This study explores the notion of female cultural difference in the context of dominant patriarchal and other oppressive patriarchal structures. Essentially, its focus is on deconstructing stereotypical images of women, who are often perceived as homogenous. Throughout the study I argue that as much as their sensibilities are varied, African and African American women respond differently to the oppressive conditions they find themselves in. The following selected texts provided the opportunities for exploring and evaluating the genealogy of female cultural difference that is central to my research: Anthills of the Savannah (Chinua Achebe); Scarlet Song (Mariama Ba); The Joys of Motherhood and Kehinde (BuchiEmecheta); Their Eyes Were Watching God (Nora Zeale Hurston); Bitches Brew and Seven Steps to Heaven (Fred Khumalo). In the process of analyzing these texts, I demonstrated that the notion of cultural difference is often narrowly and erroneously construed. I discovered that the protagonists in these texts are not only conscious of their oppressed condition but often adopt strategic agency to contest male privileges that silence them. In pursuit of this critical perspective, I have proceeded to apply relevant theoretical frameworks constructed by Cornel West, Hudson-Weems, Bakhtin and a conflation of others whose philosophical tenets support the major theoretical frameworks. The aforementioned literary critics have enabled me to come up with a more comprehensive and richer analysis of the set texts. In my analysis I have advanced the argument that female visibility manifests itself variously and temporally through individual and sometimes sisterly attempts at empowerment, self- definition and esoteric discursive features. I noted that all this is evidence of the nascent creative potential in African women who refuse to be silenced. In my analysis of the Seven texts I have incorporated, modified and developed some of the insights from critical thinkers who engage in the ongoing debate about female cultural difference. This approach has enabled me to come up with new insights that ferret out veneers of African women’s rich cultural diversity, in light of the ever changing nature of women’s operational spaces. It is this transcendental vision that basically informs and resonates with my study. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

Le sujet de ce travail, c'est le De constructione d'Apollonios Dyscole, le premier traité de syntaxe de l'antiquité, et en particulier son premier livre, étudié par rapport au livre XVII de constructione des Institutions grammaticae de Priscien, qui s'est inspiré d'Apollonios au début du VIe siècle ap. J.-C. Le texte grec, imprimé selon l'édition réalisée par G. Uhlig en 1910, à l'occurence modifiée à cause de choix ecdotiques différents de ceux du philologue allemand, est suivi par sa première traduction en langue italienne ; de plus, pour permettre une comparaison avec le traité latin, on a imprimé et traduit en italien les passages correspondants du livre XVII de Priscien. Le commentaire a pour but d'expliquer les choix critiques, mais une attention particulière est aussi dédiée à l'ordre des parties du discours établi par Apollonios et à leurs rapports avec la tradition grammaticale grecque et latine, même sur papyrus. En ce qui concerne Priscien, on a transcrit - pour les parties traduites - le manuscrit Vaticanus lat. 3313, qui permet d'améliorer, ne fût-Ce que dans le détail, le texte de l'édition de Hertz (1855-1859). Textes et traductions sont précédés par une introduction qui, après un excursus sur la méthode analogique d'Apollonios, examine les rapports entre grammaire et philosophie, en particulier stoïcienne et platonicienne, à fin de montrer qu'il n'est pas possible de corriger Apollonios par Priscien et Priscien par Apollonios : l'arrière-Plan néoplatonicien de Prisicen ne semble pas agir chez Apollonios, qui vécut quatre siècles avant. Enfin, on a retracé l'histoire de la tradition manuscrite et des éditions modernes des deux traités De constructione. / The subject of this research is the De constructione by Apollonius Dyscolus, the first treatise on syntax written in classical antiquity, and in particular its first book, studied in comparison with the book XVII de constructione of the Institutiones grammaticae by Priscian, who looked back to Apollonius at the beginning of the VI century. The Greek text, printed according to the edition by G. Uhlig (1910), sometimes modifed because of different textual choices, is followed by its first Italian translation ; furthermore, to allow a comparison with the latin treatise, the corresponding passages of the book XVII by Priscian have been printed and translated too. The commentary aims to explain the critical choices, but particular attention has also been paid to the order of the parts of speech set by Apollonius and to their relationship with Greek and latin grammatical tradition, also on papyrus. With respect to the translated sections of Priscian, a new manuscript, the Vaticanus lat. 3313, has been transcribed ; this made it possible to improve, although only in the details, the text of the edition by Hertz (1855-1859). Texts and translations are preceded by an introduction which, after an excursus about Apollonius' analogical method, analyses the relationship between grammar and philosophy, especially Stoicism and Platonicism, to show that it is not possible to correct Apollonius through Priscian through Apollonius : Priscian's Neoplatonic background seems not to be active in Apollonius, who lived four centuries earlier. Finally, this work offers a short history of manuscript tradition and of modern editions of the two treatises De constructione.