Repository logo

Masters Degrees (Languages & Literature)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/7282

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Languages & Literature) by Subject "African writers."

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Black female power in Dudu Busani-Dube’s novels Hlomu-the wife, Zandile-the resolute and Naledi-his love.
    (2020) Memela, Sinenhlanhla Felicia.; Mkhize, Thulani.
    This dissertation examines the power of black females in Dudu Busani-Dube’s novels Hlomu-the wife, Zandile-the resolute and Naledi-his love. The study also examines Black diamond by Zakes Mda and Hunger eats a man by Nkosinathi Sithole to evaluate their representation of black female characters. South African literature has a pessimistic portrayal of black female characters, and the representation of black female characters seems to be that of victimisation in various forms. The black female body has been a symbol of victimisation in literary textual representations. The study briefly looks at the background of how black females such as Sarah Baartman were victimised, both physically and in textual representation. It then explores the activism of females in South African history. Thereafter, the themes of power, motherhood, conflict and sexual love are analysed in detail. The research highlights the power and strength that black women possess as represented in Busani-Dube’s work. Previous research studies focused on women as a homogenous group negating the cultural and racial differences of black women. Black women’s vigour and courage call for scholarship thought and consideration. The study aims to affirm black women in literature and highlight their victories. The research methodology of the study is textual analysis, and the theoretical framework is African feminism. The analysis of the study demonstrates that black women are not only victims as they are generally portrayed in literature, but they are heroines and competent women who require positive recognition in South African literature and Africa as a whole. The aim of the study is to depict that black women have positive traits worth academic engagement.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Une etude de l'évolution du concept d’ afropolitanisme dans une selection de trois romans d' Alain Mabancko.
    (2019) Erasmus, Jennifer Mary.; Alant, Jacob Willem.
    This dissertation provides insight into the concept of Afropolitanism by means of a detailed critical analysis of three novels from the pen of the francophone author, Alain Mabanckou, himself an Afropolitan. The three novels are African Psycho (2003), Black Bazaar (2009) and Petit Piment (2015). The date of publication of these novels, at equidistant intervals, is considered relevant, as is the fact that the three trace the geographical passage of Mabanckou’s life. It is primarily a literary analysis of the cited texts which seeks to evaluate the extent to which the construct that is Afropolitanism shows evidence of evolution within the parameters of the time frame encompassed by the novels. The protagonist of African Psycho is consumed with the hatred of the victim mentality of the post-colonial years prior to Afropolitanism, but the links with American Psycho and its lack of insistence on genealogy suggest the stirrings of the first movement of Afropolitanism as defined by Achille Mbembe. The world of Black Bazaar is the sociable, cosmopolitan life of a witty and worldly protagonist attempting to eke out an existence in Paris, whereas Petit Piment returns us to Africa, and the confusion of identity on the part of the narrator. Afropolitanism as a concept will be explored as part of a continuum of African identity perspectives, these being : Negritude, Pan Africanism, Post Colonialism, Migritude and Littérature- Monde. The dissertation relies almost exclusively on the definition of Afropolitanism as formulated by the social philosopher, Achille Mbembe. He identifies two movements of Afropolitanism, the first commencing circa 1970 and the second around the debut of the 21st Century. Throughout the dissertation the consideration of Alain Mabanckou as an Afropolitan has been identified as of vital importance, this coupled with the fact that he, himself, acknowledges the role of auto-fiction in his literary works. The world of the Afropolitan is, thus, considered to be reflected to a greater or lesser degree in his fictional writing. His choice of narrative and manner of narration, as well as depiction of his protagonists, display noteworthy differences across the three novels. This is deemed relevant to the hypothesis that the novels give an indication of an evolution within the framework of what it means to be an Afropolitan.