Includes abstract. / Located in the college novel tradition, Close to Home explores a number of the themes common to the sub-genre, specifically the ennui of university students from a wealthy background. The story's characters have an excess of money, privilege and leisure time, which leads to boredom and ultimate tragedy. The protagonist, Faye, epitomises the stereotype of a spoiled Cape Town girl- a personality that turns out to have a lot in common with the magnetic but ultimately dangerous characters of some of the best-known college novels.

Something Between Us is a comi-tragedy, a novel that deals with the relationships between a group of adolescent friends. Set in a small South African mining town in the 1980s, against a general backdrop of political upheaval and border conflict, it aims to explore the nature and consequences of these relationships within the context of a central incident, in which the novel's narration reveals some of the wider fracture lines in the South Africa that was, and the South Africa that is today. Something Between Us is also a satire, in the manner in which it treats the behaviours, attitudes and idiomatic turns of speech that would characterize a certain sector of white youth from this particular era. The intention of the novel is to reveal, albeit with a comic-serio touch, the ways in which South Africa's past, as refracted through young lives, continues to reach into the present.

Includes abstract. / Commedia is a novel set in 410 AD during the collapse of the Roman Empire. The island of Britain has recently freed itself from Roman rule, and a small group of comedy actors find themselves caught up in a cultural struggle between the old Roman aristocracy and the new British nouveau riche. On a tour around Britain, the actors uncover a political and criminal plot that puts Britain in danger of invasion by Saxon mercenaries.

Die hoof van die Suid-Afrikaanse Departement van Buitelandse Sake bevind hom in 'n netelige situasie. Ruben Meyer se diplomatieke vaardighede word tot die uiterste beproef. Hy word gekonfronteer met die veranderende politieke bestel in post-koloniale Suid-Afrika, 'n krisis in sy persoonlike lewe en 'n gepoogde staatsgreep in Wes- Afrika waar diplomate aangehou word. Justine Minnaert is vanaf Brussel op pad na Kaapstad vir haar eerste joernalistieke opdrag in Afrika. Sy weet nie wat om van die kontinent en sy mense te verwag nie en hoe om die kontraste tussen haar Europese persepsie en die realiteit van Afrika te hanteer nie. 'n Web van intrige word geweef in 'n wereld waar diplomate, politici, diamant- en wapenhandelaars die lewens van miljoene mense bepaal. English abstract: The head of the South African Department of Foreign Affairs finds himself in a precarious position. Ruben Meyer's diplomatic skills are tested to the full. He is confronted by the changing political scene in post-colonial South Africa, turmoil in his personal life and an attempted coup d'etat in West Africa where diplomats are being held captive. Justine Minnaert is on her way from Brussels to Cape Town for her first journalistic assignment in Africa. She does not know what to expect of this troubled continent and its people and has to deal with the contrasts between her European perception and the reality of Africa. A web of intrigue is woven in a world where diplomats, politicians, diamond and weapons dealers determine the lives of millions of people.

No description available.

Includes bibliographical references. / The objective of the essay is to examine the meaning and content in the white space or iconic white in poetry, with specific reference to the representation of silence. The investigation focuses on the existence of a universal distinguishing white grammar with poets, as it manifests in their individual works, where this white grammar includes the use of an iconic white alphabet as well as specific narratives of silence, or the unmentionable/unspeakable. Possible catalysts and factors that influence the origin, initiation and maintenance of a specific narrative within this white grammar, are discussed and considered. It is found that optimal poetry reading and assimilation implies consideration for the white grammar. The works of two established poets, namely the South African Petra Müller (Afrikaans) and the Belgian Miriam Van hee (Flemish), as well as unpublished poems by Tania du Toit (Afrikaans) are analysed and discussed to inform the investigation.

Two estranged sisters, Liza and Nikki, travel to the seaside town of Hermanus. Liza hopes that a summer spent together will restore their once close relationship. Nikki is just looking for some fun. Then Liza disappears from the family holiday house. Messages left show that she's been abducted, kidnapped by someone who has no idea that Liza desperately needs her medication. In a country plagued by violence against women, Nikki, her parents, and the local police need to work together against the clock to save Liza. If only they could trust each other. Nikki is drawn deeper into a situation she cannot control or run away from as she tries to find her sister before it’s too late. Toxic family history emerges and tensions mount as the kidnappers demand a large ransom. Liza’s health is deteriorating fast and Nikki’s efforts to make amends are met with doubt and hostility. Will Nikki be able to help her sister before it’s too late?

This dissertation addresses the (often controversial) relationship between poetry and philosophy in the context of the Afrikaans poetic heritage. It consists of two components: a portfolio of own poetry and an essay in which it is argued that against the backdrop of the poststructural zeitgeist, the relationship between poetry and philosophy should be understood as a deconstructive one.

This is a book about the nature of reality and the illusions we embrace to smooth our paths through the vagaries of life in an uncertain world. It is about the dichotomies which exist in life and how our perceptions of life define our realities. It uses the stars, moon and sky as a tool to explore these differences by counterpoising the two main characters as having different views of the same subject. Thus Gabriel is an astronomer with a rational scientific approach to the universe while Lena, though brought up in a scientific tradition, has, through her experiences and personality, learnt to question this approach and developed a more aesthetic and mythological approach to the universe. While this is explored in the tensions between her and Gabriel, her own reality is questioned through her interaction with Kingston Ingovazana Mabilu. Although she is drawn to his philosophical views on life, in the end she has misgivings about the extremes to which these beliefs will eventually take her and is unable to commit to cultural beliefs which are so different from her own. The different perceptions are also explored in relation to ideas about health, medicine, causes of illness and their treatments. This brings into opposition the two prevalent paradigms in Southern Africa of the Western medical view and the alternative traditional view. The book tries to demonstrate how these are both valid with the characters showing justifications for their own points of view. Finally, the relationship between Lena and Gabriel focuses on the delicate fragility of relationships between people, in their attempts to understand each other, to communicate, to trust and to truly know each other. In the end, these challenges may be insurmountable. The themes of the book were inspired by the everyday dichotomies of life in Southern Africa; the different languages, religions and world views. It seemed important to explore issues of life and death, health and illness, particularly in a country where, less than a decade ago, the president of the country declared that HIV was not caused by a virus. The constructs of madness also warranted elucidation, as different cultures view these behaviours very differently. The second theme of astronomy versus mythology of the universe was inspired in part by Ben Okri in Starbook and The Famished Road, where magical realism opens up new ideas about the nature of reality in an African context. I also noted the tension between these ideas and the advanced technology of the Square Kilometre Array to be developed in South Africa. The book merely hints at the political past of South Africa but concentrates on the present paradigm of differing beliefs.

Includes bibliographical references. / The objective of the essay is to examine the poetry of doctors who are poets in Afrikaans and are canonized poets in the Afrikaans literature. The poetry of ten doctors since 1838 was examined. Furthermore, the medical-scientific reflection in their poetry was reviewed where it appeared to be applicable. As an example of the medical-scientific reflection in poetry, the work of Gilbert Gibson is discussed based on the fact that his poetry represents the best and most extensive example of medical-scientific reflection in Afrikaans poetry. Finally, the poetry of Hendrik Botha is reviewed from a self-reflective angle by specifically comparing it to the poetry of Gilbert Gibson, especially regarding the thematical similarities and specifically the medical-scientific reflection as well as the difference in the approach between these two poets.