This dissertation explores the question of identity in times of violence. In this regard attention is drawn to the significance of the motto and to various inter-texts. The connection between the Afrikaans language, the country of South Africa and the identity of the Afrikaner is scrutinised, but more especially language as a means of communication and tool for the protagonist, who is a poet. His lifestyle, personal safety and place of work are under threat while the rural areas are becoming inaccessible, the city inhospitable and military violence prevails. The question he asks himself, “what is left?”, is used as the premise for an enquiry into identity from a post-colonial and sociological angle. It appears eventually that his search for identity is a highly personal one and Jung’s concept of individuation and the reconciliation of the conscious ego with the unconscious is pursued as the only option and refuge for the protagonist. It is not advocated that Afrikaners turn their back on reality by means of inner or actual emigration, but the implicit recommendation is an enrichment of life with full cognizance of current conditions. / Prof. W. Botha Prof W. Burger

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to produce an English translation of the first part of Karel Schoeman's novel Hierdie lewe, translated as This Life. The thought processes of the translator are illustrated by means of descriptive annotations. The choice of source text is motivated and the specifications of the target text are formulated. The problem is stated that relatively few of Schoeman's fictional works have been translated into English or other languages and it is suggested that this might be because Schoeman's work is difficult to translate, or even untranslatable. A possible reason for this may be Schoeman's distinctive style: rhythmic, lyrical and rich in imagery. The source culture may also be too specific and the cultural gap too wide. A hypothesis is formulated that translation is possible if the translational problems are identified. Certain strategies are devised and solutions suggested. A hermeneutic interpretation of the source text and an overall strategy of resistancy are advocated, resulting in a target text with a marked source-text inscription. However, a measure of domestication is unavoidable in the light of the final goal to create an equivalent text which is still readable and will not alienate its addressees. A discussion of relevant concepts from translation studies theory substantiates and motivates the choice of translation strategies and solutions. A thorough reading analysis of the source text supplies the context for an interpretation. Descriptive annotations focus on the translator's methodology. Conclusions are drawn about the effectiveness of the chosen strategies and suggestions are made for further study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is die produksie van 'n vertaling in Engels van die eerste deel van Karel Schoeman se roman Hierdie lewe, vertaal as This Life. Daarby word deur middel van beskrywende annotasies verslag gedoen oor die denkprosesse van die vertaler tydens die vertaalproses. Die keuse van bronteks word gemotiveer en die vereistes vir die doelteks word geformuleer. Die probleem word gestel dat relatief min van Schoeman se fiksie reeds in Engels en ander tale vertaal is, moontlik as gevolg van 'n persepsie dat Schoeman se werk moeilik vertaalbaar, of selfs onvertaalbaar is. Een rede hiervoor is 'n besondere beeldryke, liriese, ritmiese skryfwyse, kenmerkend van Schoeman. Dat die bronkultuur te spesifiek en die kulturele gaping te groot is, kan ook 'n rol speel. 'n Hipotese word gestel dat vertaling wel moontlik is mits die vertaalprobleme geïdentifiseer word en strategieë om die probleme op te los, bedink word. 'n Hermeneutiese interpretasie van die bronteks word aanbeveel en 'n oorhoofse weerstandstrategie word voorgestel, met die bronteksinskripsie duidelik in die doelteks waarneembaar. Sekere toegewings aan die brontekskultuur (domestication) is egter onvermydelik in die lig van die einddoelom 'n ekwivalente teks te skep wat tog ook leesbaar is en nie die teikenlesers sal vervreem nie. 'n Bespreking van relevante konsepte uit die vertaalteorie ondersteun en motiveer die keuse van vertaalstrategieë en -oplossings. 'n Deeglike analise van die bronteks verskaf die konteks vir 'n interpretasie. Beskrywende annotasies bevat inligting oor die werkwyse van die vertaler en afleidings word gemaak oor die doeltreffendheid van die gekose strategieë. Die moontlikheid van verdere studie word aangedui.

M.A.

M.Phil. / This study is undertaken against the backdrop of the "narrativistic turn" in the human sciences. While narratives were traditionally regarded as the terrain of literary studies, it has increasingly become a focus in various disciplines since the 1970s. The usefulness of the concept "narrative identity" is investigated as a means to deal with the problematization of the subject (and personal identity) in postmodern thought. The influence of 20th Century language theory and constructionism on the problematization of the subject is also discussed. It is argued that the self (and personal identity) can not be regarded as a pre-existing subject that simply finds expression in narratives (as sometimes happens in narrative therapy). Such a view would presuppose a pre-linguistic cogito. The self (and personal identity) is not readily available for examination by the self. From a hermeneutical point of view, the self is always an interpretation. Paul Ricoeur's discussion of "narrative identity" is used tot discuss the processes of identity construction in self-narratives. The way in which a "narrative identity" is constructed in a self-narrative is examined with reference to Karel Schoeman's autobiography (Die laaste Afrikaanse boek – literally "The Last Afrikaans Book"). An autobiography is a representation of a life in which a subject is self-consciously constructing an identity. This specific autobiography makes explicit, self-conscious use of literary devices and refers to literary texts which makes it possible to examine the influence of fiction on self-narratives. In the process of this study it is demonstrated that insights provided by literary studies could contribute to narrative psychology and in this sense it is demonstrated that the strict boundaries that often exist between disciplines could be dissolved. Various ways by which the study of literature could contribute to the expansion of the hermeneutical basis on which individuals base their self-narratives, and the spin-offs for narrative therapy, is the most important result of the study. Some gains of narratology (within literary analysis) for narrative therapy are also examined.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the relationship between history and literature, with specific reference to the Afrikaans novels Verliesfontein (1998) by Karel Schoeman and Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz (1998) by Christoffel Coetzee. Both novels are framed against the background of the Anglo Boer War and both take a postmodern approach to that history, amongst other things. First, Chapter 2 reviews the historical background to the relationship between history and literature through the ages (the classical era, and the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries), with a view to indicating how this tradition adheres to the postmodern spirit of contemporary times. Thereafter, Chapter 3 presents a theoretical investigation into the postmodern view of historiography and historical fiction. Special reference is made to Hutcheon's theory of historiographic metafiction as an important theoretical point of departure in the discussion of historical fiction. Political and ideological meaning implicit in historiography is discussed. Chapter 4 explores the current trend in South Africa of rereading and reappraising the past, of questioning traditional historiography in a postapartheid South African context (both in Afrikaans fiction and in historical writing). The revisiting of the Anglo Boer War in contemporary South Africa and in Afrikaans fiction is investigated, and an attempt is made to establish the significance of its reappraisal. Against this background the two texts, Verliesfontein and Op soek na generaal Manntjies Mentz, are discussed in Chapter 5. The two novels amply illustrate the possibility for interaction between history and literature, fact and fiction. How may these texts be read in view of postmodern theory? What lessons for present-day South Africans did Schoeman and Coetzee have in mind with their postmodern questioning of traditional historiography and their unconventional reconstruction of the past? Reappraising conventional accounts of history and exploring personal histories as these texts do, Verliesfontein and Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz are part of the dominant discourse that is taking form in the multicultural society of a postapartheid South Africa today. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie is 'n ondersoek onderneem na die verhouding tussen geskiedenis en literatuur, met spesifieke verwysing na Karel Schoeman se roman Verliesfontein (1998) en Christoffel Coetzee se roman Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz (1998). In hierdie twee tekste, wat die Anglo-Boereoorlog as hul raamwerk het, is onder andere 'n postmodernistiese benadering tot die geskiedenis benut. Eerstens word in hoofstuk 2 oorsigtelik gekyk na die historiese agtergrond van die verhouding tussen geskiedenis en literatuur met verloop van die tyd (die klassieke tyd, agtiende eeu, negentiende eeu en twintigste eeu), om aan te dui hoe dié tradisie by die heersende tydsgees van die postmodernisme aansluit. Hierna verskaf hoofstuk 3 'n teoretiese ondersoek na die postmodernistiese manier waarop geskiedskrywing en historiese fiksie gesien word. Die teorie van Hutcheon se historiografiese metafiksie word veral in die bespreking van historiese fiksie betrek as 'n belangrike teoretiese uitgangspunt. Vervolgens kom politieke en ideologiese implikasies in geskiedskrywing onder bespreking. Daarna (hoofstuk 4) word die Suid-Afrikaanse kontemporêre tendens om die verlede te herlees en te herwaardeer uiteengesit, en die ondermyning van die tradisionele geskiedskrywing in die post-apartheid Suid-Afrikaanse konteks (sowel in Afrikaanse fiksie as in geskiedskrywing) word ondersoek. Daar word gefokus op die her-bedenking van die Anglo-Boereoorlog in die hedendaagse Suid-Afrika en in Afrikaanse fiksie, en daar word ook probeer om die betekenis van dié herwaardering te soek. Teen bostaande agtergrond kom die twee tekste, Verliesfontein en Op soek na generaal Manntjies Mentz onder bespreking (hoofstuk 5). Die romans is goeie voorbeelde van die interaksie-moontlikhede tussen geskiedenis en literatuur, feit en fiksie, en daar word ondersoek hoe hierdie twee tekste aan die hand van postmodernistiese teorieë gelees kan word. Uiteindelik word daar besin oor watter lesse Schoeman en Coetzee met die postmodernistiese problematisering van geskiedskrywing en die onkonvensionele rekonstruksie van die verlede aan kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaners wou oordra. Met die herbesinning van die konvensionele weergawe van die geskiedenis en veral deur die verkenning van persoonlike geskiedenisse, vorm Verliesfontein en Op soek na generaal Mannetjies Mentz deel van die heersende diskoers wat vandag in 'n multikulturele samelewing van die post-apartheid Suid-Afrika aan die ontwikkel is.

Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / In this descriptive study, recent translations into English of two highly-regarded Afrikaans novels are investigated. The purpose of this is to describe these translations in a comparative manner, in order to arrive at conclusions about the differing modi operandi of diverse literary translators. The texts studied are Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk (2004) and Hierdie lewe by Karel Schoeman (1993), titled Agaat (2006) and This Life (2005) in English, and translated by Michiel Heyns and Elsa Silke, respectively. The two translators differ in that one is a creative writer in own right, though not being a formally-trained translation scholar, and translated with input from the source text author. The other is not a creative writer, translated without input from the author and has a formal translation-theoretical qualification. In this study, the target texts produced by these two translators are compared with their respective source texts, in order to determine whether there are differences or similarities in their modi operandi. A theoretical framework is compiled using relevant translation theories in order to systematise the comparison of the source texts and their translations. The novels are then compared to their translations in turn, on various levels, in order to describe the modus operandi of each translator. This results in certain conclusions being drawn about the different ways in which diverse translators work. These conclusions are linked to norms apparent in the decisions the translators make, or the lack thereof, as well as the role of the translation skopos. A number of topics for further research are also mentioned.

Through literature and personal experience it became apparent that cerebral palsy is a condition that poses physical challenges to the everyday lives of children diagnosed with this condition. Negative feedback from society and significant others in the lives of these children may lead to an emotional imbalance in these children. Although various models for addressing emotional issues in children with cerebral palsy exist, their needs within a therapeutic setting are not addressed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child with cerebral palsy. The Schoeman model is a therapeutic model that is based on the Gestalt philosophy and is used in conjunction with Gestalt play therapy. Through applying the different aspects of this model the study sheds light on the usefulness of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child diagnosed with cerebral palsy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Spelterapie)

This dissertation attempts a Bakhtinian analysis of the polyphonic dialogue between Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Karel Schoeman's Na die Geliefde Land and Jason Xenopoulos' Promised Land. Specific Bakthinian concepts are employed to determine whether the films are "apt" adaptations of the literary texts; how the stylistically hybrid texts engage in conversation with different movements, genres and trends; how the polyphonic conversations between different texts and discourses, such as literature and film, or colonialism and postcolonialism, can provide insight into the variety of discourses, textual and ideological, of a postcolonial, post-apartheid South Africa; and how identity crises experienced by key characters can be explained using the notions of hybridity, "The Marginal Man" and liminality. All four texts have key characters that experience identity crises that spring from cultural hybridity; their cultural hybridity has the potential to either render them marginally stagnant or lead them to liminally active participation within their imagined communities. This dissertation argues that even though there are major differences between the films and the literary texts they are based upon, they are relevant to a specific target audience and therefore enrich the ur-texts. Salient characteristics of realism, symbolism, impressionism, modernism, postmodernism, postcolonialism and the apocalyptic dialogise one another within the four texts, thereby liberating the texts from one authorial reading. The dialogue between the discourses of literature and film supplement an understanding of the dialogue between war, imperialism, colonialism, postcolonialism and the Will to Power. / Thesis (M.A. (Applied Language and Literary Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

Thesis (M.A. (Applied Language and Literary Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

This dissertation attempts a Bakhtinian analysis of the polyphonic dialogue between Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Karel Schoeman's Na die Geliefde Land and Jason Xenopoulos' Promised Land. Specific Bakthinian concepts are employed to determine whether the films are "apt" adaptations of the literary texts; how the stylistically hybrid texts engage in conversation with different movements, genres and trends; how the polyphonic conversations between different texts and discourses, such as literature and film, or colonialism and postcolonialism, can provide insight into the variety of discourses, textual and ideological, of a postcolonial, post-apartheid South Africa; and how identity crises experienced by key characters can be explained using the notions of hybridity, "The Marginal Man" and liminality. All four texts have key characters that experience identity crises that spring from cultural hybridity; their cultural hybridity has the potential to either render them marginally stagnant or lead them to liminally active participation within their imagined communities. This dissertation argues that even though there are major differences between the films and the literary texts they are based upon, they are relevant to a specific target audience and therefore enrich the ur-texts. Salient characteristics of realism, symbolism, impressionism, modernism, postmodernism, postcolonialism and the apocalyptic dialogise one another within the four texts, thereby liberating the texts from one authorial reading. The dialogue between the discourses of literature and film supplement an understanding of the dialogue between war, imperialism, colonialism, postcolonialism and the Will to Power. / Thesis (M.A. (Applied Language and Literary Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006