Cette thèse se propose de relire l’œuvre de J. D. Salinger à la lumière de l'usage que fait l'écrivain des motifs du détour et du suspens, tous deux caractérisés par un fonctionnement ambivalent. L'écriture de Salinger, fondamentalement introspective, prend par bien des aspects des allures de quête, à la fois identitaire et littéraire. L'exploration de l'identité qu'elle met en scène implique notamment un détour par l'altérité, auteur et personnages revêtant un certain nombre de masques, au risque parfois de refuser de s'en défaire ensuite. L'auteur se devine également derrière ses pratiques d'écriture, dont la dimension obsessionnelle révèle un profond désir de maîtrise de son travail, qui l'amène parfois à se perdre dans ses textes et s'apparente finalement davantage à une attitude de fuite qu'à la recherche d'un idéal littéraire. Dans l’œuvre salingerienne, le détour participe d'une réflexion sur les concepts de norme et de déviance, ainsi que sur le thème de l'errance. D'abord perçu comme néfaste, il apparaît à terme comme un moyen privilégié d'accéder à des révélations insoupçonnées. L’éloge de l'écart que l'on observe sur le plan thématique trouve un écho dans l'utilisation par les personnages-narrateurs de stratégies narratives louant les mérites du détour. La digression, le fragment, le renvoi aux marges du texte ainsi que l'intertextualité – autant d'outils interrogeant la distinction généralement établie entre le centre et la périphérie, entre l'accessoire et l'essentiel – révèlent toute leur efficacité lorsqu'ils sont employés pour aborder des sujets qui échappent aux cadres traditionnels. Le décentrement du texte passe également dans certains cas par un recours à la métatextualité qui permet notamment à l'écrivain de prolonger et de mettre en scène la réflexion qu'il mène sur son écriture. Les encarts métatextuels, parce qu'ils viennent interrompre temporairement la narration, peuvent aussi être considérés comme des manifestations du suspens dans le texte, suspens d'abord employé par Salinger pour interroger les notions de progression et de stase. Son œuvre présente simultanément une réflexion sur la résistance au passage du temps et la notion d'entre-deux, l'auteur affectionnant particulièrement la représentation de périodes liminales, à la fois lieux du mouvement et lieux hors du temps. Par ailleurs, l'écrivain s'attache par diverses stratégies narratives déployées dans ses textes à suspendre l’interprétation du sens, qui se révèle mouvant, différé, voire tout simplement retenu, lorsqu'il ne s'abîme pas dans l'absurde ou le non-sens. Ce faisant, Salinger interroge la validité de toute interprétation, plaidant pour une approche plus intuitive de l'art, et s'efforce du même geste de repousser indéfiniment l'achèvement de son œuvre, trahissant par là l'urgence éprouvée de mettre à distance l'angoisse mortifère qui l'obsède. / The aim of this PhD research is to try to shed new light on J. D. Salinger's work by focusing on the writer's use of two inherently ambivalent motifs, namely detour and suspension. Salinger's writing, partly because of its introspective nature, often takes on the appearance of a quest, both personal and artistic. It stages the author's exploration of his own identity, which implies exploring otherness through the use of masks worn by both characters and writer, who sometimes refuse to later put them down. The study of Salinger's writing practices shows an obsessional dimension indicative of his powerful desire to control every aspect of his work, sometimes leading him to fully immerse himself in the world of fiction – an attitude in the end more evocative of evasion than of a search for literary perfection. In Salinger's work, the representation of detours is the starting point of a reflection on the concepts of norm and deviance, as well as on the theme of wandering. While it first appears as harmful, the detour motif eventually shows its potential for the revelation of unsuspected truths. Deviation is thus presented in a positive light, and its effectiveness as a writing strategy is repeatedly praised. Such stylistic devices as digression, fragmentation, or intertextuality are called upon to question the classical distinction between center and margins, between what is essential and what is incidental. Those devices are most effective when it comes to dealing with topics unfit for traditional approaches. The author’s will to decenter the text also involves the use of metatextuality, which serves the writer's exploration of his own writing and its staging for the reader's benefit. Metatextual passages, as they temporarily bring the narration to a halt, may also be seen as manifestations of suspension. In his work, Salinger first uses suspension to question the notions of progress and stasis. His texts invite the reader to engage in a reflection on the characters' resistance to the passing of time as well as the notion of in-betweenness. Indeed, the author has specialized in the depiction of those liminal periods in the lives of individuals, which are characterized by change and an out-of-time quality. Moreover, the writer makes use of different stylistic devices to suspend the reader’s access to the meaning of his stories. In most of them meaning remains unstable and unsure, whether elucidation is deferred or simply refused to the reader, who is also confronted to manifestations of the absurd or even utter nonsense. Salinger thus challenges the value of interpretation, pleading for a more intuitive approach to art, and makes sure he indefinitely postpones the completion of his own work, in the same way that his characters develop strategies to postpone their confrontation with death.

Understanding Gilgamesh – brokenly – is to understand life brokenly. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the narrative of life. It records the full cycle of the nerve and aplomb of youth, of the doubt and crisis of midlife, of the acceptance and quiescience of maturity. Moreover, this understanding is a broken understanding. It starts with the clay tablets that are broken in a literal sense of the word. Further, the narrative is a narrative of broken-ness – the story ends in tears. A man has lost his last chance of obtaining life everlasting. Yet he manages to recuperate despite his failure. The first part of this thesis examined the world of Gilgamesh. Initially he was known as the Sumerian king Bilgames. He makes his appearance in the form of oral compositions that are recited or sung in the royal courts of kings during the Sumerian period: sheer entertainment, nothing really serious. At his side is his loyal servant Enkidu who supports his master in everything he does. Akkadian gradually ousts Sumerian as vernacular, yet the latter continues to dominate as the language of culture and court. Bilgames survives the reign of the Sargonic dynasty, and even revives during the glorious Ur III period of Shulgi and of Ur-Nammu. Sumerian Bilgames-poems are recorded in writing. However, by the time that Hammurapi draws up his legal codex, the Sumerian Bilgames is known as the vibrant Akkadian king Gilgamesh. His servant Enkidu is elevated to the status of friend. Together they defy men, gods, monsters. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh goes even further in search of life everlasting. He reaches Uta-napishtim the Distant in order to learn the secret of eternal life. The optimism of the Old Babylonian Kingdom is replaced by the reflection and introspection of the Middle period. Life is difficult. Life is complex. The Gilgamesh Epic is once again re-interpreted and supplemented by a prologue and an epilogue: both begin and end at the same place, at the walls of Uruk. Here Gilgamesh looks back and forward to his life and contemplates about the meaning of life in general. The second part of this thesis dealt more specifically with the story – the literary aspects of the Epic. Genette’s theory illuminated several interesting literary devices with regards to the rhythm and pace of the narrative. However, much of the reflective nature of the Epic was also revealed. There were moments of looking forward, and looking backward: after Gilgamesh broke down in tears at the end of the Epic, he suddely gained perspective on life. Somehow a broken narrative focused into a meaningful whole that may just make future sense. Jauss’s theory illuminated why Gilgamesh refuses to be forgotten, why he is once again alive and well in the twenty first century. Although he was buried in the ruins of Nineveh for a thousand plus years, he is suddenly back on the scene – and not for academic reasons only. Not only scholars of the Ancient Near East take an interest in the old Epic, but also people from all sectors of life. Somehow Gilgamesh seems to respond to questions that are asked even by those who understand nuclear physics – but who grapple with the paradox of living meaningfully. Understanding Gilgamesh – brokenly – understands life. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

La fragmentation et l’aliénation, thèmes récurrents dans la littérature postcoloniale, sont représentées par le contenu et la forme des œuvres étudiées dans cette recherche. Dans un cadre historique et fictionnel, les romans postcoloniaux de Chinua Achebe et de V.S. Naipaul inscrivent le postcolonisé fragmenté et aliéné dans des lieux et des milieux différents. La quête identitaire de ce dernier, entre tradition et modernisation, a déclenché son déracinement. En effet, tiraillé entre l’Occident et l’Orient, le postcolonisé, dans les romans de ces deux écrivains, est aliéné géographiquement et culturellement, ce qui explique son instabilité et sa quête identitaire interminable. L’espace dans le roman postcolonial est fragmenté pour aliéner davantage le postcolonisé qui cherche à mettre fin à cette aliénation. La double culture – orientale et occidentale – participe non seulement à la perte d’identité culturelle, mais aussi à celle des personnages. À la rencontre de l’Autre ou de l’Occidental, les personnages achibiens et naipauliens essayent de cacher leur « peau noire » avec un « masque blanc » par le biais du mimétisme de cet Autre. Cette littérature est distinguée par son métissage, son intertextualité ainsi que son aspect linguistique qui font d’elle une littérature dialogique avec la littérature occidentale et notamment la littérature coloniale. Une telle littérature indigène, exprimée dans une langue étrangère, reflète un attachement et un détachement. La non-linéarité joue un rôle important dans cette fiction, vu que les récits sont décomposés et fragmentés tout comme les personnages. C’est ainsi qu’on peut dire que selon des thématiques et des stylistiques divers que ces deux écrivains postcoloniaux ont réussi à présenter au lecteur la fragmentation et l’aliénation du postcolonisé dans son milieu et son ère. / Fragmentation and alienation: recurring themes in the postcolonial literature, are represented by the content and the form of the studied literary works in this research. Within a historical and fictional setting, the novels of Chinua Achebe and V.S. Naipaul set the fragmented and alienated postcolonial figures in different places and surroundings. The quest for identity of these postcolonial figures, between tradition and modernization, has caused their uprooting. In fact, in the novels of these two writers, the postcolonial figures, who are torn between the Occident and the Orient, are geographically and culturally alienated. Hence, they are unstable and are in a never-ending quest. The setting in the postcolonial novel is itself fragmented so that it alienates more the postcolonial figures who try to make an end to this alienation. The double culture – oriental and occidental – does not only participate in losing the cultural identity, but also in losing the figures’ ones. While meeting the Other or the Occidental, the characters of Achebe and Naipaul try to hide their « black skin » under a « white mask » through the mimicry of this Other. This literature stands out by its hybridization, its intertextuality, as well as its linguistic aspect, which has turned into a dialogic literature, in a discourse with the occidental literature and notably the colonial one. Such an indigenous literature, revealed in a foreign language, shows an attachment and a detachment. The non-linearity plays an important role in this fiction, given that the tales are distorted and fragmented like the major characters of these stories. In this way, one can say that through varied thematic and stylistic features these two postcolonial writers have succeeded in presenting to readers the alienation and fragmentation of postcolonial figures within their surroundings and in their era.

This study pursues the quest and struggle for total liberation in post-independence Shona poetry. The study also relies on views of key respondents obtained through interviews and questionnaires. Couched and guided by Afrocentricity and Africana womanism, the study elucidates the politico-economic and socio-cultural factors that militate against Africa’s total liberation in general as well as women’s liberation, respectively. Simultaneously, critical judgments are passed on the extent to which poets immerse their art in African existential philosophy. The study is energized by the idea that pursuing the quest for authentic liberation provides a lens through which one can understand threats to Africa’s true liberation. It observes that poets and key informants largely attribute ersartz independence to internal problems. The researcher holds that it is problematic to hold a domesticated vision of the African condition to the extent that poets and other literary workers need to widen their canvas beyond fighting internal oppression and internationalise the struggle. The researcher argues that it is myopic and self-defeating to protest against Africa itself without giving adequate attention to the incapacitating hegemonic world system. Therefore, the poetry is lacking on its critique on domination. The centerpiece of the thesis is that in order to be purposeful and functional, poets need to grapple with both endogenous and exogenous factors that obstruct the march towards genuine liberation. The study also observes that in some instances poets produce cheap literature which is marked by a narrow and moralistic approach and this is attributable to the fact that poets lack a scientific vision in understanding reality. Concerning women’s authentic liberation, the commonly identified obstacles to women’s freedom are the male counterpart, self-depreciation, lack of education and culture. The study observes that women poets in Ngatisimuke (1994) and key respondents seem to approach gender relations from a feminist perspective and hence fail to situate women’s condition in the context of the history and culture that shape African gender relations. Women poets in Ngatisimuke fall short of internationalising their struggle in concert with the male counterpart such that their poetry degenerates into sponsored and misguided activism. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

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L’écriture littéraire de Kerouac est la manifestation de sa quête spirituelle sous la forme du chemin de l’écrit. Ce n’est pas exactement la route de l’écriture de On the Road, qui s’élance vers l’horizon comme l’autoroute américaine, lorsque l’on déroule le manuscrit sur le sol ou l’on lit les lignes de gauche à droite. Il s’agit plutôt de la manière par laquelle l’écrit forme un chemin pour que cette quête spirituelle s’oriente à travers l’œuvre, à travers la création de l’œuvre. À mi-chemin entre le français et l’anglais, écrivain beat visionnaire, Jack Kerouac explore toutes les formes d’écriture, de la prose à la forme la plus brève d’écrit littéraire, le haïku, afin de répéter et répéter des exercices littéraires de l’esprit qui lui permettront d’orienter sa quête spirituelle et de la traduire en mots. Plusieurs textes font office d’exercices d’écriture sur le parcours du corpus des écrits kerouaciens, mais c’est dans Some of the Dharma qu’on retrouve l’exemple le plus percutant des sentiers littéraires à travers lesquels s’est engouffrée sa quête spirituelle. Cette thèse examine la notion de chemin et les articulations de la quête spirituelle à travers quatre chapitres. Les deux premiers chapitres traitent respectivement des textes en français publiés en 2016 sous le titre La vie est d’hommage et du problème de la spontanéité sous l’angle du spirituel. Ils préparent ainsi la réflexion du troisième chapitre où il s’agit de comprendre comment Some of the Dharma peut être conçu comme le grand carnet laïque des chemins spirituels de Kerouac. Enfin, le quatrième chapitre expose la signification de l’imbrication de la prose et de la brièveté littéraire (notamment les haïkus et les koans), appuyée sur la conception d’un présent à la fois impermanent et éternel. Cet ensemble de réflexions mène à s’interroger sur le sens spirituel de la voie littéraire dans un monde sécularisé. Les défaites spirituelles de Kerouac sont aussi nombreuses et lui ont permis de s’orienter, n’ayant pas d’autres guides spirituels que sa propre écriture et ses lectures. L’écriture littéraire est avant tout chemin et la traversée de ce chemin mène là où nous sommes toujours. Kerouac en donne un exemple saisissant que cette thèse explicite par ses propres chemins de l’écrit. / Kerouac's literary writing is the manifestation of his spiritual quest formed by the path taken by the written word. This is not exactly the road of writing in On the Road, which rushes towards the horizon like the American highway, when you unroll the manuscript on the ground or you read the lines from left to right. Rather, it is the way in which the writing forms a path for this spiritual quest to find its way through the work, through the creation of the work. Halfway between French and English, the visionary beat writer Jack Kerouac explores all forms of writing, from prose to the briefest form of literary writing, the haiku, in order to repeat and rehearse literary exercises of the mind that will allow him to orient his spiritual quest and translate it into words. Several texts serve as writing exercises on the journey through the corpus of Kerouacian writings, but it is in Some of the Dharma that we find the most striking example of the literary paths through which his spiritual quest was launched. This thesis examines the notion of the way and the articulations of the spiritual quest through four chapters. The first two chapters discuss respectively the French texts published in 2016 under the title La vie est d'hommage and the problem of spontaneity from a spiritual perspective. They prepare the reflection developed in the third chapter, where the aim is to understand how Some of the Dharma can be conceived as the great lay notebook of Kerouac’s spiritual paths. Finally, the fourth chapter explains the meaning of the interweaving of prose and literary brevity (notably haikus and koans), based on the conception of a present that is both impermanent and eternal. These reflections lead us to question the spiritual meaning of the literary path in a secularized world. Kerouac’s spiritual defeats are numerous and have allowed him to find his way, having no other spiritual guides than his own writing and reading. Literary writing is above all a way and crossing this path leads to where we are, always. Kerouac gives a striking example of this, which this thesis makes explicit through its own writing paths.

<p>  </p> <p>My dissertation proves that movement for both women and men is tantamount to power. The choice for a quest maiden (that is, a woman who takes part in a quest) to move between places and spaces is a choice for them to be able to change both their social and spatial positionalities. Focusing on high- and late medieval English chronicles and romance, I divide medieval Arthurian quest maidens into one of four categories based upon their movement: the static “in” and “out” groups that either remain inside a court or outside in the forest, and the mobile “inwards” and “outwards” groups that either enter into a court from outside it or who leave a court for the outside world. This diversity of categories is a novel contribution to spatial studies within Arthurian literature, as quest maidens are found everywhere across the Arthurian landscape. Such women dwell in the most intimate castle chambers as well as within the most remote forest copse. These placements are significant, as I argue that spaces are defined by the people who exist within them. As communal space is shaped and created by the multiple identities that inhabit that space, the ability to exist and shape that space becomes itself a demonstration of power. This power is expressed both by individuals, such as a knight in the woods or a queen in her castle, and by collectives, such as the Knights of the Round Table. A space gains its reputation by the deeds of its inhabitants, and those inhabitants either benefit or suffer by their space(s)’s reputation. This extends to the movement that occurs between such spaces. A maiden who enters Camelot to ask for help changes the identity of the court: it becomes a place that succors maidens. A maiden who conversely stops a knight in the Forest of Adventure helps shape that forest into a space for quests. As the Arthurian world is founded upon the questing process that these quest maidens both support and enable, their very existence shapes the form of the world. The space of the quest cannot be unlinked from the maidens who occupy and enable it.</p>

The Jesus of history and the Christ of faith are two different figures. Two centuries of search for the historical Jesus has led to greater awareness and better use of New Testament criticism, had salutary effects on proper historical biblical research and the desire to look beyond the paucity of material about Jesus in the canonical gospels. Despite proven difficulties the historical Jesus is an endless enterprise eliciting an equally endless fascination. The solution to the Jesus mystery appears better linked to Paul who has never been subjected to the same degree of historical research as Jesus. The figure, character, preaching, and teaching of Jesus was fashioned by the gospel authors not just to fit in. with the primitive church but to provide a natural linkage with Pauline Christianity. Christian faith is only loosely intertwined with Jesus of Nazareth and has everything to do with the Christ de"-ised by Paul. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This research was stimulated by pastoral concerns pertaining to the South African Hindu Community. It was found that the community had a noticeable number of individuals stagnant or stranded at the level of gross spirituality. On the other hand it is known that the primary texts of Hinduism and its long mystical traditions, from the Vedic Period to the Neo-Vedanta Movement, had adequate motivational and goal-orientated material to address this challenge. This work surveys the Vedic and Upanishadic texts in order to show the literary, social and philosophical conditions under which they were produced. Hindu mysticism emerges from all these strands of development. Gross mysticism in the form of elaborate rituals occupies the attention of the early Vedic seers. This graduates into subtle subjective mysticism in the Upanishads. At each phase there is a paradigm shift which this study interprets in the light of Shankara (medieval period) and Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan of the Neo-Vedanta Movement. In the early Vedic period the soul is a metaphysical entity. Upon death it is judged in accordance with its good or bad actions. Heavenly rewards or the punishment of hell are meted out to it. Heaven and hell are final eschatological goals for the soul in the Vedic period. In the Upanishadic period heaven and hell are temporary eschatological goals. The ultimate Upanishadic goal is Liberation which implies the mystical cessation of empirical existence and the realization of Unitary Consciousness. The Taittiriya Upanishad defines the soul analytically as a formulation of five sheaths : body, vital energy, mind, intellect and bliss with an immortal consciousness as its divine focus. These sheaths are fundamental to Hindu sacred psychology. Functioning under the effects of ignorance each sheath binds the soul to mundane existence. However, each sheath also possesses an intrinsic capacity to liberate the soul from suffering. This research explores the limitations and opportunities of each sheath and indicates the path by which the soul's divine potential may be realized. In the light of the Neo-Vedantic outlook this process is considered with a life-affirming attitude which is of relevance to South African Hindus. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Lit et Phil. (Religious Studies)

In this research the use of the Lions-Quest programme “Skills for Adolescence“ at an intermediate secondary school level is examined qualitatively. It is investigated how pupils at a German intermediate secondary school perceive the social skills training and how that training affects the social competencies of the pupils. It is also explored if the pupils can relate their acquired competencies with their values and beliefs. Based on the empirical-theological praxis cycle, the planning, carrying out and the results of thirteen one-to-one interviews and three group interviews are presented. Five types of adolescents can be distinguished in terms of knowing and applying social skills as result of different grounded theory coding strategies: the power-conscious, the autonomous, the ambivalent, the self-confident and the competent. This study wants to contribute to a better evaluation of the implementation of social skills programmes at schools and particularly in religious education. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)