Chapter is an exploration of the meanings which may underly the title of this novel. I have tried initially to establish what kind of "expedition" is undertaken, and have come to the conclusion that "expedition" has a multidimensional meaning, that it implies a search, an expedition into different things: an expedition to the city of rose-quartz; the slave woman's expeditions from the baobab tree and back; an inner expedition to gain self-knowledge; an expedition into womanhood; an expedition into the history of Africa, into religion, into language. The second part of the chapter examines the nature of "baobab", since this tree, like the "Tree of Life", is regarded as one growing upside-down. It is this upside-down nature of the tree which led me to believe that many existing stereotypes and myths are turned upside-down in the novel: about slaves, about woman, language, the Afrikaans literary tradition, the "traditional" structure of the novel, culture transcending nature, the slave woman's language. In chapter 2 I have examined only one of these expeditions, viz. the slave woman's inner expeditions consisting of her experiences as a slave and her journeys of reminiscence. These journeys at the same time embrace all the other expeditions. Her inner expeditions are signified by a number of codes, which fulfil literally the function of processes of knowledge, of self- knowledge, as well as of systems in which meaning is contained. By undertaking this inner expedition, the woman gains greater clarity of vision concerning her own existence and the existence of man/woman in general. Chapter 3 deals mainly with the concept of possession/ownership, which results in two diametrically opposed groups: the owner class and the owned class. The peculiar institution of slavery has given rise to these two irreconcilable groups, and therefore a brief history of slavery is included in this chapter. The slave woman is initially one of the owned class, but through indoctrination, she too aspires to become a member of the owner class. In the second half of the chapter, then, the woman is discussed as owner. Her position becomes a reflection of the position of her owners, to illustrate the peculiarity of the capitalist system in which there will always be the rulers and the subjects, the oppressor and the oppressed, the owner and the owned.

The main historical archive of all tropical storms and hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico from 1851-present is known as HURDAT. This official database of historical Atlantic tropical cyclones (TCs) is maintained by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The original database of 6-hourly tropical cyclone positions and intensities was assembled in the 1960s in support of the Apollo space program to help provide statistical TC track forecasting guidance (Landsea et al. 2008; Jarvinen et al. 1984; Neumann, personal communication). Today, HURDAT is widely utilized and relied upon by many groups including research scientists conducting climatic change studies (e.g. Landsea et al. 1999), operational hurricane forecasters, insurance companies, and emergency managers (Jarrell et al. 1992). The accuracy of the HURDAT database is important to many; however, the original database contains many systematic biases and random errors (Landsea et al. 2008). Therefore, a reanalysis of the HURDAT database is necessary. The Atlantic Hurricane Reanalysis Project (AHRP) is an ongoing effort to correct the errors in HURDAT, and to provide as accurate of a HURDAT database as is possible with utilization of all available data. For this thesis, HURDAT is reanalyzed for the period 1944-1953, the first decade of the ?aircraft reconnaissance era.? The track and intensity of each existing tropical cyclone in HURDAT is reassessed, and previously unrecognized tropical cyclones are noticed, analyzed, and recommended to the National Hurricane Center Best Track Change Committee (NHCBTCC) for inclusion into HURDAT (existing TCs may be removed from the database as well if analyses indicate evidence that no tropical storm existed). Changes to the number of tropical storms, hurricanes, major hurricanes, accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), and U.S. landfalling hurricanes are recommended for most of the years of the decade studied. An error analysis for the decade is also provided. It is noted that all changes to HURDAT mentioned in this thesis are preliminary and have not yet been approved by the NHCBTCC. In addition to the HURDAT reanalysis, the second part of this study is conducted to determine whether the apparent recent increase in Atlantic Basin Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS) Category 5 hurricanes is real or whether the increase is an artifact of recent technological advances and better observational capabilities. Several previous studies have stated that there has been an increase in the number of intense hurricanes both in the Atlantic Ocean and globally (e.g. Webster et al. 2005) and attribute this increase to anthropogenic global warming (AGW) and/or global climate change. Other studies (e.g. Landsea 2007) claim that the apparent increased hurricane activity in the record is an artifact of better observational capabilities and improved technology for detecting these intense hurricanes. This study delves deeper into the question of whether the recently observed increase in the number of Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic basin (late 1940s vs. 1990s-2000s period) is an artifact of better observations/technology or rather possibly due to climate changes. Ten Category 5 hurricanes were recorded in the Atlantic Basin from 1992-2007 [Hurricane Andrew (1992) to Hurricane Felix (2007)]. A new (fairly objective) methodology was created to determine how many of these ten recent Category 5s would have been recorded as Category 5s if they had occurred during the late 1940s using only the observations that would have been available with late 1940s technology. A new best track intensity was drawn for the entire lifetime of these ten recent Category 5s (using late 1940s technology), and it is found that only two of these ten (Andrew and Mitch) would have been recorded as Category 5 hurricanes if they had occurred during the late 1940s period. The results suggest that intensity estimates for extreme tropical cyclones prior to the satellite era are unreliable.

"Now let us refrain, I said, from calling Homer or any other poet to account regarding those arts to which his poems incidentally refer: we will not ask them, in case any poet has been a doctor and not a mere imitator of medical parlance, to show what patients have been restored to health by a poet" (Plato 1979 19). (1) Soos alle lesers van literatuur weet Plato dat die digter weinig bewys kan lewer dat die werklikheid waaroor hy skryf ook deur hom verander is. Uiteindelik sit hy net met die" sweet influence" van sy welluidende gedig (ibid . 21). Tog word hy verbied, en nie net, soos Plato wou veronderstel, omdat hy die irrasionele, die emosionele, die "laere" in die mens stimuleer nie.

Thesis (M.A.)--Central Connecticut State University, 1998. / Thesis advisor: Dr. [Heather Munro] Prescott. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History." Includes bibliographical references (leaves [97]-101).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references. Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch Universiteit, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study the role played by literature or fiction in historiography is investigated. Firstly, the problem of representing an "objective reality" is outlined, and subsequently applied to the domain of historiography by questioning terms such as "objectivity", "reality" and "truth". Due attention is given to changing perceptions about the nature of history writing. It is indicated that historiography cannot render or recreate the past as something which is present here-and-now and, therefore, that history writing is of necessity always an interpreted and subjectively construed representation of an ephemeral "reality". Against this background the thesis focuses on that part of South African history (slavery) which for a variety of reasons lacks a formalised historiography. It is indicated how the "gaps" created by the failures of formalised historiography can be "filled" by the suggestive power of the literary imagination. Wilma Stockenstrëm's Die kremetartekspedisie (1981) is used to exemplify the above claims by specifically noting how the personal slave experience is described through the literary imagination in Die kremetartekspedisie. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie word daar ondersoek ingestel na die moontlike rol wat letterkunde of fiksie kan speel in die geskiedskrywingsproses. As agtergrond word die problematiek rondom die bestaan en voorstelling van 'n 'objektiewe werklikheid' bespreek en uitgebrei na die terrein van die historiografie deur die bevraagtekening van terme soos 'objektiwiteit', 'werklikheid' en 'waarheid'. Daar word aandag geskenk aan verskuiwende persepsies oor die aard van geskiedskrywing en aangedui dat historiografie nooit die verlede teenwoordig kan stel nie en dat geskiedskrywing altyd 'n geïnterpreteerde en subjektief-gekonstrueerde representasie van 'n verbygegane 'werklikheid' is. Teen hierdie agtergrond word daar spesifiek gelet op 'n gedeelte van die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis wat, as gevolg van verskeie redes, 'ontbreek' in formele geskiedskrywing, naamlik slawerny. Daar word aangedui hoe hierdie gapings op suggestiewe wyse deur die literêre verbeelding 'gevul' kan word. Die kremetartekspedisie deur Wilma Stockenstr6m dien as voorbeeldteks om bogenoemde punt te illustreer deur spesifiek te let op die wyse waarop 'n slavin moontlik haar persoonlike ervaring van haar slaafskap sou kon verwoord soos dit in Die kremetartekspedisie deur die literêre verbeelding gedoen word.

Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This research focused on the metaphor of space as used by Afrikaans female poets in South Africa in the period 1994-2005, both space as an environment and as an abstract space in which the poets find themselves. In this period, South Africa got a new democratic dispensation and women were de-marginalised. As a background to the study, a brief overview was given of the work of various Afrikaans poetesses, but the main focus was on the work of two contemporary poetesses, namely Use van Staden and Wilma Stockenstrom, to observe whether the new role of women in society is reflected in the work of these two poetesses. In the study, the theory of Pierre Bourdieu, a French culture-sociologist, was used, namely that no text is ever "free", but that there is a close relation between text and context. Because only the work of female writers was studied in this research, and because the poetesses give a voice to the spatiality of women, theories of feminism as well as postcolonialism were also involved in the study. The spatial metaphors in the texts of the poetesses were also analysed, because they use metaphors to portray their spatiality. These spatial metaphors also lead to the exploitation of other relevant themes. In the investigation of the representation of spatial metaphors used by Afrikaans poetesses, and in particular Use van Staden and Wilma Stockenstrom, it was found that the spaces in which women find themselves play a prominent role in their lives. It was also observed that there is disharmony between poetesses and the spaces in which they find themselves. This research found that women have been de-marginalised and that the patriarchal system has been crossed, and that this phenomenon is being portrayed by the work of female poets who give a voice to the women of this country and portray the many facets of female experience. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This research focused on the metaphor of space as used by Afrikaans female poets in South Africa in the period 1994-2005, both space as an environment and as an abstract space in which the poets find themselves. In this period, South Africa got a new democratic dispensation and women were de-marginalised. As a background to the study, a brief overview was given of the work of various Afrikaans poetesses, but the main focus was on the work of two contemporary poetesses, namely Use van Staden and Wilma Stockenstrom, to observe whether the new role of women in society is reflected in the work of these two poetesses. In the study, the theory of Pierre Bourdieu, a French culture-sociologist, was used, namely that no text is ever "free", but that there is a close relation between text and context. Because only the work of female writers was studied in this research, and because the poetesses give a voice to the spatiality of women, theories of feminism as well as postcolonialism were also involved in the study. The spatial metaphors in the texts of the poetesses were also analysed, because they use metaphors to portray their spatiality. These spatial metaphors also lead to the exploitation of other relevant themes. In the investigation of the representation of spatial metaphors used by Afrikaans poetesses, and in particular Use van Staden and Wilma Stockenstrom, it was found that the spaces in which women find themselves play a prominent role in their lives. It was also observed that there is disharmony between poetesses and the spaces in which they find themselves. This research found that women have been de-marginalised and that the patriarchal system has been crossed, and that this phenomenon is being portrayed by the work of female poets who give a voice to the women of this country and portray the many facets of female experience. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2008. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 10, 2009). Thesis advisor: Bruce Ralston. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.