The Eudaimonic turn: Well-being in Literary Studies (2013), a study by Pawelski et al, sheds
light on a recent turn in literary studies. The eudaimonic approach entails that texts are
examined with the help of a hermeneutic of affirmation rather than the sceptical, suspicious
methods of the deconstruction and post-structuralism. Pawelski et al’s text is drawn upon in
this study because it corresponds to the way in which Marlene van Niekerk utilises themes
such as relationships, friendship and loss in Die sneeuslaper (2009). The eudaimonic turn
focusses on the way in which complex interpersonal connections are able to add to an
individual’s well-being through positive as well as negative processes. Die sneeuslaper is
mainly a reflection on what it means to be an author. However, it also raises important
questions about the nature of being. The four short stories provide different perspectives on
friendship, on how friendship can sometimes be problematic and even a nuisance, but also
how relations with others repeatedly prove to be beneficial to a person’s well-being.
In my study, the relational theme of friendship in Die sneeuslaper is studied from a
eudaimonic point of view. Kaja Silverman’s text, Flesh of my Flesh (2009), is referred to in
order to shed light on the term relationality. The relational themes of finitude (or mortality)
and interpersonal connection are clearly present in Van Niekerk’s text. Although the death of
a beloved friend causes trauma in Die sneeuslaper, the trauma proves to have positive
effects in the form of posttraumatic growth, comfort and acceptance as time goes by.
Comfort is also construed through the creation and appreciation of a work of art like Die
sneeuslaper.
Cognitive narratology is referenced to show how Marlene van Niekerk overthrows and plays
with fixed ideas regarding relationality and friendship, causing the reader to converse with
the text. Views on friendship held by thinkers such as Aristotle, Montaigne, Lacan,
Kierkegaard and Derrida are referenced to give Van Niekerk’s use of the theme in Die
sneeuslaper a certain context. This context represents the fixed frames of thinking generally
applicable with regard to friendship. When a reader is willing to critically interpret these as
well as personal frames of reference, it provides him or her the opportunity to contemplate
reality from new perspectives. In Die sneeuslaper the reader is continually challenged to
question existing frames of reference by means of never ending methods (resembling a
Möbius-strip) and strange notions. This study concludes with the notion that it is necessary for artists (like the writers in Die sneeuslaper) to reflect differently on reality, so that readers
may be inspired to also view reality in a different light. This will result in a broader view of
reality, which in turn will have a more defining influence on personal well-being. / MA (Afrikaans and Dutch), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11822 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Linde, Jannetje Levina |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | other |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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