Hierdie mini-verhandeling ondersoek die ontwikkeling van die ouer jeugboek in Afrikaans, sedert die politieke veranderinge in die negentigerjare. Daar word aangetoon dat die einde van Apartheid die einde van die veilige voorskryfmark vir die Afrikaanse jeugboek beteken het. Daar word ook aangetoon dat die ontwikkeling en die geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse kinder- en jeugboek hand aan hand met die ontwikkeling van die Afrikaner se politieke geskiedenis geloop het. Daar was 'n verdieping en ontwikkeling in die ouer jeugboek in Afrikaans sedert 1994, waarvan nog nie formeel kennis geneem word nie. Dié boeke word nog gemaklik in die kinder- en jeugboekkategorie ingedeel, waar baie van hulle nie sonder meer tuishoort nie. Volwassenelesers neem gewoonlik net van hulle kennis as hierdie boeke publisiteit weens "omstrede" kwessies ontvang of in ander media soos rolprente verwerk word. Daar is aangetoon dat die formele klassifikasie van die ouer jeugboek baie van hierdie boeke van die erkenning en verkoopsyfers wat hulle verdien, weerhou. Daar is gevolglik steeds 'n gebrekkige belangstelling vanuit akademiese geledere in die Afrikaanse kinder- en jeugliteratuur. Ander redes wat die ontwikkeling van die ouer jeugboek in Afrikaans belemmer, soos die invloed van indirekte sensuur op skrywers en die konserwatiewe kriteria wat deur voorskryfkomitees vir die Afrikaanse voorgeskrewe boek neergelê word, word uitgewys. Verder word Afrikaanse kinder- en jeugboekskrywers eers as "ware" skrywers beskou sodra hulle 'n boek vir volwassenes geskryf het. Die studie ondersoek voorts die Amerikaanse "young adult" (YA)-genre en daar word aangetoon aan die hand van 'n ontleding van vyf Afrikaanse jeugromans dat hulle gemaklik in só 'n genre tuishoort, naamlik fiksie vir jong volwassenes (FJV). Die voordele van FJV vir ouer kinders word uitgewys en daar word aangetoon dat hierdie boeke anders bemark moet word en 'n ander staanplek op boekwinkel- en biblioteekrakke verdien. Hulle hoort nie tussen die prenteboeke vir kleuters nie. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Afrikaans / unrestricted

This dissertation focuses on the return and revitalization of traditional Christian themes in contemporary postmodern novels. It offers an examination of how these themes materialize in novels written by writers who are not explicitly religious, or in novels which do not have an overtly religious focus. Some contemporary novels generate a privileged space in which the return of the religious can take place. The sacred is back, not just as a re-enchantment, but manifests itself in fundamentally new and productive ways (Ward, 2001:xv). The first matter under consideration is the fact that the co-existence of belief and unbelief is apparent in all the novels under discussion. As such, the reader as active participant in the novel is bound to be affected by these mutually inter-dependent and inextricably inter-connected sides of a coin. The themes of providence, sacrifice and the miraculous become evident in John Irving‟s A prayer for Owen Meany while the themes of sin, guilt and redemption feature in Ian McEwan‟s Atonement. Secondly, the study compares two novels that deal with the same supernatural phenomena, namely visions, faith healing and stigmata. Jodi Picoult is a non-believer and is the author of Keeping Faith, while Ron Hansen is a devout Catholic who wrote Mariëtte in ecstasy. These works, on the one hand, create a space for supernatural phenomena even though fiction cannot prove the reality of their existence. Postmodern people seem to have a definite longing for the miraculous and these novels seem to satisfy that yearning. On the other hand, both novels portray disbelief in the miraculous while subtly allowing room for characters or readers in a liminal space between belief and disbelief. The theories of Jean François Lyotard and specifically his notion of “incredulity towards metanarratives” provide a framework to explore this matter. Lyotard proposes “petit recits” or many small stories instead of the grand narratives. He contends that there is no objective knowledge and that narrative and scientific knowledge are subject to legitimization. The Christian story therefore needs no scientific basis as justification, which means that it is being newly considered after the mistrust created during the Enlightenment period. Gianteresio Vattimo‟s ideas on the role of religion in contemporary life and the possible convergences of postmodernity and the Christian faith also come into play. He advocates weak thought as opposed to strong thought and sees caritas (charity or neighbourly love) as essential. This concept of weak thought allows for plurality and tolerance. Vattimo sees Christ‟s kenosis (self-emptying) as essentially linked to a secularization in which humankind needs to retrace the path to the original Biblical message of love. Emphasis is on a non-doctrinal, anti-dogmatic spirituality and this manifests in the novels discussed. This study employs diverse reader-response theories to gauge the reaction of the reader to texts containing Biblical themes and supernatural phenomena. Stanley Fish‟s interpretive communities and Wolfgang Iser‟s implied reader are helpful and Michael Edwards‟s pattern of sin, the fall and redemption is of particular interest to this dissertation. Edwards believes that most novels, whether written by religious or non-religious writers, follow this pattern. Readers find themselves either on the side of the believing or unbelieving camp in the novels discussed. However, many readers may hover in the liminal space between belief and unbelief. Interpretation depends on many factors that constitute the world view of the reader, hence the plurality of interpretations. / MA (English), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This dissertation focuses on the return and revitalization of traditional Christian themes in contemporary postmodern novels. It offers an examination of how these themes materialize in novels written by writers who are not explicitly religious, or in novels which do not have an overtly religious focus. Some contemporary novels generate a privileged space in which the return of the religious can take place. The sacred is back, not just as a re-enchantment, but manifests itself in fundamentally new and productive ways (Ward, 2001:xv). The first matter under consideration is the fact that the co-existence of belief and unbelief is apparent in all the novels under discussion. As such, the reader as active participant in the novel is bound to be affected by these mutually inter-dependent and inextricably inter-connected sides of a coin. The themes of providence, sacrifice and the miraculous become evident in John Irving‟s A prayer for Owen Meany while the themes of sin, guilt and redemption feature in Ian McEwan‟s Atonement. Secondly, the study compares two novels that deal with the same supernatural phenomena, namely visions, faith healing and stigmata. Jodi Picoult is a non-believer and is the author of Keeping Faith, while Ron Hansen is a devout Catholic who wrote Mariëtte in ecstasy. These works, on the one hand, create a space for supernatural phenomena even though fiction cannot prove the reality of their existence. Postmodern people seem to have a definite longing for the miraculous and these novels seem to satisfy that yearning. On the other hand, both novels portray disbelief in the miraculous while subtly allowing room for characters or readers in a liminal space between belief and disbelief. The theories of Jean François Lyotard and specifically his notion of “incredulity towards metanarratives” provide a framework to explore this matter. Lyotard proposes “petit recits” or many small stories instead of the grand narratives. He contends that there is no objective knowledge and that narrative and scientific knowledge are subject to legitimization. The Christian story therefore needs no scientific basis as justification, which means that it is being newly considered after the mistrust created during the Enlightenment period. Gianteresio Vattimo‟s ideas on the role of religion in contemporary life and the possible convergences of postmodernity and the Christian faith also come into play. He advocates weak thought as opposed to strong thought and sees caritas (charity or neighbourly love) as essential. This concept of weak thought allows for plurality and tolerance. Vattimo sees Christ‟s kenosis (self-emptying) as essentially linked to a secularization in which humankind needs to retrace the path to the original Biblical message of love. Emphasis is on a non-doctrinal, anti-dogmatic spirituality and this manifests in the novels discussed. This study employs diverse reader-response theories to gauge the reaction of the reader to texts containing Biblical themes and supernatural phenomena. Stanley Fish‟s interpretive communities and Wolfgang Iser‟s implied reader are helpful and Michael Edwards‟s pattern of sin, the fall and redemption is of particular interest to this dissertation. Edwards believes that most novels, whether written by religious or non-religious writers, follow this pattern. Readers find themselves either on the side of the believing or unbelieving camp in the novels discussed. However, many readers may hover in the liminal space between belief and unbelief. Interpretation depends on many factors that constitute the world view of the reader, hence the plurality of interpretations. / MA (English), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study lays a foundation for the empirical mapping of the material production of Afrikaans fiction from 1990 to 2005. The primary research question, namely, how to map Afrikaans fiction production during this period, has been answered through both descriptive-qualitative and statistical-quantitative empirical research. In the first, contextual descriptive component, qualitative research is used to describe the context within which Afrikaans fiction production takes place. The impact of transformation shifts on the production and producer landscapes are mapped through a description of the publishing system. Within this system, book production is regarded as an institution that has inter-systemic relationships with other sub-systems, including institutional contexts (such as media, cultural, literary, educational and library sub-systems), as well as broader societal contexts (such as political, economic and technological contexts). Transformation shifts in the producer landscape (including the establishment, conglomeration, mergers, take-overs and closures of publishing houses) are described through profiling the relevant producers (including publishing houses and other kinds of producers) who contribute to this landscape. In the second, statistical empirical component, quantitative research is used to sketch the contours of Afrikaans fiction production through the construction of production and producer profiles. On a theoretical level, the study follows a sociological and institutional approach to empirical literary studies. This study has been positioned within the developing field of book and publishing studies, specifically within the parameters of the epistemology of production statistics. Itamar Even-Zohar’s poly-system theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the field of cultural production form the theoretical framework. Several methodological instruments were developed for the purpose of this study, including a new model of the publishing system, a database of production statistics (the Production Database of Afrikaans Fiction – PDAF), and two typologies of kinds of producers and fiction publications according to which both producer and production categories can be distinguished. The publishing system, the PDAF and the two typologies have been proven useful instruments for the mapping of book production. These instruments will contribute to the fields of book and publishing studies through their application to research on other production categories. The PDAF is a useful resource for measuring the growth and diversity of Afrikaans fiction production. The study concludes that Afrikaans fiction production between 1990 and 2005 was incisively influenced by transformation shifts. Publishing in this field became more challenging in that Afrikaans fiction production had to wean itself from the artificial institutional privilege and substantial state support it had enjoyed and was forced to become economically independent. By 2005, there were far fewer significant producers of Afrikaans fiction in the producer landscape than in 1990. In some production categories, fiction production has shrunk, while, in others, it has grown. Overall, the production profile of Afrikaans fiction has greatly diversified, with Afrikaans fiction appearing in a wide variety of production categories. Afrikaans fiction remains the most diverse and best-developed indigenous tradition of fiction production. The challenge for future case studies is to investigate the relationships between production patterns and specific transformation shifts in the publishing system in terms of specific production categories. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Information Science / unrestricted