M.A. / With the possible exception of the much-lauded Karolina Ferreira, most of Lettie Viljoen's novels are (unfairly) regarded as very complex and even incomprehensible. The main reasons being the lack of a satisfactory evaluation framework that can be used to address the interpretation problems in her texts successfully and a resulting tendency to approach her novels with conventional reading strategies and expectations. By situating Viljoen's literary work in a postcolonial context, however, basic premises of postcolonial theory and criticism can be used to develop an instrument that will be able to address these problems satisfactorily and improve readers' comprehension of her novels. Because most recent critical work on postcolonialism focuses mainly on literature produced in former British colonies, these premises should be revised and adapted to suit the South African situation in general and the Afrikaans literature specifically.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Landskap met vroue en slang, Lettie Viljoen's fifth novel, differ substantionally from her previous novel Karolina Feirrera. Landskap met vroue en slang concentrates on the inner processes of the main character rather than a series of external happenings. Because of the fragmentary presentation, wide reference field and many intertexts critics saw the novel as difficult, complex and challenging. It is clear that the title and cover of Landskap met vroue en slang "landscape," emphasize. In my opinion this serve as a point of orientation for the reader. Landscape not only plays an important roll in the text but also functions as a medium to make the text more accessible. With this research I focus on the function of the different landscapes in the novel. Almost all the reviews of Landskap met vroue en slang focus on the input of Nicolas Poussin, a seventeenth century artist, within the novel. On the cover of the novel is an illustration of two landscape paintings of Poussin. The title also call to mind one of Poussin's landscape paintings, "Landscape with two nymphs and a snake". By looking into the sublime landscape paintings of Poussin, one can come to a better understanding of Lena Bergh, the main character's, inner development. In addition to the sublime landscape as found in landscape paintings of Poussin, the domesticated landscape of gardens and parks, and the body as a landscape also plays an important roll to make the text more accessible. Lena's development during her psychological journey is clearly portrayed through her perception of and association with her garden while in parks and cemeteries she is confronted with issues of her past which she has to work through during her psychological journey. She uses bodily metaphors to get a better understanding of the landscape. The opposite also takes place. Lena uses the landscape to get a better understanding of her own changing body and sexuality. Her psychological journey is completed during the autopsy. Furthermore, one can draw interesting conclusions with regards to Lena's development by looking as how the colonel, a character that can be seen as the opposite of Lena, experience the landscape. In my opinion by focusing on landscape readers can gain a better understanding of this challenging and complex text. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Landskap met vroue en slang (1996), Lettie Viljoen se vyfde roman, verskil grondig van sy voorloper Karolina Feirrera, deurdat die roman eerder op die hoofkarakter se innerlike prosesse as 'n reeks uiterlike gebeure konsentreer. Dit, tesame met die fragmentariese aanbod en wye verwysingsvelde en intertekste wat deur die teks opgeroep word, het veroorsaak dat die roman deur verskeie resensente as moeilik, kompleks en uitdagend beskou is. Uit die titel en buiteblad van Landskap met vroue en slang is dit duidelik dat "landskap" in hierdie roman vooropgestel word. Volgens my bied die titel en buiteblad 'n oriëntasiepunt vir die leser: landskap speel nie net 'n belangrike rol in die roman nie, maar dien ook as sleutel om die teks te ontsluit. In hierdie ondersoek fokus ek op die funksie van landskap in die roman en probeer sodoende die teks vir die leser meer toeganklik maak. In byna al die resensies oor Landskap met vroue en slang, word gewys op die belangrike rol wat Nicolas Poussin, 'n sewentiende eeuse skilder, binne die roman speel. Op die buiteblad van die roman is 'n afbeelding van twee landskapskilderye deur Poussin. Die titel herinner ook aan een van Poussin se landskapskilderye, Landskap met twee vroue en 'n slang. Deur die sublieme landskapskilderye van Poussin te ondersoek, kan belangrike insigte ten opsigte van die hoofkarakter Lena Bergh se innerlike ontwikkeling verkry word. Behalwe die sublieme landskappe soos dit in Poussin se landskapskilderye voorkom, speel die gedomestikeerde landskap van tuine en parke en die liggaam as landskap ook 'n belangrike rol om die teks meer toeganklik te maak. Lena se ontwikkeling tydens haar psigiese reis word duidelik uitgebeeld in haar persepsie van en omgang met haar tuin terwyl sy in parke en begraafplase met inhoude uit haar verlede gekonfronteer word wat sy op hierdie psigiese reis moet deurwerk. Sy gebruik liggaammetafore om 'n beter begrip van en greep op die vreemde Natalse landskap te kry. Die omgekeerde vind egter ook plaas: Lena gebruik die landskap om 'n beter begrip van haar eie veranderende liggaam en seksualiteit te kry. Haar psigiese reis word voltrek deur haar konfrontasie met die liggaam as landskap tydens 'n lykskouing. Deur verder die landskapsbelewing van die kolonel te ondersoek, 'n karakter wat as keersky van Lena beskou kan word, kan insiggewende kommentaar op Lena se beskouing van die landskap en psigiese reis gelewer word. Deur die verskillende landskappe te ondersoek, kan die leser myns insiens 'n beter greep op hierdie uitdagende en komplekse teks kry.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Traditionally the body has been neglected within Western philosophical thought. In this tradition man is seen as a dualist organism whose mind is more highly valued than his or her body. Since the start of the twentieth century, especially, there has also been Western thinkers who deconstruct the traditional, opposisional view of the mind and body. Most of these thinkers are men, and they argue from a male perspective. The deconstruction of the opposition between mind and body is, however, also useful for feminism, as the woman was traditionally seen as more bodily, and less rational, than the man. This view of woman can be used to support arguments that her place is within the home, where she should look after the bodily and emotional needs of her husband and children. First and second wave feminists criticised above-mentioned traditional view of women by arguing that the woman is just as rational as the man. Other feminists make use of the 'male' criticism of the body-mind opposition by arguing that traditionally female attributes and activities are not less valuable than male ones. In this thesis it is argued that the novellas Klaaglied vir Koos, Erf and Louoond should be read against this background as feminist texts in which the traditionally female space of the kitchen is celebrated as a space in which the female subject can create art and develop a perspective on the outside world. Focusing on the body and on traditionally female values (such as the domestic space) have implications for, amongst others, epistemology, ethical thought and literary theory. The way these implications are developed in the three novellas are explored in this thesis. Domestic spaces are not only celebrated in these texts, they are also represented as problematical, limited spaces which isolate the protagonists of the novellas and withhold them from the potential of political solidarity. The novellas are therefore treated in this thesis as complex texts in which the literary focus on domestic space, female embodiment and man‘s relationship with food is both celebrated and problematised. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tradisioneel is die liggaam afgeskeep in die Westerse filosofie. Binne hierdie tradisie is die mens beskou as ‘n dualistiese organisme wie se verstand meer waardevol is as sy of haar liggaam. Veral sedert die begin van die twintigste eeu is daar ook Westerse denkers wat die tradisionele, opposisionele siening van die liggaam en die verstand dekonstrueer. Die meeste van hierdie denkers is mans en neem slegs die manlike perspektief in ag. Die dekonstruksie van die opposisie tussen liggaam en verstand is egter ook nuttig vir die feminisme, omdat die vrou tradisioneel gesien is as meer liggaamlik en minder rasioneel as die man. Hierdie tradisionele siening van die vrou kan gebruik word om te argumenteer dat haar plek in die huishoudelike ruimte is, waar sy kan omsien na die liggaamlike en emosionele behoeftes van haar man en kinders. Eerste- en tweedegolf-feministe het bogenoemde tradisionele opvattings veral gekritiseer deur te argumenteer dat die vrou net so rasioneel soos die man is. Latere feministe bou egter voort op 'manlike‘ kritiek teen die opposisie tussen liggaam en verstand deur te argumenteer dat tradisioneel vroulike eienskappe en aktiwiteite nie minder waardevol is as sogenaamde manlike eienskappe nie. In hierdie tesis word geargumenteer dat die novelles Klaaglied vir Koos en Erf deur Lettie Viljoen en Louoond deur Jeanne Goosen teen hierdie agtergrond gelees kan word as feministiese tekste waarin die tradisioneel vroulike ruimte van die kombuis gevier word as ‘n ruimte waarin die vroulike subjek ‘n perspektief op die buitewêreld kan ontwikkel en kuns kan skep. ʼn Fokus op die liggaam en op tradisioneel vroulike elemente (soos die huishoudelike ruimte) behels implikasies vir onder andere die epistemologie, etiese denke en literêre teorie. Hierdie implikasies word verken soos wat hulle na vore kom in die drie novelles. In die novelles word die huishoudelike ruimte egter ook uitgebeeld as ʼn problematiese, beperkende ruimte wat die hoofkarakters van die novelles afsny van die buitewêreld en van die moontlikheid van politieke solidariteit. Daar word geargumenteer dat die novelles dus komplekse tekste is waarin literatuur wat fokus op die huishoudelike ruimte, vroulike liggaamlikheid en die mens se verhouding met kos sowel gevier en geproblematiseer kan word.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis the possibility of reading the work of Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach as extensive social commentary and criticism on a conformist, normative South African society, is investigated. This investigation will be conducted with the aid of theories about marginality and liminality. In an attempt to determine whether Viljoen/Winterbach's work can indeed be read as social commentary and criticism, a number of characters from her whole oeuvre are classified as either marginal, liminal or a combination of both these characteristics. The concepts marginality and liminality are described in chapter 1. In chapter 2 the classification system on which this investigation is built, will be discussed and attention will also be given to problems with the classification system (and problems with classification systems in general). In chapters 3 to 5 Viljoen/Winterbach's work will be discussed, with a chapter devoted to each of the following broad categories: marginal characters (the homeless, the proletariat, the mentally retarded and the insane), characters who are both marginal and liminal (mystics) and liminal characters (fortune tellers, temporary intermediaries, shamans and tricksters). The salient points will be gathered together in the conclusion. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie verhandeling word die moontlikheid ondersoek om die werk van Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach te lees as uitgebreide sosiale kommentaar en kritiek op 'n konformistiese, normatiewe Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing. Hierdie ondersoek sal verrig word aan die hand van teorieë omtrent marginaliteit en liminaliteit. In 'n poging om te bepaal of Viljoen/Winterbach se werk wél as sosiale kommentaar en kritiek gelees kan word, word 'n aantal karakters uit haar hele oeuvre geklassifiseer as marginaal, liminaal, óf 'n kombinasie van beide hierdie kenmerke. Die konsepte marginaliteit en liminaliteit word in hoofstuk lomskryf. In hoofstuk 2 word die klassifikasiesisteem waarop hierdie ondersoek berus, bespreek en word daar ook aandag geskenk aan probleme rondom die klassifikasiesisteem (en rondom klassifikasiesisteme in die algemeen). In hoofstukke 3 tot 5 word Viljoen/Winterbach se werk bespreek, met 'n hoofstuk afgestaan aan elkeen van die volgende breë kategorieë: marginale karakters (haweloses, die proletariaat, swaksinniges en gekke), karakters wat sowel marginaal as liminaal is (mistici) en liminale karakters (sieners, tydelike bemiddelaars, sjamane en trieksters). Die hoofpunte word byeengebring in die samevatting.

This research report explores the link between the novels of Ingrid Winterbach / Lettie Viljoen, a third culture and the neo-Victorian novel. The study is therefore situated within the cultural-philosophical framework of a third culture, which implies that the two cultures of science and literature do not function as separate disciplines, but as an organic unit. Researchers in the interdiscipline of literature and science identify the Age of Science (1879–1914) – including the Victorian era (1837–1901) – as a historical period where the existence of such a third culture was observed. This period was characterised by numerous scientific discoveries, and Darwin’s theory of evolution generated heated debates in Victorian society. Nineteenth-century literature (and specifically the Victorian novel) therefore reflects the spirit of an age where the interaction between science and literature was particularly evident. In our information-driven society, the focus is once again on scientific discovery and dissemination of knowledge, prompting social critics to typify the current period as “neo-” or “retro-Victorian”. The contemporary imagination still problematises Darwin’s theory of evolution, and fiction such as Winterbach’s therefore not only renegotiates the fixed modernistic boundaries between science and literature, but also revisits the nineteenth- century genres simptomatic of a similar third culture. Winterbach’s novels (1984–2006) display a distinctive predisposition towards natural history and Darwinistic principles and are therefore postmodern adaptations of nineteenth-century conventions. Darwinistic concepts such as growth, metamorphosis,transformation, evolution and the origin, naming and extinction of species are therefore accentuated. Winterbach’s fictionalisation of a nineteenth-century worldview can be linked to the work of her ancestors in the Afrikaans literary tradition, Eugène Marais and C. Louis Leipoldt (both amateur scientists). Her popularisation of scientific knowledge and revisitation of Victorian codes also link her to a neo-Victorian novelistic movement (a contemporary permutation of the Victorian tradition). Her oeuvre therefore also displays similarities to that of her British contemporary, A.S. Byatt, a prominent neo-Victorian novelist. An exploration of the natural world in this tradition, however, also implies an exploration of supernatural spheres, a trend which is equally evident in texts by congeners such as (George) Eliot, Marais, Leipoldt, Winterbach and Byatt. / Afrikaans / D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans and Theory of Literature)

This research report explores the link between the novels of Ingrid Winterbach / Lettie Viljoen, a third culture and the neo-Victorian novel. The study is therefore situated within the cultural-philosophical framework of a third culture, which implies that the two cultures of science and literature do not function as separate disciplines, but as an organic unit. Researchers in the interdiscipline of literature and science identify the Age of Science (1879–1914) – including the Victorian era (1837–1901) – as a historical period where the existence of such a third culture was observed. This period was characterised by numerous scientific discoveries, and Darwin’s theory of evolution generated heated debates in Victorian society. Nineteenth-century literature (and specifically the Victorian novel) therefore reflects the spirit of an age where the interaction between science and literature was particularly evident. In our information-driven society, the focus is once again on scientific discovery and dissemination of knowledge, prompting social critics to typify the current period as “neo-” or “retro-Victorian”. The contemporary imagination still problematises Darwin’s theory of evolution, and fiction such as Winterbach’s therefore not only renegotiates the fixed modernistic boundaries between science and literature, but also revisits the nineteenth- century genres simptomatic of a similar third culture. Winterbach’s novels (1984–2006) display a distinctive predisposition towards natural history and Darwinistic principles and are therefore postmodern adaptations of nineteenth-century conventions. Darwinistic concepts such as growth, metamorphosis,transformation, evolution and the origin, naming and extinction of species are therefore accentuated. Winterbach’s fictionalisation of a nineteenth-century worldview can be linked to the work of her ancestors in the Afrikaans literary tradition, Eugène Marais and C. Louis Leipoldt (both amateur scientists). Her popularisation of scientific knowledge and revisitation of Victorian codes also link her to a neo-Victorian novelistic movement (a contemporary permutation of the Victorian tradition). Her oeuvre therefore also displays similarities to that of her British contemporary, A.S. Byatt, a prominent neo-Victorian novelist. An exploration of the natural world in this tradition, however, also implies an exploration of supernatural spheres, a trend which is equally evident in texts by congeners such as (George) Eliot, Marais, Leipoldt, Winterbach and Byatt. / Afrikaans / D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans and Theory of Literature)