This paper investigates garments as containers of stories in Maggie O’Farrell’s The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (2007). Michel Foucault’s ideas about penal practice are used to study how items of clothing are used to discipline the female body and sexuality. O’Farrell’s novel is also analyzed from the perspective of trauma theory as presented by Cathy Caruth. In this context, we study how trauma is portrayed through the novel's presence and absence of garments. Further, a didactic perspective is added to our discussion of trauma theory, garments, and Foucault’s theories in the classroom. An issue to be investigated is how a safe space can be created in the classroom so that the teacher may introduce sensitive topics such as rape.   Keywords: garments, Foucault, trauma theory

In this essay, I illustrate how the third-person present tense narrative perspective can be used as stylistic allusion to theatre, by studying Maggie O’Farrell 2020 historical fiction novel Hamnet. Previous studies conclude that present-tense narration has the effect of blurring the lines between narration and experience. However, while a first-person perspective lets the reader enter the consciousness of an experiencing “I”, the third-person perspective, although inhabiting the same spatiotemporal level as the characters, maintains an outside perspective, observing the events as they unfold. Conclusively, as the study will show, third-person present tense narration has the potential to function as stylistic allusion to theatre as it seemingly challenges reader perception, letting the reader into the experiencing level of the story, assuming the role of the observer, thus mimicking the experience of watching a stage performance at a theatre.

In this dissertation the incorporation of cross-cultural imagery and its assimilation is focused on the work of Maggie Mikula, a ceramist from KwaZulu-Natal. Producing within the 1970's and 1980's. her work is investigated within the historical context of the socio-political background of South Africa. Syncretism in the visual arts reflects problems associated with identity and authenticity and this dissertation analyses these issues. A reference is made to select artists and ceramists in South Africa who approach their work in this manner, in particular with reference to the influence that Maggie Mikula has had in their work. Chapter One discusses the history of borrowing in South Africa citing examples of work by artists including amongst others Walter Battiss, Alexis Preller and Cecil Skotnes. This is based around the broad political and ideological relationships in the country that framed local art making. The assimilation and the breakdown of barriers in African/western art in a South African context is argued through a post-colonial reading. The chapter deals with the problems of borrowing related to appropriation and stereotyping from a postmodernist perspective. Chapter Two introduces the history of South African ceramics examining its development and styles, focussing on changing premises within the medium. The second part of the chapter positions Mikula's work, interests, personal history and ideals. Chapter Three deals with the development of Mikula's ceramic work, referring to her technology, processes and sourcing. The reception of Mikula's work and the attitudes to cross-cultural assimilation in the 1980's, as well as current perceptions are addressed in Chapter Four. Her influence on this creative medium is shown with specific examples. Personal interviews attempt to contextualise her position and situate her within the ceramic world. Acknowledging that there is a wealth of collections through out South Africa, the ceramic work predominately researched for this paper is from KwaZulu-Natal. It has been sourced both from the immediate family, and from individual collectors, as this was the site of her production. Other collections have been accessed from around South Africa including the Corobrik collection in Pretoria (of which there are two pieces - one which is broken), the large piece is documented photographically (see Fig.22) and referred to on Page 66. The Nelson Mandela Museum, Port Elizabeth, (accessed on-line and via photographs from the artist's records) has a notable collection, but given the nature of this research, these pieces do not demonstrate any significant features over and above those that were already sourced. This paper is not intended as a catalogue, but is meant to show a variety of Mikula's work to demonstrate her influence and style. Each piece is chosen for its specific aspects and unique features that would support this research. Given the nature of this investigation, the author has been obliged to read widely, including writers such as Berman, Sacks, Cruise and the complete edition of APSA newsletters and magazines to give a comprehensive over view of the changes in style and influence within South African art and specifically, ceramics. / Thesis (M.F.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Föreliggande uppsats är en analys av Maggie Nelsons Bluets (2009), med fokus på begär. Texten beskriver en kvinna som är förälskad i färgen blått. Den innehåller även minnen från en relation som berättarjaget haft. Syftet med uppsatsen är att visa på textens olika uttryck för begär och tolka dessa för att kunna fördjupa läsningen av texten. Jag kommer att undersöka vilka begär som gestaltas och vilka funktioner dessa har, samt på vilka sätt som begären i Bluets ger möjlighet till en feministisk förståelse av begärsbegreppet. Begärsteman är vida undersökt i litteraturen. Många gånger har psykoanalytiska teorier använts för analys, inte minst Lacan och konceptualiseringen av begär som en brist. I denna uppsats används dels Lacans teori och dels en vidareutveckling av te orin som gjorts av Deleuze och Guattari, där begär inte beskrivs som konstituerat av en brist, utan som ett flöde. Studien visar att på tre huvudsakliga begärsteman i Bluets: begäret efter det förlorade kärleksobjektet, begäret efter det kroppsliga/sexuella och begäret efter färgen blå. Dessa analyseras utifrån aspekterna det betecknande och det betecknade, dikotomin man-kvinna, det blåa begärets funktion samt romanens form. Studien visar på att det är möjligt att göra en lacansk läsning av boken, som en illustration av sorgen orsakad av det förlorade kärleksobjektet och det blåa som en symbol för denna sorg. Men analysen öppnar också upp för en annan förståelse av begär: begäret som en maskin, som ger upphov till ett mer mångfaldigt kvinnligt subjekt, som står i förbindelse med en rad andra personliga och opersonliga maskiner. Ett begär som genererar kreativitet och produktion utanför subjektets fantasier.

L’objectif de ce mémoire est de réfléchir aux différentes implications du récit de soi lorsqu’il nous parvient de façon fragmentée. J’ai souhaité penser la création de liens et de relations à travers la mise en distance, la discontinuité et le détour et j’ai proposé pour cette raison que ces aspects sont centraux à l’économie du récit et à l’établissement d’un rapport à soi. J’ai donc privilégié l’étude de deux livres, Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes (1975) et The Argonauts (2015) par Maggie Nelson, qui offrent un portrait éclaté du sujet. Ces ouvrages sont liés l’un l’autre par une image que Maggie Nelson emprunte à Barthes, soit le vaisseau Argo. Métaphore de la métaphore pour George Kliebenstein, l’image de l’Argo permet de naviguer à travers ces récits dont les fragments se superposent plutôt qu’ils ne s’enchaînent. Cette métaphore offre une compréhension des textes dans un hors temps, au contact d’une destination à définir. Des liens s’établissent néanmoins au fil de la lecture entre l’auteur.ice et soi-mêmes. Ce dispositif littéraire constitue le projet d’étude du mémoire que j’associe à l’incarnation. Ainsi, l’écriture de soi peut être entrevue comme un acte qui permet la construction d’un rapport à soi. Le mémoire est divisé en trois sections. Dans un premier temps, les récits sont interrogés afin d’en comprendre la composante biographique tout en explorant la discontinuité de leurs présentations. Par la suite, le corps et ses représentations sont examinés dans les deux récits, ce qui permet une première apparition de l’incarnation dans ce mémoire. Enfin, la troisième section établit le rôle de la langue et de ses marges. / This study aims to examine the many implications of self-writing when it comes in a fragmented form. My intention was to consider the creation of links and relationships through distancing, discontinuity and digressions and I suggested those aspects are crucial to the narrative and giving an account of oneself. I therefore chose to focus on the study of two books, Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes (1975) and Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts (2015), which offer a fragmented portrayal of the subject. These works are linked to each other by an image that Nelson borrows from Barthes, the Argo ship. A metaphor’s metaphor for George Kliebenstein, the image of the Argo allows a navigation between those narratives in which fragments overlap rather than following each other. This metaphor offers an out of time understanding of the texts heading to an undefined destination. Links are nonetheless established throughout the reading between the authors and themselves. This literary device constitutes the core of this study which I link to embodiment. Thus, self-writing can be seen as an act allowing the building of a relationship with oneself. The study is divided in three sections. Firstly, narratives are looked into in order to understand their biographical foundation while also exploring their discontinuous form. Secondly, the body and its representations are examined, enabling a first understanding of embodiment. Finally, the third section establishes the function of language and its margins.

Life writing has traditionally been organized into two main subfields: autobiographical writing, focused on the self, and biographical writing, focused on one or more other human beings. Yet, many contemporary texts from different linguistic and cultural contexts defy or complicate such a clear-cut distinction. The present dissertation investigates a group of such texts, which I have called “bifocal narratives.” With this term, I indicate works that, as in an ellipse, hinge upon two foci at once – an autobiographical narrator and a biographical other – and take shape around the relation between these two poles. The dissertation offers both a historical interpretation and a morphology of this form. It does so by comparing three literary contexts (Italian literature, French literature, and Anglophone literature of the North Atlantic) and combining theoretical argumentation, panoramic analyses of a vast corpus, and close readings of individual works. Drawing on bifocal narratives’ amphibious nature as both literary and documentary writings, in the Introduction, I propose to interpret the bifocal form through a twofold lens: as part of a growing interest in the intersubjective formation of identity and the self/other relationship in life writing and life writing criticism; and as a mise en abyme of trends and tensions at work in contemporary literature more at large. In the latter respect, I view bifocal narratives as embodying both a heightened interest in individuality and a tangible difficulty among writers in speaking as characters different from themselves. I link both aspects to a crisis of traditional humanistic ideologies and the mandate of intellectuals in European and North American cultures. In the first chapter, I offer a panoramic view of bifocal narratives by delineating their main manifestations and highlighting some of their defining traits (for example, a strong heuristic tension or a tendency to structure the self/other relationship in polarized terms). In the following three chapters, I focus on three main subgroups of bifocal narratives: hyper-narrative bifocal works, bifocal texts between poetry and prose, and essayistic bifocal narratives. These three clusters of texts allow me to investigate some crucial aspects of the bifocal form, which are particularly evident in these various subsets: the role of narration in shaping a sense of the self, and a serious use of intertextuality; a complex vision of the speaking “I” that complicates a clear-cut division between fiction and nonfiction, an original use of textual blanks, and a deep literary work on both language and documents; and the complication of the auto/biographical model via the alternative paradigm offered by (literary) portraiture, as well as a multilayered approach towards the (post)modern literary and critical traditions. In doing so, I also provide extensive close readings of five main works: Via Gemito (2000) by Domenico Starnone and Limonov (2011) by Emmanuel Carrère; Jane: A Murder (2005) by Maggie Nelson; and Out of Sheer Rage (1997) by Geoff Dyer and Qualcosa di scritto (2012) by Emanuele Trevi. Besides illuminating various aspects of bifocal narratives, these readings also aim to offer original interpretations of these works.