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The fragmented structures and stories of Michael Ondaatje's postmodernist fiction reflect our perception of the past as we view it through both personal memories and public documents of history. The mnemonic theories of F.c. Bartlett, Ulric Neisser and Roger Schank delineate the ways in which the human mind assembles and reassembles these fragments into useful realizations of the past. Combined with Ondaatje's historiographic metafiction, these theories describe the mnemonic workings of the mind as they reveal themselves in literature. Inherent in the view of the past which underlies the fiction and psychological theories invoked by this thesis is the realization that gaps and distortions are unavoidable in the reconstruction of the past. Working primarily within a theoretical framework provided by Linda Hutcheon and Roland Barthes, this thesis examines the way Ondaatje embraces these areas of ambiguity in the past as the primary locus of his imaginative writing in The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, coming Through Slaughter, In the Skin of a Lion, and The English Patient. Ultimately, the psychological and literary views of memory and history describe and predict Ondaatje's ability to re-animate the past into a living performative existence in the present. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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While scholars have analyzed the masculinity crisis portrayed in American fiction, few have focused on postmodernist fiction, few have examined masculinity without using feminist theory, and no articles propose an adequate solution for ending normative masculinity’s dominance. I examine the masculinity crisis as it is portrayed in two postmodernist novels, David Foster Wallace’s novel Infinite Jest and Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club. Both novels have male characters that ran the gamut of masculinities, but those that are the most successful at avoiding gender stereotypes (Donald Gately in Infinite Jest, and the narrator in Fight Club) develop a masculinity which incorporates strong, phallic masculinity and nurturing, testicular masculinity, creating a balanced gender. At the same time, both novels examine postmodernist fiction’s future. Post-postmodernist fiction, similar to well-rounded masculinity, seeks to be more emotionally open with the reader while still using irony and innovation for meaningful effects, not just to be clever.

There is some evidence from scholarship that politeness norms in China are diversified. I maintain that a study aiming to provide systematic evidence of this would require an approach to politeness phenomena that is able to address such diversity. Drawing upon the insights of recent scholarship on the distinction between the modernist and postmodernist approaches to politeness, I survey relevant literature. I show that many current works on politeness argue that the modernist approach (Lakoff 1973/1975, Brown and Levinson 1987[1978], Leech 1983) generally tends to assume that society is relatively homogeneous with regard to politeness norms. By contrast, I demonstrate that the postmodernist approach to politeness (e.g. Eelen 2001, Mills 2003, Watts 2003) foregrounds the heterogeneity of society and the rich variability of politeness norms within a given culture. I argue that, by using a postmodernist approach to politeness, it is possible to show evidence of differences between groups of the Chinese in their politeness behaviour and the informing norms of politeness. I then explore this issue in depth by focusing on compliments and compliment responses (CRs). I show that studies on these speech acts in Chinese have to date tended to adopt a modernist approach to politeness and often assume a compliment and a CR to be easily identifiable. Moreover, I show that they do not address the heterogeneity of Chinese society and generally assume interactants to be homogeneous in terms of politeness norms that inform compliment and CR behaviours. On this basis, I raise the questions as to whether, by adopting a postmodernist rather than modernist approach, there is empirical evidence that politeness norms informing compliments and CRs vary among the Chinese, and whether these norms correlate with generation. v To this end, by audio-recording both spontaneous naturally occurring conversations and follow-up interviews, I construct a corpus of compliments and CRs generated by two generations of the Chinese brought up before and after the launch of China's reform. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of these data show that there is variation in compliment and CR behaviours in Chinese and the informing politeness norms. Furthermore, the result shows that this variation is correlated with generation. I then show how, by using a research methodology which emphasizes the interactants' perceptions obtained through follow-up interviews, my study brings to light problems with previous studies on compliments and CRs which hitherto are not addressed. By showing evidence that compliments and CRs are not as easy to identify as many previous researchers have indicated. I argue that my emic approach to data analysis provides a useful perspective on the complexity of intention in studies on speech acts and perhaps beyond. My study, therefore, makes an interesting contribution to the debate over this notion central to politeness research. Moreover, I argue my methodology which is able to categorize and analyze data according to participants' self-reported perceptions allows me to draw out differences in the two generations' compliment and CR behaviours and the informing politeness norms.

Postmodernism is a complex concept to grasp, and although artists frequently create postmodernist work, a cognitive approach to it is difficult. This study is therefore unique in its aim to support creative writers in the formation (creation and representation) of postmodernist characters. Thus, this study contributes to the theory of creative writing, within the current zeitgeist and associated writing styles. A zeitgeist is the collective universal subconscious of the world within a specific epoch and is recognisable in the identity of the people that live during that zeitgeist, as well as in the art of the time. Postmodernism, as the contemporary zeitgeist, implies a postmodernist identity (or identities), which can creatively be represented in the artwork (literary text - prose). Through an integrated threefold study of Postmodernism (and postmodernist identity), "character" as covered in literary theory and the "creation and representation" of character as covered in the theory of creative writing, a paradigm is postulated to support the creative writer in the creation and representation of postmodernist characters. The paradigm manages postmodernist characters within three overlapping categories that approach characters as (1) icons that represent postmodernist people, as (2) literary motives that illustrate postmodernist themes and, as (3) containers of postmodernist discourses. Such a paradigm is not to be considered a model or recipe, but is instead to be viewed as an angle of approaching postmodernist characters and as a launch pad from where the creative writer must further rely on his or her own creativity, talent and dexterity. The paradigm therefore keeps in mind both the limitlessness of Postmodernism and the dynamism of the creative process. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The purpose of this study was to analyze aesthetic and ideological functions of time and space shifts in the postmodernist narrative. The paper investigates the problems of time and space relationships in literary discourse and is based on the material of famous postmodern novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Slaughterhouse – Five Or The Children’s Crusade A Duty – Dance With Death. The textual features expressed by space and time relations have not received enough attention in English critical literature. However, provides a continual response to the importance of time and space notions which are often included as part of the themes in the genre of novels. The method chosen for the study was descriptive. The paper consists of two basic parts and their subdivisions. The first part examines the differerences between traditional and postmodernist narrative discourse. The second focuses on the aesthetic and ideological functions of time and space shifts in the above mentioned novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. In the introduction some general characteristics of the narrative structure are outlined. A narrative structure is usually defined as a story which develops in time and space. But the simpliest way of conceiving a narrative is presenting it as a series of events in specific order with a beginning, a middle and an end. The structuralist theoretician Genette distinguishes such features of a narrative: discourse, story and narration. The theoreticians ( Paul Ricoeur, Mikhail... [to full text] / Laiko kaita naratyve yra neatsiejama nuo erdvės, nes laiko poslinkiai visada sukelia erdvės pasikeitimą. Šiame darbe siekiama atskleisti laiko ir erdvės kaitos estetines ir ideologines funkcijas postmodernistiniame Kurto Vonneguto, Jr. romane Skerdykla Nr.5 arba Vaikų Kryžiaus Žygis Privalomasis Šokis su Mirtimi. Laiko ir erdvės kaita romane apsprendžia jo struktūrines, semantines ir stilistines savybes. Pagrindinis metodas naudojamas šiame darbe yra aprašomasis. Darbas susideda iš dviejų dalių bei jų poskyrių. Pirmoje dalyje nagrinėjami skirtumai tarp tradicinio bei postmodernistinio literatūrinio diskurso. Pristatomos bendros žinios apie narratyvą bei tradiciniai ir postmodernistiniai požiūriai į literatūrinį diskursą. Tradiciniai naratologai kreipia dėmesį į romano struktūrą, laiką, įvykių seką, siužeto liniją, pasokotojo funkcijas. Postmodernistai yra priešingi tradiciniams požiūriams į naratyvo struktūrą. Jie neigia ne tik naratyvo linijiškumą bet ir pačio naratyvo ir jo elementų esmę. Postmodernistai pačiuose savo veikaluose nagrinėja kūrinio diskursą. Antroje darbo dalyje analizuojamos estetinės bei ideologinės laiko ir erdvės kaitos funkcijos Kurto Vonneguto, Jr. romane Skerdykla Nr.5 arba Vaikų Kryžiaus Žygis Privalomasis Šokis su Mirtimi. Romanas Skerdykla Nr.5 – pati ryškiausia antikarinė rašytojo knyga, kurią Vonnegutas komponuoja pasakojimo pasakojime principu, fragmentiškai pateikia sukurtą Bilio Pilgrimo istoriją ir į ją įaudžia dokumentinį... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Postmodernism is a complex concept to grasp, and although artists frequently create postmodernist work, a cognitive approach to it is difficult. This study is therefore unique in its aim to support creative writers in the formation (creation and representation) of postmodernist characters. Thus, this study contributes to the theory of creative writing, within the current zeitgeist and associated writing styles. A zeitgeist is the collective universal subconscious of the world within a specific epoch and is recognisable in the identity of the people that live during that zeitgeist, as well as in the art of the time. Postmodernism, as the contemporary zeitgeist, implies a postmodernist identity (or identities), which can creatively be represented in the artwork (literary text - prose). Through an integrated threefold study of Postmodernism (and postmodernist identity), "character" as covered in literary theory and the "creation and representation" of character as covered in the theory of creative writing, a paradigm is postulated to support the creative writer in the creation and representation of postmodernist characters. The paradigm manages postmodernist characters within three overlapping categories that approach characters as (1) icons that represent postmodernist people, as (2) literary motives that illustrate postmodernist themes and, as (3) containers of postmodernist discourses. Such a paradigm is not to be considered a model or recipe, but is instead to be viewed as an angle of approaching postmodernist characters and as a launch pad from where the creative writer must further rely on his or her own creativity, talent and dexterity. The paradigm therefore keeps in mind both the limitlessness of Postmodernism and the dynamism of the creative process. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

A cultural studies approach is applied to an analysis of land-use planning theory and practice to seek a holistic understanding of events struggling in praxis to construct ideologies and paradigms about the supermarket phenomenon, in a post- Fordist age. This links interests shared and contested by Govemment and key parties as agents of social change, including Sainsbury's as a typification of the supermarket business and the planners' professional body. The thesis challenges positivist assumptions embodying tenets of classical economic theory and rationalist, empirical methodology. It focuses on attempts to achieve ideological hegemony by the re-articulation of common sense explanations through everyday events mediated by late industrial capitalism's commodification process. The nature of the post-modernist dialectic centred on Capital's modernisation project favouring a new service economy is explored in relation to an organic interplay between ideas and action, and the linking of planning theory to reification. The nature of ideological code systems in relation to retail land-use planning, as a feature of culture and their discursive role in an ongoing struggle for power and dominance, is evaluated in the deconstruction of historical and contemporary texts. A new concept of dialectical pluralism is offered which acknowledges the dynamic construction of ideologies and paradigms between parties in everyday relational experience. The methodology offers a wide, topic-based inductive research focus taking the four poles of Government, the planning profession, academia and the business sector at points of apparent harmony and disjuncture, to review the means by which events in time and space are struggled for to establish ideological hegemony. A priority is to compare and contrast assumptions underpinning the training of land-use planners that reward or inhibit vested and less defined interests, including those legitimising and funding professional research projects.