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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.