Thesis (MA (English Literature))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Seventeenth-century England witnessed a time of radical sociopolitical conflict and transition. This thesis aims to examine how two writers closely associated with this period and its controversies, John Milton and Andrew Marvell, represent events as they unfold. This thesis focuses specifically on Milton’s Paradise Lost and Marvell’s Cromwellian poems in order to show how these poets reinterpret established literary conventions and invoke traditional Puritan practices in order to explain and legitimise the precarious new dispensation of post-Civil War England. At the same time, their work produces ambiguities and tensions that threaten to undermine the very discourse that they attempt to endorse. Both poets’ work indicates an active involvement in the political embroilments of their time while retaining its aesthetic value. Therefore, these texts do not only function on an aesthetic level but also within the historical framework of political ideologies. The focus of this thesis is a discussion of the relationship between politics and poetry, with the emphasis on poetry of conflict and transition in civil society. In other words, it is not only considered how different poetic genres reflect social and political change in different ways but also how these genres in turn contribute to political rhetoric. During the English Revolution Milton and Marvell try to provide solutions for the political disturbance, even while remaining aware of the new conflicts produced in the attempt.

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Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / 'n Groep Afrikaners onder leiding van die Afrikanervolksf ront bet voor die algemene verkiesing in 1994, hulle aktief teen die veranderinge in Suid-Afrika verset op grond van oenskynlik religieuse motiewe. Hulle bet hulle op die morele gesag van Johannes Calvyn (1509 - 1564) beroep vir hulle uitgangspunte en wyse van protes. In hierdie studie is die uitgangspunte en media van Afrikanerprotes in 1994 vergelyk met die uitgangspunte en media van protes soos wat Calvyn dit verwoord en toegepas bet. In die proefskrif is eerstens gekyk na die rol wat religie en ideologie in die samelewing vervul en daar is veral gekonsentreer op die onderskeid wat Jacques Ellul tref tussen outentieke geloof en godsdiens in diens van 'n ideologie. Tweedens is die historiese ontwikkeling van Afrikanemasionalisme en die Calvinistiese onderbou daarvan ondersoek. Derdens is 'n kort oorsig oor die Reformasie en 'n lewensbeskrywing van Johannes Calvyn voorsien. Indie vierde plek is die uitgangspunte en media van protes, soos verwoord deur Calvyn, beskryf. 'n Model vir protes is op grond van Calvyn se standpunte afgelei. Vyfdens is Afrikanerprotes voor die 1994-verkiesing beskryf en aan die hand van Calvyn se standpunte beoordeel. In die laaste hoofstuk word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die uitgangspunte en media van Afrikanerprotes nie voldoen aan die eise wat Calvyn vir protes stel nie. Dit blyk ook dat in die geval van Afrikanerprotes, godsdiens as kommunikasiemedium in 'n ideologiese rol aangewend is. Laastens word enkele voorstelle vir verdere navorsing gemaak. / Prior to the general election in 1994, a group of Afrikaners under the leadership of the Afrikanervolksfront actively resisted the changes in South Africa on the grounds of apparant religious motives. They invoked the moral authority of John Calvin (1509-1564) for their convictions and manner of protest. In this study there is a comparison of the views and media of the Afrikaner protest in 1994 with the views and media of protest as expressed and applied by Calvin. The thesis begins with a consideration of the role played in society by religion and ideology, concentrating particularly on the distinction drawn by Jacques Ellul between authentic faith and religion in the service of an ideology. Then, the historical development of Afrikaner nationalism and its Calvinistic substructure are examined. Thirdly, there is a short account of the Reformation and the life of John Calvin. The fourth endeavour is to elucidate the views and media of protest, as expressed by Calvin. A model for protest is derived from the study of Calvin's beliefs. Fifthly, there is a description of Afrikaner protest before 1994, based on Calvin's convictions, and judged in terms of his views. The last chapter arrives at the conclusion that the premises and media of Afrikaner protest do not comply with the requirements for protest set by Calvin. Moreover, it appears that, int the case of Afrikaner protest, religion was used as a medium of ideological communication. The thesis concludes with several suggestions for further research. / Communication Science / D.Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science)

The aim of this thesis is to show, by means of a chronological study of poverty as treated in the poetry dating from the early 1790's to 1807, that Wordsworth's treatment of this topic was both highly politicized and unusually probing. To look at his treatment of poverty is also to gain some understanding of his changing political and social views over these years. He began writing about poverty and the poor in a period in which picturesque and/or sentimental ways of viewing poverty alternated with moralisitically judgmental ways. His approach and attitudes are soon seen to be different. After a period of fervent protest at the very existence of poverty, he proceeds to probe the more hidden costs, to the indigent, of poverty, an approach which is less overtly polemical. This study seeks to demonstrate that this stage is no less committed, and, indeed, comprises an insightful analysis of the social and psychological damage consequent on poverty, damage now widely recognised as one of the major costs of poverty both to the individual and to the state. Furthermore, Wordsworth becomes concerned with the alienation both from the self and from the other consequent on poverty. It is this that he recognises as a major, yet rarely acknowledged, component of poverty. He recognises too, his increasing inability to understand the impoverished other. Conscious of the divide that separates the privileged from the indigent, he can only wonder at, and acknowedge, the powers of endurance of which some seem capable. From such examples he, in his precarious vocation of poet, can learn much. Such admiration of the reolution and independence apparent in some of the indigent leads him to espouse values and judgments which tend to differentiate clearly between the deserving and the undeserving poor. Although such attitudes become increasingly prevalent in Wordsworth after 1807, the work of the preceding years remains a rare, forceful and multi-dimensional cry of protest against poverty.

This project examines and compares the political philosophies supporting the centralized authority of monarchs elaborated by two major figures of antiquity, Mèngzǐ (Mencius, 372-289 BC) of the Warring States period in China, and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Μαρκος Αυρηλιος Αντωνινος, 121-180 AD) of the later Roman Empire. The texts that have transmitted the ideas of these two men--the Mèngzǐ and the Meditations--have shaped the political actions of rulers, as well as the ideas and ideals of political theorists, from their formation down to the present day. Each thinker made substantial claims concerning the role of a philosophically-oriented monarch in actualizing governance that is both benevolent and beneficent under a form of absolute authority. The present study will compare basic principles of Mèngzǐ's and Marcus's political philosophies as they relate to monarchical rule expressed in those two classic works, and draw from these principles to create a new criterion in political philosophy that can be used to critique contemporary political arrangements characterized by strong centralization of power. This project will not be a polemic for monarchy or strongly centralized political governments; it is an exploration into political philosophical principles advocated by Marcus and Mèngzǐ, demonstrating how rulers in strongly centralized political institutions can exercise their power in ways that result in good for the people, and how principles advocated by Marcus and Mèngzǐ can be transformed into a criterion for practical application in contemporary political settings, without having to resort to political philosophical principles popular in most Anglo-European contexts.

In this thesis I discuss three normative claims that I take to be central elements of Charles Taylor’s political thought. The first of these is Taylor’s contention that, in contemporary pluralistic societies, justifying socially prevailing norms by appealing to universally binding moral values is unlikely to promote social solidarity. Because this approach tends to downplay the goods that people realise through membership in particular associations, Taylor believes we must adopt a model of justification that does not prioritise universal over particular goods if we are to further social co-operation. A second claim Taylor defends is that commitment to the liberal value of collective self-rule implies treating patriotically motivated public service as a non-instrumental good. We should not, Taylor argues, regard collective association as nothing more than a means to satisfying private goals. Taylor advances a third claim, that is, he maintains that liberal toleration for diverse ways of life may require a perfectionist state that supports particularistic ways of life when they are threatened by decline. I offer a qualified defence of the first two claims, but suggest that the third is less compelling. I attempt to do this by evaluating Taylor’s claims against the standards of lucid argumentation that he himself lays down. In discussing social and political norms, which he describes as “advocacy” issues, Taylor argues that our normative commitments necessarily rely on an underlying social ontology. More specifically, Taylor argues that the political values we defend are those that enable us to secure the interests we have as the bearers of an identity possessing both individual and collective dimensions. In setting out the conditions that favour integrated and free identity formation we may thereby reach a clearer understanding of the political norms that we wish to endorse. I argue that, while Taylor’s ontological reflections might well incline us to accept his model of justification and his account of patriotic social commitment, they do not of themselves dispose us to accept state perfectionism.

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The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the nature of the relation of Russell's political philosophy to the other areas of his work, both popular and professional. The nature of the relation can be demonstrated, however, only if two premises are accepted: (1) that Russell has a political philosophy, and (2) that his political theory is related to the other branches of his philosophy. [...]

This thesis surveys the religious thought and political activities of K. H. (Kyai Haji) Hasyim Asy'ari (1871-1947), founder of both the Pesantren Tebuireng and the Nahdlatul Ulama. Given the extent of his legacy, it will study his life, educational background and pesantren milieu in order to gain an understanding of his career and the events that inspired him. A prolific writer, K. H. Hasyim Asy'ari produced works on theology, sufism, politics and Islamic law. Many of these works will be discussed. His theology was standard Sunni, while his mystical practice and thinking may best be described as sufi/ orthodox. He encouraged Muslims to follow the four Sunni schools (madhahib) in the belief that they contained the most valid teachings. In the political sphere, he called upon Muslims to strengthen the ties of Muslim brotherhood. And although K. H. Hasyim Asy'ari spent most of his life teaching in the pesantren, he also played an important political role, especially as leader of a Muslim unity movement during the late Dutch colonial period, as representative to Muslim organizations active under the Japanese occupation and finally as a supporter of Indonesian independence in the late 1940s. Significantly, K. H. Hasyim Asy'ari was regarded as the preeminent leader of the traditionalist Muslims from the 1920s to the 1940s, but enjoyed the respect of the modernist faction at a time when relations between traditionalists and modernists were strained. In effect, he served as spiritual leader to many 'ulama', soldiers and politicians.