Vergil’s Georgics was published in 29 BCE, at a critical point in the political life of Octavian-Augustus. Although his position at the head of state had been confirmed by victory at Actium in 31, his longevity was threatened by his reputation for causing bloodshed during the civil wars. This thesis argues that Vergil, in the Georgics, presents a defence of Octavian against criticism of his past, in order to safeguard his future, and the future of Rome. Through a complex of metaphor and allusion, Vergil engages with the weaknesses in Octavian’s public image in order to diminish their damaging impact. Chapter One examines the way in which the poet invokes and complements the literary tradition of portraying young men as destructive, amorous creatures, through his depiction of iuvenes in the Georgics, in order to emphasise the inevitability of youthful misbehaviour. Since Octavian is still explicitly a iuvenis, he cannot be held accountable for his actions up to this point, including his role in the civil wars. The focus of Chapters Two and Three of this thesis is Vergil’s presentation of the spring season in the Georgics. Vergil’s preoccupation with spring is unorthodox in the context of agricultural didactic; under the influence of the Lucretian figure of Venus, Vergil moulds spring into a symbol of universal creation in nature, a metaphor for a projected revival of Roman affairs under Octavian’s leadership which would subsequently dominate the visual art of the Augustan period. Vergil’s spring is as concerned with the past as it is the future. Vergil stresses the fact that destructive activity can take place in spring, in the form of storms and animal violence; the farmer’s spring labor is characterised as a war against nature, which culminates in the horrific slaughter of oxen demanded by bugonia. In each case destruction is revealed as a necessary prerequisite for some form of creation: animal reproduction, increased crop yield, a renewed population of bees. Thus, the spring creation of a new Rome under Octavian will come as a direct result of the bloodshed of the civil wars, a cataclysm whose horrors are not denied, but whose outcome will ultimately be positive. Octavian is assimilated to Jupiter in his Stoic guise: a providential figure who sends fire and flood to Earth in order to improve mankind.

En los cuentos de Modo linterna, de Sergio Chejfec (Buenos Aires, 1956), el espacio se presenta como un elemento que no solo opera a nivel accesorio, sino que se expande a lo consustancial, influyendo activamente en la construcción e interpretación del mundo narrado. Esta investigación propone abordar la representación del espacio en los cuentos desde una perspectiva interdisciplinaria: comenzaremos interpretando las configuraciones variadas del espacio trialéctico (Henri Lefebvre) para luego explorar, con la trialéctica del ser (Edward Soja), cómo la espacialidad en estos relatos propone una comprensión del individuo como un ser espacial, histórico y social. Nuestra lectura no se reducirá al plano del contenido, sino que también analizará, por medio de la geopoética (Marie-Laure Ryan et al.), la forma espacial del texto literario. Seguidamente, argumentaremos que leer el espacio como consustancialidad en estos cuentos conlleva además un nivel de discusión que se inserta en las dinámicas de la distribución de lo sensible y la política de la literatura (Jacques Rancière). La finalidad de este trabajo es proponer una lectura del espacio como consustancialidad y, en consecuencia, como un punto de partida para llevar a cabo una interpretación de las configuraciones de la experiencia sensible que dan lugar a nuevos modos del sentir e inducen nuevas formas de interpretar el ser en el espacio. / In Modo linterna’s short stories, by Sergio Chejfec (Buenos Aires, 1956), the space is presented as an element that not only functions at an accessory level, but expands itself to a consubstantial one, actively influencing the construction and interpretation of the narrated world. This research proposes an interdisciplinary reading of the representation of space in Chejfec’s short stories: we will begin by interpreting the various configurations of the trialectical space (Henri Lefebvre) to explore, through the trialectics of being (Edward Soja), how the spatiality in these stories proposes an understanding of the individual as a spatial, historical and social being. Through geopoetics (Marie-Laure Ryan et al.) our reading will also analyze the spatial form of the literary text. Subsequently, we will argue that reading space as consubstantiality also involves a level of discussion that is inserted in the dynamics of the distribution of the sensible and the politics of literature (Jacques Rancière). The purpose of this thesis is to propose a reading of space as consubstantiality, therefore as a starting point to carry out an interpretation of the configurations of the sensitive experience that gives rise to new modes of feeling and induce new forms to interpret the self in space.

Amharic literature has always occupied an important place in the history of the literary traditions of Ethiopia. Although this literature is believed to be strongly related to the politics of the country, there has been no study that proves this claim across the different political periods in the country. It would be ambitious to deal with all the literary genres in this respect. Therefore, delimiting the investigation of the problem is considered to be useful to filling the knowledge gap. Accordingly, this comparative research which investigates a representation of Ethiopian politics in selected Amharic novels across three political periods: 1930 – 2010 was designed. The objective of the research is to investigate the representation of Ethiopian politics in selected Amharic novels. The basic research question focuses on how these representations can be explained. An eclectic theoretical approach (the New Historicism, Bourdieu’s System Theory and the Critical Discourse Analysis) is employed to understand the representations. The main method of data collection focuses on a close reading of non-literary and literary texts. A purposive sampling technique is used to select the sample novels as the technique allows to select those that yield the most relevant data using some criteria. Based on the criteria set, sixteen novels are selected. The manners in which the political events represented in the novels are examined using different parameters. The parameters also look into the methods used in representing the political events and the time in which the events were represented, i.e. whether they are represented contemporarily, post-contemporarily or before the actual happening of the event. Having read the novels critically, the political events that took place in the three respective states are identified, analyzed and interpreted. The analysis mainly shows that different novels represented the political events in different manners: lightly or deeply, overtly or covertly, positively or negatively, contemporaneously or post-contemporaneously. Regarding the ‘how’ of the representations, it is observed that the critical novels, for instance, Alïwälädïm and Adäfrïs are covert and use symbols, direct and indirect allusions and other figures of speeches, and other techniques including turn taking, and size of dialogues to achieve their goals. Some political events are found to be either under-represented or totally un-represented in the novels. In some cases, same political events are represented differently in different novels at different times. Some novels that criticized the political events of the governments contemporaneously have been removed from market, republished in the political period that followed and exploited by the emerging government for its political end. There are some patterns observed in the analyses and interpretations of the politics in the novels. One of the patterns is that sharp criticisms on the events of an earlier political period are usually reflected in novels published in a new period. The critique novels of the Haileselassie government, for instance, Maïbäl Yabïyot Wazema, were published during the Darg period, and those that were critical of the Darg government, for instance, Anguz, were published in the EPRDF period. Another pattern observed is that there is no novel that praises a past regime, even despite being critical of a contemporary government. No novel written during the Darg period admired the Haileselassie period; and no novel written during the EPRDF period appreciated the Darg period. There are cases in which novelists who were critical of the contemporary Haileselassie and Darg periods, for instance, Abe and Bealu, respectively, ended up in detention or just disappeared and their novels, Alïwälädïm and Oromay, respecitely were banned from being circulated. Unlike the two previous political periods, the critique novels of the EPRDF period, for instance Dertogada, Ramatohara, and Yäburqa Zïmïta, have been published, or even republished, several times. Novels written during the Haileselassie period, such as Alïwälädïm, which were critical of the respective contemporary period, made their criticism covertly, using probes and imaginary settings and characters, while the critique novels of the EPRDF period, criticize overtly, and boldly. Generally, it could be concluded that the novels had the power to reflect history, and show human and class relationships implicitly, through the interactions of characters, story developments, and plot constructions, and the impact that politics has on the literature, and the influence of literature on politics. / Classics and World Languages / D. Phil. (Theory of Literature)

在中國現代文學中，文藝與政治之間有著密切而複雜的關係，此一問題在現代戲劇中尤其值得重視。過往戲劇研究長期位處邊緣，這與戲劇此一文類所獨具的綜合藝術特質不無關係，其橫跨文學、美術、音樂、表演等領域的跨藝術特徵，導致其複雜性實際上遠超純文學的範疇。另一方面，戲劇運動的集團性和政治性，亦導致論者對於中國現代戲劇發展較為簡單化的論述，戲劇史的書寫往往與時代話語緊密連繫。不論是純粹文藝化還是政治化的角度，皆很可能遮蔽了戲劇本身一體兩面的問題，導致研究單一化和簡單化。洪深 (1894-1955)、田漢 (1898-1968)和夏衍 (1900-1995)均是中國現代重要戲劇家，同時亦長期被定位為左翼文藝陣營中的重要成員。戲劇家和政治家的身分重疊，導致他們的研究情況往往與時代的意識形態掛鈎，而目前有關他們的研究更是受到冷落，與他們的文學成就並不相稱。本文以三位劇作家為研究對象，希望通過他們的不同面向，重新審視文藝與政治之間各種複雜關係的可能性。 / 本文分為五章。第一章為導論，主要介紹本文的寫作理念、方法和背景。第二章以洪深為研究對象，重新探討他的現實主義戲劇創作和主張。洪深對改譯劇的主張和實踐，體現了他與晚清鴛鴦蝴蝶派文學和西方戲劇的深刻淵源，而他和蕭伯納之間的文學關係，反映了他對早期文明戲的戲劇改革和西方舞台的繼承，突顯了洪深如何在中西文化之間思索中國現代戲劇中的現實主義問題。第三章從西方唯美主義和先鋒文學運動的角度，重新探討田漢的創作和政治轉向。本章考察田漢對外國文學的譯介活動，當中包括英國唯美主義作家威廉．莫里斯、德國表現主義影劇、俄國和日本左翼劇場，反映了田漢戲劇運動的左翼國際主義特徵；然而田漢對日本作家佐藤春夫和谷崎潤一郎的翻譯，則體現了他對唯美主義的回歸。第四章以夏衍的戲劇創作為研究對象，重新探討夏衍的戲劇文學的獨特性。本章把夏衍此時期的劇作分為歷史劇和上海都市劇兩個角度作出分析，並將它們放在當時文學場域中與郭沫若的歷史劇、國防文學、現代派小說和左翼電影作一比較，並分析夏衍的現實主義與左翼現實主義的相異。第五章為結論，綜合前文各章的討論，重新思考三位劇作家的戲劇實踐，並重審中國現代戲劇中文藝與政治之間的複雜關係。 / There is a complicated relationship between literature and politics in modern Chinese literature, especially in modern Chinese drama. As a result, the research of modern Chinese drama has long been placed at a marginal position. Drama is an integrated artistic form consisting of literature, art, music, and performance, and therefore presents a complexity that goes far beyond "pure literature". On the other hand, the history of modern Chinese drama is closely integrated with historical discourse as a result of the organizational and political characteristics of drama movements. This shows that either literary or political point of view may confine the interpretation of their inter-related complexity and interaction. Hong Shen (1894-1955), Tian Han (1898-1968) and Xia Yan (1900-1995) are three of the most important dramatists in modern Chinese literature, who were also regarded as representative members in the left-wing literary camp. Due to their dual identities as dramatist and politician, their images are often connected with historical and ideological discourses. This has also resulted in desolation in their researches, which is not commensurate with their literary achievements. This dissertation, therefore, focuses on the three dramatists by presenting different perspectives of their works and activities, with the aim to explore the possibilities of various relations between literature and politics. / There are five chapters in the dissertation. Chapter one introduces the framework, method and background of the research. Chapter two re-examines the realistic works and theories of Hong Shen. Hong’s adaptation reflects his literary relationship with both the Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies literature and the Western drama. Moreover, Hong’s literary relationship with Bernard Shaw reflects his succession of both the tradition of the civilized drama and the Western theatre. This highlights that the characteristics of Hong Shen’s realistic theories were adapted from both China and the West. Chapter three re-explores the political transformation of Tian Han from the Western literary movements of aestheticism and the avant-garde. This chapter demonstrates the characteristics of left-wing cosmopolitanism in Tian Han’s drama movements by studying his translation activities of international literature, which include the English poet William Morris, German expressionist cinema and theatre, Russian and Japanese left-wing theatre. In the meantime, Tian Han’s translations of Japanese writers Sato Haruo and Tanizaki Junichiro reflect his return to aestheticism. Chapter four discusses the uniqueness of Xia Yan’s literary works, including his historical drama and his modern drama centering on Shanghai. This chapter emphasizes the difference of Xia Yan’s realistic style from left-wing realism by comparing Xia’s works with National Defence Literature, modernist fictions, left-wing cinema, as well as the historical drama by Guo Moruo. Chapter five concludes the significance of the dramatic transformation by Hong Shen, Tian Han and Xia Yan, and reviews the relationship between literature and politics in modern China. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 盧敏芝. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-157). / Abstracts also in English. / Lu Minzhi.

The specific instances of R.H.W. Shepherd and H.I.E. Dhlomo are used in this thesis to investigate some of the many factors that influence the formation of a colonial literature, such as politics, social structures and personal ideals. By isolating the Lovedale Mission Press ~s a "contact zone" - a·place where the cultures of the colonizer and the colonized come into direct contact with each other - it is possible to trace how the interaction between these cultures shaped the writing of a particular African writer, H.I.E. Dhlomo. This is done through an analysis of historical factors that shaped the policy of the Lovedale Mission Press in the twentieth century: the development of liberalism in South Africa, the·role of the missionary in African education, the function ofa liberal magazine such as The South African Outlook and the appointment of an ambitious missionary, R.I.W. Shepherd, to the position of Director of Publications. This necessarily included a study of Shepherd's vision of African literature. On the other hand, this study takes cognisance of the factors that shaped Herbert Dhlomo's vision of literature: the development of African nationalism, the entrenchment of segregation as a politial doctrine, and most importantly, his struggle to have his creative writing published by the Lovedale Press. It is shown how Shepherd's vision of what African literature should entail contrasted with Dhlomo's, and how, as a result, Dhlomo deliberately structured his critical writing as a response to Shepherd's Eurocentric approach to African literature.

Text in Afrikaans / In this thesis the term post-colonialism in the Afrikaans drama is investigated, focussing on the post-sixties. The term post-colonialism is difficult to define. Not only are theories of post-colonialism in a state of continuous flux and shifting emphasis, but as a result of different colonial dominations, separate identities have been constructed in South-Africa; so that defining the terms colonial, post colonial and post-colonial proves to be even more problematic. The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent the Afrikaans drama fits into these discourses. The basic point of departure is the fact that post-colonialism played a considerable role in the development of the Afrikaans drama, at the same time providing a more varied scope. The research covers several aspects of post-colonialism in Afrikaans drama; each dealt with in a separate chapter. A multitude of perspectives are featured within the broader discourse in order to obtain multiple norms and standards in a phase of self-criticism. The focus falls mainly on themes and not on performance aspects. New perspectives on issues such as canon texts, silence, hero-worship, the portrayal of woman, patriarchy, and neo-colonialism are presented (chapter 1). In chapter 2 focus falls on the period before 1960, and notably the question of nationalism (associated with apartheid) and the portrayal of the Afrikaner. The literary canon, forms of violence and the position of the super-Afrikaner are viewed in a new light during the re-writing of post-colonial history and the resulting paradigm shifts after 1960. Renewed emphasis is placed on discourse concerning land (chapter 3). Contrasting concepts regarding race, class, language, gender and religion are reconsidered in order to contribute towards the heterogeneous nature of post-colonialism (chapter 4). The function of theatre is to re-evaluate in the context of a post-1994 democratic system. Texts now focus especially on empowerment, re-discovery and re-ordering of history, reconciliation, inter-cultural contact and a post-apartheid syndrome (chapter 5). Anti-hegemonic resistance in Afrikaans literature since the sixties has confronted writers with the challenge of depicting or creating a larger post-colonial reality through their texts. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

Selves and Others: The Politics of Difference in the Writings of Ursula Kroeber Le Guin has two founding premises. One is that Le Guin's writing addresses the political issues of the late twentieth century in a number of ways, even although speculative fiction is not generally considered a political genre. Questions of self and O/other, which shape political (that is, powerinflected) responses to difference, infuse Le Guin's writing. My thesis sets out to investigate the mechanisms of representation by which these concerns are realized. My chapters reflect aspects of the relationship between self and O/other as I perceive it in Le Guin's work. Thus my first chapter deals with the representations of imperialism and colonialism in five novels, three of which were written near the beginning of her literary career. My second chapter considers Le Guin's best-known novels, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and The Dispossessed (1974), in the context of the alienation from American society recorded by thinkers in the 1960s. In my third chapter, the emphasis shifts to intrapsychic questions and splits, as I explore themes of sexuality and identity in Le Guin's novels for and about adolescents. I move to more public matters in my fourth and fifth chapters, which deal, respectively, with the politicized interface between public and private histories and with disempowerment. In my final chapter, I explore the representation of difference and politics in Le Guin's intricate but critically neglected poetry. My second founding premise is that traditional modes of literary criticism, which aim to arrive at comprehensive and final interpretations, are not appropriate for Le Guin's mode of writing, which consistently refuses to locate meaning definitely. My thesis seeks and explores aporias in the meaning-making process; it is concerned with asking productive questions, rather than with final answers. I have, consequently, adopted a sceptical approach to the process of interpretation, preferring to foreground the provisional and partial status of all interpretations. I have found that postmodern and poststructuralist literary theory, which focuses on textual gaps and discontinuities, has served me better than more traditional ways of reading / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

Le champ littéraire belge francophone du second après-guerre n'a jamais fait l'objet d'une étude approfondie et exhaustive. Après avoir rappelé les conditions littéraires et culturelles de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, nous étudions l'épuration du champ littéraire, à savoir la réorganisation de celui-ci, par des instances qui lui sont extérieures. Nous analysons ensuite les rapports entre les écrivains et les institutions publiques et littéraires, avant de nous atteler à la description du champ littéraire de l'après-guerre. Nous tentons d'y décrire la position et les prises de positions des différents agents en présence. Se déploie alors en filigrane l'image d'une institution littéraire faible, incapable de faire émerger un nombre conséquent des auteurs de l'époque. / Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation langue et littérature / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

All bodies of critical discourse on any given literary canon seek visibility through self- celebration, subversion of competing critical ideas and identification with supposedly popular, scientific and incisive critical theories. Thus, the literary-critical quest for significance and visibility is, in essence, a quest for „space‟, „voice‟ and „authority‟ in the discussion of aspects of a given literary corpus. This research explores the politics of „space‟, „voice‟ and „authority‟ in „white critical thought‟ on „the black Zimbabwean novel‟. It unfolds in the context of the realisation that as a body of critical discourse on „the black Zimbabwean novel‟, „white critical thought‟ does not only emerge in an intellectual matrix in which it shares and competes for „space‟, „voice‟ and „authority‟ with other bodies of critical thought on the literary episteme in question; it also develops in the ambit of Euro-African cultural politics of hegemony and resistance. Thus, the research sets out to identify the ways in which „white critical thought‟ affirms and perpetuates or questions and negates European critical benchmarks and cultural models in the discussion of selected aspects of „the black Zimbabwean novel‟. The investigation considers the fissures at the heart of „white critical thought‟ as a critical discourse and the myriad of ways in which it interacts with competing critical discourses on the „the black Zimbabwean novel‟. It derives impetus from the fact that while other versions of critical thought on „the black Zimbabwean novel‟ have received extensive metacritical discussion elsewhere, „white critical thought‟ remains largely under-discussed. This phenomenon enables it to solidify into a settled body of critical thought. The metacritical discussion of „white critical thought‟ in this research constitutes part of the repertoire of efforts that will help check the solidification of critical discourses into hegemonic bodies of thought. The research makes use of Afrocentric and Postcolonial critical tenets to advance the contention that while „white critical thought‟ on „the black Zimbabwean novel‟ is fraught with fissures and contradictions that speak directly to its complexity and resistance to neat categorisation, it is largely vulnerable to identification as part of the paraphernalia of European cultural and intellectual hegemony in African literature and its criticism, given its tendency to discuss the literature outside the context of critical theories that emerge from the same culture and history with the literary corpus in question. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)