Bibliography: leaf 49.

Includes bibliographical references. / The subject matter of the two stories and one short novel in this dissertation, if one could call it that, vary widely. There are, however, overridig themes of fantasy and surrealism throughout, for each of the narratives ask of the reader to disengage from certain axioms of how the world works. The first story, The Other Ellis, deals with a character's struggle to come to terms with the possibiligy that he may be the only person hearing hidden messages in the music of a particular composer. He becomes convinced that the composer has a terrible secret. The major portion of work for this dissertation, Slumber, is a short novel that explores a science fiction theme, but is written in a style closer to suspense/horror. Once the first chaper closes, each successive chapter presents the reader with a different viewpoint character who wakes from frightful nightmares, which seem to have a primary antagonist: a murderer with eerie, unearthly power.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-153). / This is a book about the fragility of memory and identity, and the nature of time. It has three parts reflecting the past, present and future of a woman, Anna P, who lives on an island off the coast of Italy but can no longer remember how she got there. She comes from South Africa but has almost no memories of the place or people there, and no attachment to them. The only person she has any relationship with is a sex worker whom she pays by the hour. Her life is meaningless. She has abusive encounters with unknown men, clearly repetitions of traumatic events in the past, during which she dissociates. It is not clear whether she occasionally kills these men or not. It is only when she begins to connect emotionally with a slightly retarded child, and her self begins to coagulate around a tiny centre core of meaning, that she finds some value in herself, some place which she will not allow to be abused. Through connection with another person, she comes into an ethical relationship with the world.

No description available.

This novel explores themes such as post feminism, the clash of Islam and Christianity in a globalised world and sexual morality through the eyes of a girl who is not only coming of age but is also coming to terms with the sociopolitics of modern Britain.

No description available.

No description available.

Includes bibliographical references / Wonderboom (Wondertree) could be considered as a dystopic novel that takes place in a post-apocalyptic era within the South African landscape. It is the time of disillusioned citizens and access to most resources is limited, except for the plutocrats. The result is that the division between the haves and have-nots is more severe than ever before and is particularly evident along the fringes of society. The protagonist, Magriet Vos, is a fifty-year-old violinist whose memory is disintegrating. Due to the fact that she is a regular performer at the ‘court’ of the despotic ruler Albino X, her impending mental incompetence pitches her at a knife’s edge, because when she will no longer be able to master her art, Albino X will have her killed and dispatched to the taxidermist in order to extend his diorama. Further to this, she has virtually no friends or relatives left in the coastal village where she lives, and she is thus compelled to migrate north, back to the Magaliesberg and the last members of her clan. Vos raids her past in a desperate attempt to survive the post-revolutionary wasteland in the hope of arriving ‘home’ safely. The text fluctuates between the territory of memoir and travelogue as the journey progresses and her sense of consciousness starts to dissipate. Aspects of her musical craft, such as rhythm, tone and tempo are synthesised in the structure of the novel. Further to this, careful consideration was given to references to existing texts by particular authors, serving the purpose of either parody or elegy. Vos’ journey commences in Betty’s Bay on the southern coast of South Africa and unfolds through four voices or perspectives: - The main narrator (illuminating the idiosyncratic viewpoint of Magriet Vos) - Magriet’s diary (memoir) - Encyclopedia (endnotes) - Disintegrating photo texts: a series of constructions/collages, which serves as introduction to each chapter and refers to the ‘image sequence’ of the British photographer Eadweard James Muybridge (1830-1904) and which is here applied as dismantling device to allow text and image to dovetail. The tree serves as central metaphor − both as axis in nature and as archaic source of ‘knowledge of good and evil.’

This manuscript 'the way of things' is a collection of poems that, regardless of subject matter, consistently gravitates towards an exploration of the poetics of space. In this regard, it bears a relation to the theoretical work done by Gaston Bachelard, but it also stands in relation to tradition in 20th Century poetry which deals with objects (usually of the most ordinary sort), the relation of human beings to such objects and the way such objects cast into relief certain aspects of the human condition. Whether the poems touch on a love affair, whether they describe a still life or whether they explore a metaphysical longing, their poetics is drawn from their attempt to define a space and its presence on human lives. Thus, the way of things takes its place in a long lineage of conceptual poetry and is an attempt to add to that lineage. And although the poems might appear to be primarily conceptual, this only reveals the extent to which concepts themselves can have deeply emotional and indeed lyrical implications.

Includes bibliographical references. / Lindanathi Mda works a dead end job at a video store and runs an operation selling ARV's with his friends, Carmichael and Linireaux. He is tormented by the memory of having contributed to his younger brother Luthando's death. He lives a life of evasion, taking drugs and a substance called Industrial in Cape Town's suburbs, until he receives a message from Bhut' Vuyo, Luthando's step-father, which reminds him of a promise he made to their family eight years ago. While old wounds resurface, Lindanathi is faced with the decision of continuing a life of evasion or returning home and facing the responsibility that comes with everything he left behind. "The Reactive' is a novel that seeks to explore the implications of an increasingly technologized society coming to a head with more traditionally based ideas of place and identity, as well as the idea of forming a "self" based on an unreliable memory, and a continually compromised process of mentation, due to the proliferation of ephemeral media forms and chemical abuse.