Cette thèse propose d’étudier le rap français à partir de l’analyse littéraire, c'est-à-dire en détachant les textes de leur rôle de témoignage d’un contexte social et en portant un regard attentif à la façon dont ils revendiquent le soin porté à la langue et la mobilisation des références culturelles. Si leurs thèmes sont indiscutablement rattachés au réel sociohistorique, les stratégies déployées pour la représentation de ce réel méritent pour nous une analyse approfondie. Cette étude explore alors la façon dont les textes de rap expriment le désir de qualités et d'effets esthétiques, et leurs liens, conscients ou non, avec des œuvres littéraires de référence. A partir de ce désir d’inscription littéraire dont nous constatons l’existence dans le rap français, cette thèse se penche sur tous les aspects de l’écriture, c'est-à-dire sur la forme des textes, les figures et les tons employés ; ce désir se voit comblé par un travail scriptural rappelant celui des textes de création littéraire. Le rap français apparaît alors comme s’étant développé dans une toile d’intertextualité tissée entre des textes très classiques de la culture française et d'autres écritures des plus contemporaines. Ce recours permanent à la culture lettrée prend à contrepied l’idée de « ghettoïsation » que l’on attribue souvent au rap quant aux références culturelles qu’il véhicule et à son positionnement face à la grande culture française. Car par la mobilisation de ces références, le rap chercherait, et avec lui les rappeurs, une reconnaissance, non pas tant dans le monde de la musique, que dans celui de la culture lettrée. Ainsi, cette étude ne vise pas à rattacher les textes de rap à la littérature, mais à mettre à jour un geste qui apparaît à nos yeux d’ordre littéraire. / This thesis endeavors to study French rap from the point of view of literary analysis, setting aside the texts' intent to bear witness to a social context, in order to focus very carefully on the way they lay claim to an elaborate use of language and an engagement with cultural references. While the subject matter is indisputably embedded in socio-historical reality, the strategies deployed for the representation of this reality call for advanced analysis. The present study therefore explores the way in which rap texts express a desire for aesthetic qualities and effects, and their relations – conscious or otherwise – with literary works of reference. Having acknowledged that a desire for inscription within the literary can be found in French rap, this thesis examines all aspects of the writing of its texts, their form, the stylistic devices and rhetorical figures they deploy; the desire in question is fulfilled through complex work akin to literary creative writing. Thus, French rap appears to have developed within an intertextual web woven between classic texts of French culture and other, more contemporary writings. The constant resort to written and literary culture challenges the frequent perception of rap as “ghettoized”, in its use of cultural references and its stance regarding high French culture. Indeed, through the use of such references, rap and the rappers themselves seem to be seeking recognition, not so much in the music world as in written and even possibly literary culture. All in all, this study does not make the claim that rap texts belong to literature; it aims, however, at highlighting a gesture which appears to be of the literary kind.

This PhD thesis compared incidents of violence in two Malaysian hospitals and two English hospitals. Using a model of workplace violence, the aims of the thesis were to explore and compare six constructs: extrinsic, intrinsic, triggers, experiences, moderators, and consequences of workplace violence as perceived by Malaysian and English hospital staff. This study used data on experiences of violence gathered in 2005 for incidences in hospitals that occurred up to one year before the survey. The 2004 data from the Incident Report database (IRD) of the English hospitals was also used. Two instruments were developed for this thesis. First was the General Violence Victimization Questionnaire (GVQ), an instrument to identify the types, prevalence, nature, consequences, post-incident support, and reporting trends of violence in hospitals. The second instrument was the Violence Victimization Semi-structured Interview (VicQ) which explored factors leading to the violent incident, the violent incident itself, and psycho-social issues relating to the violent incident. Both instruments were translated into the Malay language for use in Malaysia. 227 people participated in the quantitative survey: 162 people from the Malaysian Government Hospitals (MGH) and 115 people from the National Health Service (NHS). A total of 25 people volunteered to be interviewed as part of the qualitative aspect of the study: 15 from the MGH and 10 from the NHS. Six categories of violence were compared: verbal, nonverbal, threat, physical, sexual, and psychologically-based. A total of 4118 violent incidents (1402 in MGH and 2716 in NHS) were reported. The most common type of violence was psychologically-based violence in the MGH and verbal violence in the NHS. Both samples perceived that the major source of workplace violence was from patients and involved one male perpetrator. There were differences between the two samples indicative of cultural differences. Of those interviewed, the Malaysian participants perceived that offenders were intrinsically motivated to offend. The English participants perceived that offenders had either intrinsic or extrinsic motivation for perpetuating violence. Differences were noted for substance abuse and customer relations as triggers of organisational violence. Comparisons of moderators were different for the two country samples. Comparisons of consequences were not significantly different. Comparisons across several demographic variables (gender, age, and occupational groupings) were not significant between the two country samples with regards to workplace violence victimisation. However, a comparison of length of service was found to be significant. The final path model differed from the original model of workplace violence. Additional findings include a difference between the established definition and participants‘ definition of workplace violence, a lack of anti-violence policies in Malaysian hospitals, under reporting, and unforeseen direct and direct relationships among the six constructs.