<p>The aim of this thesis is to elucidate the tension between feminism and nationalism in Israel and to investigate the ways by which such discursive currents mark the identities of Israeli women. The specific field of investigation is Israeli theatre, and the identities examined are dramatic characters created by the Israeli playwright Miriam Kainy. Also examined is the character of the playwright herself. Theatre is being observed as a specific field of society in which the position of women can be clarified. What kind of women characters the Israeli theatre produces is therefore a leading question for this study.</p><p>Feminist theories, focusing on gender aspects of power relations, together with the postcolonial perspective, which considers power relations by focusing on ethnicity and geopolitical aspects, provide the theoretical tools. The social constructionist viewpoint is used since it provides an appropriate understanding of important notions for the thesis, such as <i>nation</i> and <i>identity</i>, considering them as constructions created by discourse. The discourses focused upon are the national v. the feminist discourse and theatre is viewed as a discourse mediator, which is why the dramatic text is the object of the analysis. The specific method of analysis is inspired by Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis.</p><p>The main part of the thesis consists of a discursive analysis of five women characters, constructed within a period of about five decades, namely between the 1950s and 1990s. Each one of these characters consists of an articulation which is considered representative of a specific time-relevant discursive struggle between the two discourses in question. One of the central assumptions of the thesis is that the Israeli national identity is thoroughly masculine. The identity problems it has been causing Israeli women since the time of the pioneers until today are clearly illuminated throughout the analysis. The conclusion emphasises that the subjectpositions being introduced by Israeli national discourse, namely the ways of being a <i>New Jew</i>, an Israeli, collide with those introduced by feminist discourse, i.e. ways of being an independent woman subject. Nevertheless, each and every character demonstrates creative ways of transforming the discourses by aiming at a hybrid formation.</p>

The aim of this thesis is to elucidate the tension between feminism and nationalism in Israel and to investigate the ways by which such discursive currents mark the identities of Israeli women. The specific field of investigation is Israeli theatre, and the identities examined are dramatic characters created by the Israeli playwright Miriam Kainy. Also examined is the character of the playwright herself. Theatre is being observed as a specific field of society in which the position of women can be clarified. What kind of women characters the Israeli theatre produces is therefore a leading question for this study. Feminist theories, focusing on gender aspects of power relations, together with the postcolonial perspective, which considers power relations by focusing on ethnicity and geopolitical aspects, provide the theoretical tools. The social constructionist viewpoint is used since it provides an appropriate understanding of important notions for the thesis, such as nation and identity, considering them as constructions created by discourse. The discourses focused upon are the national v. the feminist discourse and theatre is viewed as a discourse mediator, which is why the dramatic text is the object of the analysis. The specific method of analysis is inspired by Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis. The main part of the thesis consists of a discursive analysis of five women characters, constructed within a period of about five decades, namely between the 1950s and 1990s. Each one of these characters consists of an articulation which is considered representative of a specific time-relevant discursive struggle between the two discourses in question. One of the central assumptions of the thesis is that the Israeli national identity is thoroughly masculine. The identity problems it has been causing Israeli women since the time of the pioneers until today are clearly illuminated throughout the analysis. The conclusion emphasises that the subjectpositions being introduced by Israeli national discourse, namely the ways of being a New Jew, an Israeli, collide with those introduced by feminist discourse, i.e. ways of being an independent woman subject. Nevertheless, each and every character demonstrates creative ways of transforming the discourses by aiming at a hybrid formation.

ABSTRACT Agnes of God is the story of a nun (Agnes) who gets pregnant while living in a convent. She almost dies after giving birth to a baby, who was later found dead in a garbage can. The cast consists of three members: Agnes; Mother Miriam Ruth (Mother Superior); and Dr. Martha Livingstone, the court appointed psychiatrist. Faith is tested as Dr. Livingstone draws closer to uncovering the truth surrounding the conception, birth, and death of Agnes’ baby. I performed the role of Mother Superior in the UNO production of Agnes of God. This thesis documents my rehearsal and performance journey. It includes a rehearsal journal and an evaluation of my performance. The play was performed in the Lab Theatre of the Performing Arts Center on November 5 and 6; November 14 and 15; and on November 19 and 20. Agnes of God is based on a true story. Keywords: Mother Superior, Agnes, Pielmeier, Sacrifice, Nun, Maureen Murphy

Moral vagueness is encountered when the alethic value of some moral statement containing a moral predicate is deemed to be vague. One such statement could be “abortion in week 22 is permissible”. Given the metaethical framework of moral realism, there are three standard approaches to understanding the ontology of such vagueness. The semantic approach states that the vagueness is due to our language not being able to adequately refer to the moral reality. The ontic approach states that the vagueness is an intrinsic feature of the moral reality, and as such it will always persist. The epistemic approach states that the vagueness is due to subjects not being able to know the moral reality. In effect, there are things about morality we cannot know, because of our epistemic disposition. In this thesis, I investigate arguments in favor of all three approaches and find that of the three, the epistemic approach – here named moral epistemicism – has the best chances of succeeding. / Moralisk vaghet uppstår när sanningsvärdet av ett moraliskt uttalande, innehållandes ett moraliskt predikat, anses vara vagt. Ett sådant uttalande kan vara "abort i vecka 22 är tillåtet". Givet moralisk realism som metaetiskt ramverk finns det tre vedertagna tillvägagångssätt för att förstå ontologin hos en sådan vaghet. Det semantiska tillvägagångssättet hävdar att vagheten beror på att vårat språk inte kan referera till den moraliska verkligheten på ett adekvat sätt. Det ontiska tillvägagångssättet hävdar att vagheten är en inneboende egenskap hos den moraliska verkligheten, det är verkligheten själv som är vag. Det epistemiska tillvägagångssättet hävdar att vagheten beror på att vi som subjekt inte kan veta allt om den moraliska verkligheten. Det finns moraliska sanningar som vi inte kan veta på grund av vår epistemiska disposition. I denna avhandling undersöker jag argument till förmån för alla tre tillvägagångssätt och finner att det epistemiska tillvägagångssättet – här benämnd moralisk epistemicism – har störst chans att lyckas.

The broad aim of this essay is to examine the different variations of the wooden clog throughout the ages, beginning in the 13th century and moving onward to the present. Geographically speaking,the paper focuses on wooden clogs from western Europe and Sweden especially. The different versions of the wooden clog are presented chronologically and compared accordingly. As the analysis inches closer to the present-day clog, aspects of branding, commerce and advertising grow more relevant. Visual semiotics is used to analyse how certain messages are communicated through the design of the clogs in question. It is evident that not only the style of the wooden clog has changed throughout the years, but the shoes inherent meaning too. The present-day clog possesses (unlike its predecessors) a capacity to express the wearer’s identity, be it one’s gender or ancestry, by means of design.

The dissertation presents and explores a mode of literary studies, which bypasses the question of literary value, and instead aims to assess how and where creative writing challenges hegemonic norms (that is, its political value). In so doing, it reflects on the practice of literary studies per se, and the mechanism(s) by which discourse can impact on subjecthood. The exploration entails the application of certain theoretical tools (concepts) in a reading of a literary work. The primary concepts employed are: performativity, subjectivity and gender. The dissertation seeks to read Muriel at Metropolitan (Tlali 1994) as a performative act, that is, a discursive event which re-enacts the practice of fictional writing and thereby extends (and possibly changes} the convention of crealive writing. If it is true that creative writing is performative, that it partake in the making of the individual, then it is important to study such writing in order to discover the consequences for the subject / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Thesis (MA) -- Stellenbosch University, 1986. / No Abstract Avcailable

<p>This study is the first one devoted solely to the writings of the South African black novelist Miriam Tlali. It argues that her works constitute literary resistance not only to apartheid, noted by previous scholars, but also to South African patriarchies. Examining Tlali’s novels <i>Muriel at Metropolita</i>n (1975) and <i>Amandla!</i> (1980), and several short stories from <i>Mihloti</i> (1984) and <i>Footprints in the Quag</i> (1989), the study pits these texts against the black literary tradition dominated by men and also reads them within the social context of South African patriarchies, with its social restrictions on women and its taboos concerning sexualities. To distance herself from the patriarchal values inherent in the male literary tradition and to negotiate social and sexual restrictions on women, I argue, Tlali deploys narrative strategies like generic difference, generic dialogism, a double-voiced discourse, “whispering,” and “distancing.”</p><p>Drawing on the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and Julia Kristeva, this study first explores “novelistic” traits in <i>Muriel</i> which function both to resist male literary conventions, like the epic mode of narrative, and to criticise their patriarchal ideology. Second, relying on Bakhtin, it analyses the generic dialogism and double-voicedness in <i>Amandla!</i>. Finally, making use of Kristeva’s semiotics and her theory of sacrifice, the study traces the development of a sacrificial discourse of gendered violence from <i>Amandla!</i> to some of Tlali’s short stories. Supported by Martha J. Reinecke’s explication of Kristeva, I show that Tlali’s texts insist that gendered violence upholds the sacrificial economies of both patriarchal apartheid and African patriarchy. The strategies of “whispering” and “distancing,” I claim, surface in Tlali’s addressing of the sensitive issues of black women’s victimisation and gendered violence. “Whispering” entails muting the criticism of the perpetrators of gendered violence, whereas “distancing” results in dis/placing gendered violence on the margins of the community. This study also examines the literary/social context of Tlali’s oeuvre: it explores specific traits of the South African black literary tradition, how the issue of rape has been addressed there, and the depiction of African patriarchy in autobiographies by South African black women.</p>

This study is the first one devoted solely to the writings of the South African black novelist Miriam Tlali. It argues that her works constitute literary resistance not only to apartheid, noted by previous scholars, but also to South African patriarchies. Examining Tlali’s novels Muriel at Metropolitan (1975) and Amandla! (1980), and several short stories from Mihloti (1984) and Footprints in the Quag (1989), the study pits these texts against the black literary tradition dominated by men and also reads them within the social context of South African patriarchies, with its social restrictions on women and its taboos concerning sexualities. To distance herself from the patriarchal values inherent in the male literary tradition and to negotiate social and sexual restrictions on women, I argue, Tlali deploys narrative strategies like generic difference, generic dialogism, a double-voiced discourse, “whispering,” and “distancing.” Drawing on the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and Julia Kristeva, this study first explores “novelistic” traits in Muriel which function both to resist male literary conventions, like the epic mode of narrative, and to criticise their patriarchal ideology. Second, relying on Bakhtin, it analyses the generic dialogism and double-voicedness in Amandla!. Finally, making use of Kristeva’s semiotics and her theory of sacrifice, the study traces the development of a sacrificial discourse of gendered violence from Amandla! to some of Tlali’s short stories. Supported by Martha J. Reinecke’s explication of Kristeva, I show that Tlali’s texts insist that gendered violence upholds the sacrificial economies of both patriarchal apartheid and African patriarchy. The strategies of “whispering” and “distancing,” I claim, surface in Tlali’s addressing of the sensitive issues of black women’s victimisation and gendered violence. “Whispering” entails muting the criticism of the perpetrators of gendered violence, whereas “distancing” results in dis/placing gendered violence on the margins of the community. This study also examines the literary/social context of Tlali’s oeuvre: it explores specific traits of the South African black literary tradition, how the issue of rape has been addressed there, and the depiction of African patriarchy in autobiographies by South African black women.

The dissertation presents and explores a mode of literary studies, which bypasses the question of literary value, and instead aims to assess how and where creative writing challenges hegemonic norms (that is, its political value). In so doing, it reflects on the practice of literary studies per se, and the mechanism(s) by which discourse can impact on subjecthood. The exploration entails the application of certain theoretical tools (concepts) in a reading of a literary work. The primary concepts employed are: performativity, subjectivity and gender. The dissertation seeks to read Muriel at Metropolitan (Tlali 1994) as a performative act, that is, a discursive event which re-enacts the practice of fictional writing and thereby extends (and possibly changes} the convention of crealive writing. If it is true that creative writing is performative, that it partake in the making of the individual, then it is important to study such writing in order to discover the consequences for the subject / English Studies / M.A. (English)