Images of Oceania and Polynesia have traditionally been exoticised and romanticised by Western representations of a "paradise" populated by primitive natives with grass skirts and ukuleles. However, the movement towards political independence in the 1960s and 1970s has seen the emergence of a corpus of indigenous representations that depict and portray the real situation. These indigenous representations speak of subjugation and moreover testify to the debilitating effects colonialism has on cultural identities. The geographical area covered by this thesis is Western Polynesia, specifically the Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa and is concerned with literary representations. The thesis examines significant developments and trends in the creative writing of indigenous and migrant writers in these three countries of Western Polynesia: Western Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, seeing these literary representations from within as a writing out of multi-faceted aspects of the shifting identities of Pacific peoples in a post-colonial world. The introduction focuses on the historical colonial/post-colonial context of Western Polynesian writing and the socio-political imperatives for change which have had an impact on these writers and the texts they have produced. It also discusses the literary and anthropological representation of these Islanders from the 'outside', from the perspective of a European hegemonic self, forming the 'orientalist' stereotypes against which the initial texts written by the Pacific's colonised 'others' in the early 1970's reacted so strongly. Chapter One sets out the conceptual framework within which these texts will be discussed and analysed, beginning with indigenous and local concepts which indigenous and migrant Pacific Islanders use to connect and accommodate different 'ways of seeing' this representative body of literature, then moving on to other theorists concerned with literary representation and post-coloniality. Chapters Two to Nine explore the writing of these three countries, beginning with the fiction of Albert Wendt, one of the major writers from Western Polynesia who has an established regional and international literary reputation, and then progressing to focus on other selected representative writers of the three countries, including those in the early stages of attempting publication. The thesis concludes by discussing the texts from all three countries and tying them together in the various thematic strands of cultural clash, the widening of borders, the quest for self-definition and national identity in the contemporary Pacific, reiterating major points and examining possible future directions in Western Polynesian writing. The study takes an interdisciplinary approach to the critical analysis of Western Polynesian literature, maintaining the importance of seeing them as important forms of cultural communication in post-colonial contexts, as literary representations from the inside, writing out of a cultural consciousness which values the various 'pasts' of Polynesia as definitive 'maps' which provide the grids and bridges which Pacific Islanders in this part of Oceania can utilise to mediate their experiences and articulate their identities, to fit the widening boundaries of the Pacific into a post-colonial global context.

Our cultural values and socio-political perspectives are perhaps most clearly reflected in our material environment. When this environment is subjected to drastic change, the effects on these values and perspectives are likely to be profound. This dissertation considers the wide-ranging socio-cultural effects of material change through a close reading of three literary texts, each of which presents a portrait of a particular city in transition. The three texts which form the basis of this study are Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul: Memories and the City, William Dalrymple's City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, and Ivan Vladislavic's Portrait with Keys: The City of Johannesburg Unlocked. In my reading of the effects of material change as depicted in these texts, I draw on architectural theorist Fred Scott's three possible approaches to existing material and cultural infrastructure, namely demolition, preservation and re-appropriation. Using this framework, and extending it in several ways, I discuss the ways in which processes of demolition/destruction, preservation, and adaptation/re-appropriation are inscribed in these texts. In Pamuk's Istanbul, the founding of the modern nation state of Turkey is shown to have stimulated two opposing responses, namely Mustafa Kemal's discourse of Turkification, concerned with development and modernity, and a reactionary melancholy yearning for the past, called hüzün. Dalrymple's City of Djinns highlights the various forms of socio-cultural destruction which accompanied Partition while also documenting the many examples of accidental preservation within the rapidly modernising city; also important in City of Djinns are descriptions of material and cultural re-appropriation, highlighted in depictions of urban resilience and the formation of new heterogeneous communities capable of transcending former divisions. Vladislavic's Johannesburg is also concerned with three possible responses to change in the urban environment after the abolition of apartheid: the urge to demolish and emigrate, the contrary need to preserve and fortify, as well as the compromise offered by the decision to re-appropriate and adapt. / Orhan Pamuk / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / English / MA / Unrestricted

South Africa has not yet become a nation united in its diversity despite the claim made otherwise in the South African constitution. To grapple with the constitution’s unfulfilled promises, many writers and artists from the country have taken up the incongruity between lived experience and nationalist rhetoric in their works. As part of that efforts by artists and writers in South Africa, Ivan Vladislavić’s 2006 book Portrait with Keys: The City of Johannesburg Unlocked describes the difficulties of living in a country that does not perfectly match the rhetoric of a nation “united in [its] diversity.” In order to expand on the theme in Portrait with Keys of incongruity between lived life and the national discourse, as well as between lived life and literary representations, it is imperative to identify the discourse surrounding the current situation in South Africa. In this analysis of Vladislavić’s book, the author will describe and decipher moments where the lived experience of residents in Johannesburg belies the inclusionary discourse of South Africa and the literary representation of other cities. After describing moments that highlight the lack of correspondence between life and word, the author will analyze the various strategies for coping with the incongruity in the book. By taking this route of analysis, the author intends to illuminate the South African phenomenon of incongruent experience (in which lived life, discourse, and representation do not correspond) and arrive at a reading of the incongruity in Vladislavić’s book that leaves room for hope. / text

Cette étude a pour ambition d'analyser les descriptions littéraires de La Havane dans la diachronie. Il s'agit d'appréhender la ville comme une entité narrative à part entière, dans les nouvelles et les romans cubains du XIXème siècle à nos jours. Occupant une place privilégiée dans la littérature nationale, la capitale cubaine s'est chargée de représentations et de fonctions multiples qui ont évolué au fil des décennies, variant selon les points de vue esthétiques ou les partis pris descriptifs. Notre projet consiste à mettre en évidence les différentes manières d'appréhender l'espace urbain dans notre corpus mais aussi d'établir des ponts entre les époques pour ainsi faire dialoguer les œuvres entre elles. En étudiant les caractéristiques de La Havane littérarisée, nous prétendons assembler les différentes pièces d'un puzzle encore en construction afin de dresser le portrait kaléidoscopique d'une ville devenue espace littéraire. Envisagée comme un cadre référentiel renvoyant à une réalité géographique et socio-historique précise, la cité mise en fiction est aussi un espace symbolique fortement connoté. En tant qu'objet d'écriture, elle est également un espace poétique qui, en se détachant complètement de son référent réel, fait naître de multiples imaginaires urbains. / The object of this study is to present a diachronic analysis of the descriptions of Havana in Cuban literature. We have defined the city's status as a narrative object among Cuban novels and short stories from the 19th century to the present day. Central to the national literature, the Cuban capital city had gradually been endowed with multiple functions and representations, which vary depending on the aesthetic viewpoints or descriptive stances adopted by different authors. Our project consists not only in analysing the ever-changing physiognomy of this particular urban landscape within the scope of our corpus, but also in drawing bridges between different eras in order to outline the dialectic dynamics which exist between these stories. By paying close attention to the characteristics of literary Havana, we have begun assembling the pieces of a puzzle that is still in the making, thus reflecting the kaleidoscopic image of a city which has become a literary landscape. Used as the frame of reference for a precise geographical and socio-historical reality, the Havana of Cuban fictions also bears a strong and complex symbolic quality. As the object of these writings, it is also a poetic space which, by detaching itself from its actual referent, creates a multiplicity of imaginary urban landscapes.

The nature of the American Southern demagogue, best exemplified by Huey Pierce Long, is examined. Four novels which are based on Long's life: Sun in Capricorn by Hamilton Basso, Number One by John Dos Passos, A Lion Is in the Streets by Adria Locke Langley and All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, are used to exemplify literary representations of Long. First the individual personalities of the four demagogue characters are described. Next, the relationships of female associates to the demagogues are examined, then the relationships of male associates to them. The first conclusion is that virtually all associates of a demagogue, whether male or female, are in some manner affected by him. A second conclusion is that All the King's Men provides the best study of a Long-like character; its hero, Willie Stark, may consequently live longer in history than the real Huey Pierce Long.

Dès 1830, le théâtre s’empare du thème de la conquête de l’Algérie puis il accompagne l’expansion coloniale en Afrique du Nord, événements majeurs qui ont marqué la vie politique française du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. Véritable phénomène social et culturel de masse, il a fortement contribué à imposer l’esprit colonial et l’idée d’empire dans les mentalités. Mais dans quelle mesure exacte a-t-il été un acteur culturel de cette politique d’expansion et de domination ? Avec quelle fréquence, quelles inflexions ? Quelles représentations de l’« Arabe » a-t-il véhiculé, et comment les a-t-il transformées en discours idéologiques, reçus en direct par un public donné ? A-t-il été aussi le lieu d’une prise de distance, voire d’une contestation de la colonisation ? Au théâtre, l’altérité est mise en mots, mais aussi et surtout portée sur scène, par le corps et la voix du comédien, presque toujours français et blanc. L’autre, « indigène », celui qui interpelle, inquiète ou fascine, acquiert une visibilité accrue, le temps de la représentation. L’altérité est réduite par certains auteurs à des stéréotypes que d’autres mettent au contraire en question. L’image de l’Arabe, mais aussi du Kabyle, du Touareg et du métissé, a suivi les courants idéologiques qui ont sous-tendu les grandes étapes de l’expansion coloniale, jusqu’aux prémices des mouvements de décolonisation. Sur le plan esthétique, la représentation de l’« Arabe » est-elle l’occasion d’un renouvellement en matière de jeu, de langage, de décor et de costume ? La recherche de l’« exotisme » dans les formes spectaculaires laisse-t-elle parfois place au souci de rencontre et (re)connaissance de l’autre ? La portée à la fois littéraire, culturelle, sociale et historique du sujet nécessite de mobiliser et croiser des approches esthétique, dramaturgique, sociocritique et postcoloniale. / Since 1830, drama has taken over the Algerian conquest theme then backed the colonial expansion in North Africa, two major events which marked French political life from the 19th century to the early 20th century. As a real social and cultural overall phenomenon, it has strongly contributed to impose the colonial spirit and the empire idea into people's minds. But to what extent exactly has it played a cultural role in this expansion and domination policy? At what frequency and with which inflexions? Which representations of the "Arab" has drama conveyed, and how has it transformed them into an ideological discourse, through a live performance received by a given audience? Has it also been a place of distancing, even contesting colonization? Otherness is put into words with drama, but it is also and mostly brought onto the scene through the body and the voice of the actor, almost always French and white. The other "native", the one who puts question, worries or fascinates, gains an enhanced visibility, for the time of the performance. Otherness is reduced to stereotypes by some authors while others call them into question. The image of the Arab – but also of the Kabylian, the Tuareg, and the mixed-race – has followed the ideological currents that have underlain the great steps of the colonial expansion, until the beginnings of the decolonization movement. On the aesthetic level, is the representation of the "Arab" the opportunity of a renewal in terms of performance, language, setting, and costumes? Does seeking "exoticism" in spectacular forms give sometimes way to concern about meeting and knowing, or acknowledging, the other? The literary, cultural, social and historical significance of the subject requires to mobilize and cross aesthetic, dramaturgic, sociocritical and post colonial approaches.

Cette thèse est une étude chronologique de la présence militaire irlandaise en France sous l’Ancien Régime associé à une analyse du mythe de la Brigade Irlandaise au XVIIIe siècle. En s’appuyant sur des sources primaires, dont certaines sont inédites, les quatre premiers chapitres proposent un cadre historique de la communauté militaire irlandaise et de l’acculturation progressive, mais parfois difficile, de ses membres. Le premier chapitre se concentre sur les écrits de l’élite française et de la littérature populaire d’Angleterre face aux Irlandais lors de la « Guerre des trois rois », tandis que le deuxième se penche sur l’image des soldats irlandais dans la presse des deux côtés de la Manche à la même période. Le troisième explique comment ces hommes sont devenus au fil du temps une troupe reconnue par ses pairs dans l’armée royale, tandis que le quatrième explore les stratégies mises en place par les militaires irlandais et leurs familles pour intégrer la société d’accueil. Ces deux chapitres montrent également le déclin de la présence effective d’Irlandais dans la Brigade. La question de la mémoire de la bataille de Fontenoy est au coeur du cinquième et du sixième chapitre qui étudient minutieusement la part des Irlandais dans la journée du 11 mai 1745 et le rôle des écrits du XIXe siècle dans la naissance d’une identité militaire proprement irlandaise. L’étude se focalise sur des sources contemporaines des faits pour le premier et des documents anglais, français et irlandais datant du XIXe siècle pour le second. / This PhD is a chronological study of the military presence of Irishmen in Franceunder the Ancien Regime linked to an analysis of the myth surrounding the Irish Brigade in the18th century. Based on primary sources, some of which have been hitherto unpublished, the firstfour chapters propose an historical framework of the Irish military community and thesometimes difficult but progressive acculturation of its members. The first chapter focuses onthe writings of the French elite as well as popular literature from England about the Irish in the“War of the three kings”, while the second one is about the image of the Irish soldiers in thepress on both sides of the Channel during the same period. The third one explains how thesemen came to be recognised by their peers as a valuable unit in the French royal army and thefourth one explores the tactics used by Irish militarymen and their families to integrate intoFrench society. These two chapters also show the gradual decline of the actual presence ofIrishmen within the ranks of the Brigade. The question of the memory attached to the battle ofFontenoy is at the very core of the fifth and sixth chapters where the part played by Irishmenon the 11th of May 1745 is minutely studied. The birth of a distinct Irish military identity in19th century writings is also discussed. The study focuses on 18th century sources for the fifthchapter and 19th century sources from France, England and Ireland for the sixth.

Les bouleversements politiques et intellectuels provoqués par l’avènement du principat augustéen entraînent sous le Haut Empire une redéfinition des buts et des fonctions assignés à la formation intellectuelle de l’élite romaine et occidentale. Le développement de l’éloquence judiciaire et épidictique au détriment de l’éloquence politique modifie l’enseignement traditionnel de la rhétorique, tandis que la pratique philosophique prend de plus en plus de place au sein de la société et favorise le développement de son enseignement. Ces changements suscitent chez plusieurs auteurs des Ier et IIe siècles apr. J. C. des réflexions sur la manière d’améliorer l’enseignement rhétorique et philosophique alors que diverses initiatives sont prises pour organiser à l’échelle de l’Empire la diffusion de ces savoirs. Notre travail se propose d’examiner, en se concentrant sur les acteurs du système éducatif – professeurs et étudiants –, la façon dont cette formation intellectuelle se développe sous le Haut Empire dans les régions latinophones et de dresser une cartographie de l’enseignement de la rhétorique et de la philosophie en acquérant une connaissance concrète de ces personnages, par l’examen de leurs origines géographique et sociale et de leurs mobilités. Cette dimension réaliste se double d’une étude de la représentation de ces deux groupes dans la littérature impériale. Une attention particulière est portée à la question de la formation des futurs empereurs, dont la vie est richement documentée, afin de déterminer si la description de leur éducation est altérée par le souvenir qu’ils ont laissé de leur règne. / The political and intellectual upheavals caused by the advent of Augustus’ Principate result, in the Early Empire, in a new definition of the aims and functions assigned to the intellectual training of the Roman and Western elite. The development of judiciary and epidictic eloquence at the expense of political eloquence modifies traditional rhetorical teaching whereas philosophical learning is gaining importance within society thus favouring the teaching itself of philosophy. These changes bring several 100 and 200 A.D. authors to reflect upon the way of improving rhetorical and philosophical teaching. Meanwhile various initiatives are taken to spread these forms of knowledge throughout the Empire. By focusing on those who are in charge of the educational system – teachers and students – our research offers to examine how intellectual training develops in the Latin speaking regions in the Early Empire and to draw a map of rhetorical and philosophical teaching while getting to know these characters concretely through the study of their geographical and social backgrounds together with their mobility. Such realistic aspect goes with a survey of the representations of the two groups in imperial literature. Emphasis is laid in particular on the question of the education of the future emperors the documentation of whose lives is rich in order to examine whether the description of their education is altered by the memory that remains of their reign.