<p>This thesis argues that <i>Morituri</i> by Yasmina Khadra and <i>White Masks</i> by Elias Khoury use the genre of the detective novel as a pretext for social and political critique of Algeria and Lebanon respectively. This thesis links the generic (crime fiction) and the conceptual (Political and Social Critique in Modern Arab World). While the detective novel is traditionally thought of as a non-academic, entertaining part of popular culture, the use of the genre to critique the failure of nation building after colonization elevates the genre and transforms it from mere entertainment to a more serious genre. Both novels are emblematic of a shift in the use of the detective and crime novel to address the political disarray in their respective states and the Arab world as a whole. As modern examples of detective novels in the modern Arab world, <i>Morituri</i> and <i>White Masks</i> transform the genre through their complex interweaving of aspects of the popular genre of detective fiction with the more serious political novel. The historical and political context of both countries at the time of the novels’ settings are an intrinsic part of understanding the crimes and the obfuscation of the perpetrator. In both of these novels, the technical and generic aspects are connected to the thematic, and the detective novel structure is not just there for suspense and entertainment. Instead, this structure points to the neocolonial system, benefitting the most powerful and the most affluent at the expense of the weak, poor, and disadvantaged.</p>

The period 1889-1891 has been regarded as crucial in Oscar Wilde’s (1854-1900) career. Having been somewhat unsuccessful as a writer during the 1880s, and turning to journalism to earn a living, Wilde in this period saw the publication of his dialogues which led to his sole novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (hereafter, Dorian), serialised in 1890 before being republished as a novel in 1891. It has been characterized as a turning point in his career, and critics have studied these works in detail, as well as those which followed, especially the four society’s comedies: Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). However, besides this selection, much of Wilde’s work remains under-researched, particularly his fairy tales, whose study suffers from the prejudicial categorisation as children’s literature. Research to date has tended to privilege a single aspect of Wilde’sfairy tales, as in Jarlath Killeen’s The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde (2007) focusing on a Victorian societal perspective, rather than studying the fairy tales as a coherent and integral part of Wilde’s lifework. The essay focuses on ‘The Fisherman and His Soul’ (hereafter, ‘Fisherman’), recognised as the most sophisticated tale from Wilde’s A House of Pomegranates (1891) (hereafter, Pomegranates). It will establish the essential role of ‘Fisherman’ in understanding Wilde’s complex aesthetic philosophy by examining the tale from two distinct levels of intertextuality. First, Wilde borrowed some of the most emblematic aesthetical and narrative elements from Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ (hereafter, ‘Mermaid’) and other similar fairy tales from the early nineteenth century for explicitly positioning ‘Fisherman’ as a response to Andersen’stale. Taking the opposite approach to Andersen’s ‘Mermaid’, Wilde’s ‘Fisherman’ stands as a social critique against the Victorian doxa, especially denouncing its nefarious effect on art. Second, through epistolary and textual evidence, the essay reveals the connections between ‘Fisherman’, Dorian, and ‘The Soul of Man’ (1891), including their genesis, design, themes, and discourse. This dual intertextuality of ‘Fisherman’ allows us to reassess Wilde’s tale as an influential text. It contributes simultaneously to comprehending better how consistent Wilde’s aesthetic standards and societal view were.

This dissertation is a report on how Tom Lanoye, a contemporary Flemish author who explores themes of social relevance, deconstructs the sexual identity of his characters within the context of a postmodernist culture. The manifestation of this deconstruction process is described within those theoretical paradigms of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler that link sexual identity and social mores. For the purpose of this research Tom Lanoye‘s ‘Monster’ Trilogy was selected. Set against the backdrop of Belgium society during the late nineties of the twentieth century and highlighting the moral downfall of the Deschryver patriarchy, Lanoye’s novels address an assortment of contemporary gender and social political issues in his trilogy. These include the following: political corruption; incest; homosexuality; racism; the sexual abuse of minors; the relation between language and identity, volatile childrenparent relationships; the subversion of gender norms and sexual transformation. / In hierdie verhandeling word verslag gedoen van die wyse waarop Tom Lanoye as hedendaagse eksponent van die Vlaamse versetprosa die seksuele identiteit van sy karakters binne die konteks van 'n postmodernistiese verwysingsraam dekonstrueer. Die manifestasie van hierdie dekonstruksieproses word beskryf binne die teoretiese paradigmas met betrekking tot die verband tussen seksuele identiteit en maatskappy van Michel Foucault en Judith Butler. Vir die doel van hierdie ondersoek is Lanoye se 'Monstertrilogie' geselekteer. Gesitueer teen die agtergrond van die Belgiese maatskappy in die laat negentigerjare van die twintigste eeu en gefokus op die morele ondergang van die Deschryver-patriargie, sny Lanoye se trilogie 'n verskeidenheid van aktuele gender-en sosio-politieke kwessies aan. Hierdie kwessies sluit in: politieke korrupsie; bloedskande; homoseksualiteit, rassisme; die seksuele misbruik van minderjariges; die verhouding tussen taal en identiteit; onbestendige ouer-kind-verhoudings; die ondermyning van gendernorme en die kwessie van seksuele transformasie. / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

This dissertation is a report on how Tom Lanoye, a contemporary Flemish author who explores themes of social relevance, deconstructs the sexual identity of his characters within the context of a postmodernist culture. The manifestation of this deconstruction process is described within those theoretical paradigms of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler that link sexual identity and social mores. For the purpose of this research Tom Lanoye‘s ‘Monster’ Trilogy was selected. Set against the backdrop of Belgium society during the late nineties of the twentieth century and highlighting the moral downfall of the Deschryver patriarchy, Lanoye’s novels address an assortment of contemporary gender and social political issues in his trilogy. These include the following: political corruption; incest; homosexuality; racism; the sexual abuse of minors; the relation between language and identity, volatile childrenparent relationships; the subversion of gender norms and sexual transformation. / In hierdie verhandeling word verslag gedoen van die wyse waarop Tom Lanoye as hedendaagse eksponent van die Vlaamse versetprosa die seksuele identiteit van sy karakters binne die konteks van 'n postmodernistiese verwysingsraam dekonstrueer. Die manifestasie van hierdie dekonstruksieproses word beskryf binne die teoretiese paradigmas met betrekking tot die verband tussen seksuele identiteit en maatskappy van Michel Foucault en Judith Butler. Vir die doel van hierdie ondersoek is Lanoye se 'Monstertrilogie' geselekteer. Gesitueer teen die agtergrond van die Belgiese maatskappy in die laat negentigerjare van die twintigste eeu en gefokus op die morele ondergang van die Deschryver-patriargie, sny Lanoye se trilogie 'n verskeidenheid van aktuele gender-en sosio-politieke kwessies aan. Hierdie kwessies sluit in: politieke korrupsie; bloedskande; homoseksualiteit, rassisme; die seksuele misbruik van minderjariges; die verhouding tussen taal en identiteit; onbestendige ouer-kind-verhoudings; die ondermyning van gendernorme en die kwessie van seksuele transformasie. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

<p>The dissertation describes a crucial step in the development of a modern writer's identity in Sweden. It applies the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of the autonomous ”literary field” to the development in eighteen-eighties, one of the most important periods in Swedish literary history.</p><p>During this decade a large group of authors appeared, with August Strindberg in the front. In accordance with the dominating esthetical view of the nineteenth century, ”ideal realism”, the writers had an ethical responsibility. But they differed from their predecessors by not being loyal to the bourgeois society and its values, as codified in the concept of ”decency”, that contained, among other things, rules for what could be said in public. On the contrary, the new generation of authors attacked the bourgeoisie in novels, dramas and articles, especially in the singularly most controversial area, the regulation of sexuality and the ideals of bourgeois women.</p><p>This study argues that the new authors in their radical criticism aimed at the position of power in society traditionally upheld by the State church, which supervised education and ethical values. They did this by creating a role for themselves as young and oppressed, something that made it possible to deny any responsibility for the present state and furthermore to speak up, despite their own bourgeois background, for other oppressed groups like the working classes, the poor and women. But this also meant that they could not be successful in their ambitions to gain influence without loosing their identity. This was especially the consequence of the fact that an autonomous ”literary field” did not yet exist. That is, there were no internal literary institutions that, seemingly independent of the rest of society, decided what was ”good literature.” Instead, the singularly most important judge of interesting literature was the bourgeois public. Strindberg seems to have realised this early, and achieved an identity as ”uncontrolled”. He thereby lost his intellectual credibility, but gained a much bigger freedom to write and also got the attention of the large audience. At the same time, his writing undermined the values of decency by breaking the bourgeois society’s fundamental wall between the private and the public sphere, not least by writing what was regarded as facts about his own private life. </p><p>The conservative reaction accelerated towards the end of the decade while the authors grew more and more bitter about the public’s lack of understanding. At this point the author Verner von Heidenstam took the opportunity to declare a new literary era, dissociating his aesthetics from the one of the Eighties and proclaiming the necessity of an aristocratic, ethically indifferent literature (with himself as its leader). </p><p>Confronted with the new concept of what ought to be regarded as “modern”, the established male authors were generally quick to separate themselves from the female authors, and to identify the attacked literature solely with the one that critically discussed the situation of women in society - a description that has been largely adopted in the history of literature. A number of male authors also wrote novels separating themselves from the Eighties. Thus, they could continue into the new period, while female authors in general were silenced or forced to write in less esteemed genres (”popular literature”, children’s books). </p><p>Ultimately the result was a more distinct male domination coupled with a growing contempt for the large audience. This, in turn, created a need for internal institutions that could interpret, value and support literature - scholarships, elitist critics, and a writers’ union. These institutions subsequently were founded or developed during the nineties – all of them steps towards autonomy.</p>

The dissertation describes a crucial step in the development of a modern writer's identity in Sweden. It applies the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of the autonomous ”literary field” to the development in eighteen-eighties, one of the most important periods in Swedish literary history. During this decade a large group of authors appeared, with August Strindberg in the front. In accordance with the dominating esthetical view of the nineteenth century, ”ideal realism”, the writers had an ethical responsibility. But they differed from their predecessors by not being loyal to the bourgeois society and its values, as codified in the concept of ”decency”, that contained, among other things, rules for what could be said in public. On the contrary, the new generation of authors attacked the bourgeoisie in novels, dramas and articles, especially in the singularly most controversial area, the regulation of sexuality and the ideals of bourgeois women. This study argues that the new authors in their radical criticism aimed at the position of power in society traditionally upheld by the State church, which supervised education and ethical values. They did this by creating a role for themselves as young and oppressed, something that made it possible to deny any responsibility for the present state and furthermore to speak up, despite their own bourgeois background, for other oppressed groups like the working classes, the poor and women. But this also meant that they could not be successful in their ambitions to gain influence without loosing their identity. This was especially the consequence of the fact that an autonomous ”literary field” did not yet exist. That is, there were no internal literary institutions that, seemingly independent of the rest of society, decided what was ”good literature.” Instead, the singularly most important judge of interesting literature was the bourgeois public. Strindberg seems to have realised this early, and achieved an identity as ”uncontrolled”. He thereby lost his intellectual credibility, but gained a much bigger freedom to write and also got the attention of the large audience. At the same time, his writing undermined the values of decency by breaking the bourgeois society’s fundamental wall between the private and the public sphere, not least by writing what was regarded as facts about his own private life. The conservative reaction accelerated towards the end of the decade while the authors grew more and more bitter about the public’s lack of understanding. At this point the author Verner von Heidenstam took the opportunity to declare a new literary era, dissociating his aesthetics from the one of the Eighties and proclaiming the necessity of an aristocratic, ethically indifferent literature (with himself as its leader). Confronted with the new concept of what ought to be regarded as “modern”, the established male authors were generally quick to separate themselves from the female authors, and to identify the attacked literature solely with the one that critically discussed the situation of women in society - a description that has been largely adopted in the history of literature. A number of male authors also wrote novels separating themselves from the Eighties. Thus, they could continue into the new period, while female authors in general were silenced or forced to write in less esteemed genres (”popular literature”, children’s books). Ultimately the result was a more distinct male domination coupled with a growing contempt for the large audience. This, in turn, created a need for internal institutions that could interpret, value and support literature - scholarships, elitist critics, and a writers’ union. These institutions subsequently were founded or developed during the nineties – all of them steps towards autonomy.