat om te gehoorsaam, wat om te volg, weet jy wat dit aan n mens
doen? Nmens se brein raak traag en die brein verloor sy inisiatief en sy fluksheid. Die
uitwendige, die buitewerking van discipline maak jou brein dom, dit laat jou
naaboots. (1974:29).
Ek is bewus dat deur bogenoemde idea en Afrikaner kultuur naas mekaar te stel mag
as godslasterend voorkom binne die konteks van die "nuwe" Suid Afrika, gegewe die groot inspanning om "Afrikaner" kultuur te hernu. Ek maak nie beswaar teen die
heruwing en bewussyn van tradisie en erfenis nie. Ek stem saam met Krishnamurti dat
deur die beheer van mag van fi selektiewe groep van elite Afrikaners in die prekoloniale,
koloniale en post-koloniale dipensasies te gee, is as gevolg van die
aanmeerning en aanvaarding deur die magdom van die Afrikaner gemeenskappe van
sosiale, spirituele en ekonomiese konstruksies soos dié van dié elite. Die denks wyse
waarlangs Afrikaners dink, was vir eeue lank, uitgebrei deur fi selektiewe groep
mense, soos voorgehou in "Things Fall Apart". Kultuur en tradisie het fi standard
geword waarby fi mens hom kan mee verlyk om sy waarde as individu te kan bepaal.
Om hierdie rede, sien Krishnamurti die geveg vir vryheid as die geveg vir individue
om kulturele en tradisionele beperkige af te skud en dis inderdaad belangrik vir die
uitbreiding van die mens se eie identiteit. "Vryheid", sê hy, "liberalisme, die
onafhanklikheid om uit te spreek wat fi mens dink, te doen wat fi mens wil doen, is
een van dié mees belangrikste dinge in die lewe. Om innerlik vry te wees ... is een van
die moeilikste en gevaarlikste dinge in die lewe" (1974:30). Soos hierdie thesis
voortgaan, sal ek Krishnamurti se beweering dat die individu se poging om vry te
wees, soos moontlik voorgestel in Achebe se " Things Fall Apart" dalk beide moeilik
en gevaarlik mag wees.
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Alternative worlds in Spenser's The faerie queeneVan Zyl, Liezel 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA)-- Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Although The Faerie Queene was written in 1589 as a commentary on and criticism of issues
which would concern many sixteenth-century Protestant subjects of Queen Elizabeth of
England, Spenser creates in his text worlds which even a twentieth-century reader can find
significant. Allegorical representations, mythical, historical and poetical figures and pastoral
retreats, for example, not only reflect the harsh realities which sixteenth-century English
society experienced, but also offer the possibility of escape to worlds of divine and charitable
interaction. Spenser, drawing on Philip Sidney's An Apology for Poetry, constructs an ideal
world where there is no strife, only peaceful interaction and stability, as opposed to the
problems and fears of the "real" world of sixteenth-century England. The story of Faery Land
is, therefore, about a magical world of wish fulfilment, but at the same time it also draws on
the concrete reality of sixteenth-century England, which has relevance for a twentieth-century
world still concerned with many of the same issues of crime, justice, religion, government,
relationships and history. Discussion in this thesis focuses on the different "real" and ideal
worlds and the devices used to represent these worlds in the narrative of The Faerie Queene.
Chapter 1 deals with allegorical representation and distinguishes between two levels of
representation: a "literal" or primary level of signification which reflects the everyday
experiences of the sixteenth-century reader, and the allegorical level whereby these
experiences and desires are personified. The allegory, in tum, communicates and reveals
different doctrines or themes: this chapter shows how Redcrosse represents the struggle of the
religious man who finally earns salvation by perseverance and dependence on the grace of
God. In this allegorical world, Spenser shows the religious conflicts, doubts and victories of
the sixteenth-century Protestant man. Chapter 2 explores a series of allegorical parallels in plot, theme and structure in Book 2 of
The Faerie Queene which create the "real" and ideal worlds through which Guyon now runs
his race. Here, the discussion focuses on the clues provided by the allegory which lead the
reader to a redefinition of the categories of good and evil. The primary purpose of the allegory
is, therefore, didactic and the sixteenth-century reader is taught how to interpret the signs and
symbols of Spenser's allegorical, historical and mythical worlds. This chapter concludes with
an examination of Spenser's mythical devices and an exploration of the historical significance
of his fictional characters and plots - all of which help the reader to grasp the significance of
Spenser's world of knights and fairies.
Chapter 3 focuses on a discussion of Books 3 and 4, in which issues of love and friendship
come to shape Spenser's ideal world. The analyses consider how sixteenth-century
perceptions of marriage, love and power may have influenced his conceptionalization of such
an ideal world. The chapter concludes with an exploration of sixteenth-century concerns with
time and discord, and demonstrates how Spenser fmally resolves these issues in his vision of
the Garden of Adonis.
Chapter 4 deals with Book 5, where Artegall represents the just knight. Here the thesis
examines Spenser's political aspirations, and shows how historical events are reflected in the
actions of characters and how they may influence Spenser's vision of the ideal society with its
just ruler. This discussion also focuses, among other things, on those factors which may have
contributed to Spenser's disillusionment with sixteenth-century society. Chapter 5 concludes with Spenser's pastoral ideal of Book 6, which brings the promise of
peace and prosperity, as opposed to a life of waste and thwarted ambition at Court. On Mount
Acidale, Spenser's alternative worlds coincide, as Calidore, representing the fallen and "real"
world of Faery Land, is allowed a glimpse of the poetic and divine worlds which the poet,
Colin Clout, already shares with three Graces and his mistress. Chapter 5 examines the poet's
autobiographical persona in the figure of Colin Clout and the relevance of his appearance on
Mount Acidale in particular, and in the poem in general. It is the intention of this thesis to
follow the route which Spenser has marked out, to read and interpret the signs and to finally
share in this world of dream and thought, experience and vision. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ten spyte van die feit dat Spenser se Faerie Queene reeds in 1589 geskryfis as 'n
kommentaar of kritiek op kwessies wat vir menige sestiende-eeuse Protestantse onderdaan
van koningin Elizabeth van Engeland van belang sou wees, is daar in Spenser se teks wêrelde
geskep wat selfs vir 'n twintigste eeuse leser waarde sou hê. Allegoriese voorstellings,
mitologiese-, historiese-, en poëtiese figure, asook herderstoevlugte byvoorbeeld reflekteer
nie net die harde realiteite waaraan 'n sestiende-eeuse Engelse gemeenskap blootgestel is nie,
maar bied ook die moontlikheid van ontsnapping na wêrelde van goddelike en mensliewende
interaksie. Spenser, wat gebruik maak van Sidney se An Apology for Poetry, konstrueer 'n
ideale wêreld waar daar nie konflik of oorlog is nie, slegs vreedsame interaksie en stabiliteit;
teenoor die probleme en vrese of "realiteite" wat 'n sestiende-eeuse Engeland gekenmerk het.
Die Faerie Queene gaan dus oor 'n verbeeldingryke wêreld van wensvervulling, maar
terselfdertyd verwys dit ook na die konkrete realiteit van 'n sestiende-eeuse Engeland wat
relevansie het vir 'n twintigste-eeuse gemeenskap nog steeds gemoeid met baie van dieselfde
kwessies rakende misdaad, geregtigheid, godsdiens, regering, verhoudings en geskiedenis.
Bespreking in hierdie tesis fokus op die verskillende "werklike" en ideale wêrelde asook die
tegnieke waarvan daar gebruik gemaak is om hierdie wêrelde in Spenser se gedig voor te stel.
Hoofstuk 1 bespreek die allegoriese voorstelling en onderskei tussen twee vlakke van
representasie: 'n "letterlike," of primêre vlak van aanduiding wat die alledaagse ervaringe van
die sestiende-eeuse leser voorstel en die allegoriese vlak waar hierdie ervaringe en begeertes
gepersonifieer word. Die allegorie, op sy beurt, kommunikeer en onthul verskillende
leerstellings ofboodskappe: hierdie hoofstuk wys hoe Rederosse die stryd van die gelowige man verteenwoordig wat uiteindelik gered word as gevolg van volharding en erkenning van
sy afhanklikheid van God. Hierdie wêreld beeld die konflik, onsekerheid en oorwinning van
die sestiende-eeuse Protestant uit.
Hoofstuk 2 ondersoek 'n reeks allegoriese paralleie in plot, tema en struktuur in Boek 2 van
The Faerie Queene wat die "werklike" en ideale wêrelde skep waardeur Guyon nou sy
wedren hardloop. Hier fokus die bespreking op die leidrade wat deur die allegorie voorsien
word en waardeur die leser gelei word tot 'n herdefinieering van die kategorieë van goed en
sleg. Die primêre doel van die allegorie is dus didakties en die sestiende-eeuse leser word
geleer hoe om die tekens en simbole van Spenser se allegoriese, historiese en mitologiese
wêrelde te interpreteer. Hierdie hoofstuk sluit af met 'n ondersoek na Spenser se mitologiese
tegnieke en die geskiedkundige relevansie van sy fiktiewe karakters en plot - waarvan
laasgenoemde die leser help om Spenser se wêreld met sy ridders en feë te kan interpreteer.
Hoofstuk 3 fokus op 'n bespreking van Spenser se Boeke 3 en 4 waar liefde en vriendskap
bydra tot die skep van Spenser se ideale wêreld. Die hoofstuk ondersoek hoe sestiende-eeuse
persepsies van die huwelik, liefde en mag Spenser se konsep van so 'n ideale wêreld kon
beïnvloed. Die hoofstuk sluit af met 'n ondersoek na sestiende-eeuse bemoeienis met tyd en
wanorde en demonstreer hoe Spenser uiteindelik 'n oplossing vind in sy visie van die Tuin
van Adonis.
Hoofstuk 4 bespreek Boek 4 waar Artegall die ridder van reg en geregtigheid is. Hier
ondersoek die tesis Spenser se politiese aspirasies en wys hoe geskiedkundige gebeure
eerstens in die optrede van karakters gereflekteer word en tweedens ook Spenser se visie van
die ideale gemeenskap met sy regverdige leier kon beïnvloed. Die bespreking fokus ook onder andere op daardie faktore wat kon bydra tot Spenser se ontnugtering met 'n sestiendeeeuse
gemeenskap.
Hoofstuk 5 sluit af met Spenser se herders-ideaal in Boek 6 wat die belofte bring van vrede en
voorspoed, teenoor 'n lewe van verspeelde en verlore geleenthede of misplaaste ambisie in
Elizabeth se hof. Dit is op Mount Acidale dat Spenser se verskillende wêrelde saamkom
wanneer Calidore, wat die sondige en "werklike" wêreld verteenwoordig, 'n vlugtige blik in
die poëtiese en goddelike wêrelde gegun word. 'n Wêreld waarin die digter, Colin Clout en
die drie "Graces" saam met sy geliefde, reeds deel. Hoofstuk 5 ondersoek die digter se
outobiografiese persoon in die figuur Colin Clout en die relevansie van sy spesifieke
verskyning op Mount Acidale en sy algemene verskyning in die gedig. Dit is die doel van
hierdie tesis om die roete te volg wat Spenser uitgelê het, om die tekens te lees en te
interpreteer en om ten slotte te deel in hierdie wêreld van droom en gedagtes, ervaring en
vISIe.
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Identity and representation on the internetBrendel, Claudia 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates the ways in which identity is established and
represented on the Internet. Through detailed case studies of different
Internet sites, I examine the changing parameters of these concepts, and
indeed of our concept of 'reality' itself. I then undertake a detailed
reading of a number of films that represent the Internet as an integral part
of their narrative. I make use, but also critique, postmodern
understandings of identity and representation. Existing postmodern
theories of identity and representation cannot fully account for the way
Internet identity functions and the Internet interacts with other media and
offline life. New analyses are required to explain the interactions between
these concepts. This thesis uses the constructs of presence, performance,
the body, and narrative to describe the way in which identity and
representation function online, are represented in film and influence
offline life. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis beskou die maniere waarop identiteit op die internet
gevestig en oorgedra word. Ek ondersoek die veranderende parameters
van hierdie konsepte deur uitgebreide gevallestudies van verskillende
internetruimtes te doen, en bekyk ook ons opvatting van die werklikheid
self. Voorts doen ek 'n deurtastende ondersoek na 'n aantal films wat die
internet as 'n integrale rolspeler in die narratief voorstel. Ek maak
gebruik van, maar beoordelook, postmodernistiese beskouings van
identiteit en oordrag. Die bestaande postmodernistiese teorieë oor
identiteit en oordrag kan nie volledig rekenskap gee van die wyse waarop
die internet-identiteit funksioneer of hoe die internet op ander media en
aftydse middele reageer nie. Nuwe ondersoeke is nodig om die
wisselwerking tussen hierdie konsepte te verduidelik. Hierdie tesis
gebruik die begrippe van aanwesigheid, optrede, hoofinhoud en narratief
om die wyse waarop indentiteit en oordrag intyds funksioneer, in film
oorgedra word en aftydse middele beïnvloed, te beskryf.
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