Doctoral Degrees (Languages & Literature)

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An annotated and glossed English translation of memory, memorisation and memorisers in Ancient Galilee by Marcel Jousse : a study of the origin, nature, analysis and recording of mnemonic rhythmo-stylistic texts.
(2000) Conolly, Joan Lucy.; Sienaert, Edgard Richard.
This study focuses on the work of Marcel Jousse, the 20th century French anthropologist, linguist, educationist and theologian who discovered and developed the Anthropology of Language, the study of human memory and expression, and their mutual transation. As central underpinning theory of the Anthropology of Language, Jousse identified the anthropology of Geste and Rhythm manifest in the Oral Style as gestual-visual/oral-aural mnemonic. In Memory, Memorisation and Memorisers in Ancient Galilee, the account of the transmission of the Besorah-Gospels in the intra-ethnic and extra-ethnic Galilean-Hellenic diaspora. Jousse demonstrates (I) the fidelity and accommodating fluidity of mnemonic Oral Style expression as support of human memory; (2) the role of the Metourgeman-Sunergos as interpreter-translator and scripter of the Besorah-Gospels; (3) the role of the Counting-necklaces constructed by Kepha-Peter and Shaoul-Paul as ordering and mnemonic support in the recounting the Deeds and Sayings of the Rabbi Ieshou"a of Galilee. In this thesis three kinds of translation are addressed. (I) It is about the translation of invisible and visceral memory into the visible and audible expression thereof in speech and movement for the purposes of learning, understanding and recording of the oral socio-cultural archive: Stylology manifest in rhythmo-stylistics, rhythmo-pedagogy and rhythmo-catechism; (2) it is about the translation of speech and movement into writing of two kinds: the recording of dictated texts in writing, (Memory, Memorisation and Memorisers in Ancient Galilee) and the putting-into- writing of memorised formulaic recitation, viz. rhythmo-stylistics, rhythmo-pedagogy and rhythmo-catechism; (3) it is about the translation of a specific and specialised technical texts from one (kind of) language to another: Memory, Memorisation and Memorisers in Ancient Galilee and Glossary of Joussea Concepts, Terms and Usage. The products of this study are: (I) a critical investigation and contextualised account of the perspective of Marcel Jousse on the operation of the invisible visceral metaphor called memory into the visible and audible expression thereof in speech and movement for the purposes of learning, understanding and recording of the oral socio-cultural archive in rhythmo-mnemonic expression (2) a proposed work-in-progress model for the presentation and analysis mnemonic Oral-style texts, viz. rhythmo-stylistics, rhythmo-pedagogy and rhythmo-catechism; (3) an annotated translation of Dernieres Dictees Memory, Memorisation and Memorisers in Ancient Galilee; (4) a glossary of specialised technical terms to be used in the interpretation of the works of Marcel Jousse compiled from Jousse's texts already translated into English: Jousse developed a specialised and complex terminology to explain his view of the origin and operation of mnemonic human expression. The Glossary documents this terminology, and demonstrates the translation of the concepts, and their usage by Jousse. This study is presented in three parts: Part One: Translations on and at the oral-literate interface; Part Two: Memory, Memorisation and Memorisers in Ancient Galilee - an annotated translation; Part Three: Glossary of Joussean Concepts Terms and Usage .
Audacious black female heroes in speculative and Afrofuturist fiction from the Nigerian diaspora.
(2021) Borain, Bernice Cynthia.; Stobie, Cheryl.
In four recent speculative novels from the Nigerian diaspora, The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi (2013 [2005]), Who Fears Death (2018 [2011a]) and The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor (2015), and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (2018), the main characters are represented as displaying audacity and courage. These qualities have aspirational value for young black women in particular. The genre of feminist Afro-Gothic and Afrofuturist fiction has extended the repertoire of its relevant womanist concerns since its origins, demonstrating the developing emancipatory potential of the genre, as portrayed in the analysed novels. Speculative fiction generally allows the reader to imagine a future where oppressive structures are overturned, and more specifically, Afro-Gothic fiction foregrounds the predicament of the black protagonist overcoming otherworldly dark forces, while Afrofuturism liberates the black protagonist by presenting her as the hero; in the selected novels she is represented as the literal and metaphoric bringer of light. The thesis employs close textual analysis in applying its focal theories of speculative fiction and womanism, based on Alice Walker’s emphasis on the audacity exhibited by young womanists. The womanist hero in Afrofuturist texts paves the way for a future when the young readers of these novels are encouraged to become the strong, audacious leaders of tomorrow through engaging with narratives exploring such possibilities. Similarly, Afro-Gothicism has expanded the genre of the Gothic, which originally presented Africa one-dimensionally as a dark continent being conquered by a white male hero, to explore the experience of young people of colour in the diaspora, navigating and reconciling the tension between African and Western cultural conventions that create cultural dissonance. A just ending is evident in each novel, with the womanist hero emerging as redeemed, and as the saviour or hero figure. Encountering these novels enables young black women to see themselves as heroes, and overthrows the single story that the literary canon often perpetuates, not just for these young women, but for other readers as well.
The burden of affliction: a literary analysis of representations of HIV-positive women and girls in selected southern african texts.
(2022) Cherop, Cathryne.; Mkhize, Thulani.
This thesis proceeds from the understanding that literature is the mirror of society, reflecting problematic features, failures to provide social justice, and attempts to live with dignity and hope. Statistics show that Zimbabwe and South Africa have among the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the world, with a prevalence of 18.9% and 12.7% in South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively, of adults afflicted, and women are much more vulnerable to the infection than men. Literary responses give voice to the perception and impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic. This thesis examines the fictional representation of HIV-positive women in a sample of four selected Zimbabwean and South African novels. The literary texts that are examined are: Phaswane Mpe’s Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001), Lutanga Shaba’s Secrets of a Woman’s Soul (2006), Valerie Tagwira’s The Uncertainty of Hope (2006) and Sindiwe Magona’s Beauty’s Gift (2008). The study strives to examine the plight of HIV-positive women through an analysis of the characterisation and the authors’ representations of socio-economic and cultural burdens suffered by these women, as well as their coping mechanisms. My analysis of the agency of women characters in the chosen stories is underpinned by the theory of African feminism, which engages with, critiques and develops Western feminism, hinged on African women’s hostility to Western domination and their heritage in African beliefs and cultures. Lastly, the theoretical concepts of stigma, shame and sexuality will be explored.
Confluences of Lithoko, religious and traditional beliefs and western poetry in modern Sesotho poetry (MSP) : an intertextual perspective.
(2015) Maimane, Ketlalemang Clement.; Mathonsi, Nhlanhla Naphtal.; Zulu, Ncebo Sibonelo.
From an intertextual perspective, this study analyses the lithoko, religious beliefs and practices and western poetry confluences in modern Sesotho poetry. In this analysis, modern Sesotho poetry texts covering a period of seventy-nine years (79) from 1931 to 2010 have been selected. Of the utmost importance in the analysis are the intertextual manifestations in modern Sesotho poetry. These include the lithoko oralformulaic style in modern Sesotho poetry which focuses on form, structure and content. The study also looks into echoes of texts indicative of religious beliefs and practices (both local and foreign) in modern Sesotho poetry, the host-parasite relationship between Western poetry and modern Sesotho poetry, the emerging trends and the evaluation of modern Sesotho poetry in relation to its poeticness or literariness. In order to address the above intentions of the study, the qualitative library approach was employed to critically examine the identified intertextual features from the population of twelve (12) modern Sesotho poetry texts selected through both the cluster and purposive sampling techniques. The following are the findings of the study on the issues investigated: modern Sesotho poetry is an intertext as texts from lithoko Christian, traditional beliefs and practices as well as western poetry are present in it at varying levels of form structure, content and traditional images in virtually recognizable forms as Barthes (1981: 39) asserts that the literary position of any text is an intertext in which other texts are present in varying levels and more or less recognizable forms. Both proto, transitional and open forms attributed to lithoko and western poetry are present in modern Sesotho poetry. Modern Sesotho poetry has also been found to have diverse emergent trends not only in terms of structural forms but also in content and linguistic devices in the form of traditional imagery. As an intertext, modern Sesotho poetry has emerged to be poetic considering aspects of poetic function and poetic language as elements of poetry in the evaluation of its poeticness. The study concludes that modern Sesotho poetry is an intertext which is a text of convergence where the presence of the four predecessors is manifested at varying levels and in more or less recognizable forms.
Kongruenz und Kontrast im literarischen Kulturvergleich : zur Problematisierung des Subjekts in der Entwicklung des nouveau Roman und des neueren deutschen Romans : sozialpsychologische Interpretationen zu Butor, Ollier, Pinget, Robbe-Grillet, Saporta, Sarraute, Simon, Andersch, Bachmann, Fichte, Frisch, Grass, Härtling, Handke, Kipphardt, Muschg, Nizon, Walser, Wohmann.
(1991) Michel, Etith Margarete.
Abstract available in pdf file.
La représentation de l’hégémonie, le pouvoir et la migration dans les romans sélectionnés d’Abdourahman A. Waberi, Nadifa Mohamed et Ken Bugul.
(2017) Chilembwe, Maxwell Kelvin Dziko.; De Meyer, Bernard Albert Marcel Sylvain.
Resume: Le titre de cette étude est La représentation de l’hégémonie, le pouvoir et la migration dans les romans sélectionnés d’Abdourahman A. Waberi, Nadifa Mohamed et Ken Bugul. L'étude soutient que malgré les attitudes longtemps détenues, le pouvoir n'est pas un privilège d'un groupe de personnes prédestinées. Elle démontre que la migration complique les notions d'hégémonie et de pouvoir de façon que le pouvoir peut changer en fonction du lieu où une personne se trouve à un moment donné. Ainsi, la migration entraîne soit la perte ou le gain de pouvoir par le migrant en fonction des circonstances dans lesquelles il se retrouve. De plus, la migration offre de nouveaux espaces pour les discours contre-hégémoniques. Le chapitre 1 sert de l’introduction à cette étude et donne un survol sur les thèmes de l’étude et des trois auteurs, le cadre théorique, la revue de littérature, ainsi qu’une description des romans. Le chapitre 2 analyse les questions de la migration, l’hégémonie transnationale et le foyer dans Black Mamba Boy (2010) de Nadifa Mohamed et Aux États Unis d'Afrique (2006) d'Abdourahman A. Waberi. Dans le chapitre 3, l’étude examine des thèmes de l’hégémonie, la contre-hégémonie et le pouvoir, à différents niveaux, mais aussi le thème de la globalisation, dans Passage des larmes (2009) de Waberi et Mes hommes à moi (2008) de Ken Bugul. Le thème de relations entre genre est également abordé. Tous ces thèmes sont analysés en considérant leurs relations avec le thème de la migration qui prévalent dans les deux romans. Le chapitre 4 aborde les questions concernant la migration, l’hégémonie et le pouvoir, liés au féminisme. Dans ce chapitre, l’étude s’est aussi préoccupée des questions du rôle de la femme face au pouvoir et à l’hégémonie, la dictature et la résistance à la dictature, ainsi que les notions de la polygamie et la monogamie. Les deux romans analysés sont Riwan ou le chemin de sable (1999) de Ken Bugul et The Orchard of Lost Souls (2013) de Mohamed. Finalement, le chapitre 5 sert de conclusion à cette étude.
Le mythe de Robinson Crusoe de Daniel Defoe dans Vendredi ou les limbes du pacifique de Michel Tournier et Foe de J.M. Coetzee.
(2007) Esobe, Lete Apey.; De Meyer, Bernard Albert Marcel Sylvain.
The title of our thesis is The Myth of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in Michel Tournier's Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique and J.M. Coetzee's Foe. We intend to show how Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe story has become a renewed, transformed myth in the fictional works of Michel Tournier and J.M. Coetzee. In the first chapter, we will analyse the attitude of critics to Daniel Defoe, Michel Tournier and J.M. Coetzee's works, and we shall review the pertinent aspects of the three novelists' life. In the second chapter, we will define the concept of myth according to the African and European thinkers. We shall also stress the types, functions and myth's expressions in literary work. In the third chapter, we shall analyse and compare the characters of the three novels following the theory of A.J. Greimas which will be enriched by Evgueni Meletinski. We will divide the characters into protagonists, accessories, opponents, neutrals and absents. Analysis and comparison of the fictional characters will identify two major groups: colonizer and colonized. There will also be an examination of the meaning of characters' names used by the three novelists as well as our opinion on the fictional characters of Defoe, Tournier and Coetzee. Analysis of plot structures will show how the three novels are composed according to a cyclical pattern. The fourth chapter will be devoted to a comparative thematic analysis of solitude, sexuality and education. This will reveal the two faces of each theme as well as the hidden philosophy of the three novelists. And the fifth chapter will identify the narrative and stylistic techniques of the novels. It will show the kind of genre used by Defoe, Toumier and Coetzee as well as the letter and journal. It will also show the types of stylistic aspects of the three novels which are present in the novels. We will examine in the sixth chapter the spaces and the time framework of the three novels.
Lost in translation?: an exploration of conceptual integrity in the translation of graded readers from English into IsiZulu.
(2016) Dlamini, Phindile Dorothy Mamsomi.; Koopman, Adrian.
It is an indisputable fact that reading improves language proficiency – be it a mother tongue, second or foreign language. Graded readers are hailed by many applied linguistic scholars as a very crucial element in language learning. Prominent scholars in the field of graded readers, for example, Bamford (1984), Bassett (2005), Hill (1997, 2001, 2008), Krashen (1987), Nation (2006), et cetera. all agree that graded readers are very important in motivating learners to read more, thus improving their reading ability and proficiency in the language they are learning. In South Africa, in 2012, the National Department of Basic Education prescribed graded readers written in indigenous languages for use in schools for the first time. These graded readers are still in the current 2015/2016 National Catalogue for learning and teaching support material. When examining the isiZulu graded readers listed on the catalogue it appeared that 84% of them are translations from English. Translation is a common global act that happens all the time between different languages and it is encouraged. However, when the two languages entering the translation process belong to different language families and when translation itself is still a relatively new discipline in the country where the translation takes place, the situation becomes intriguing. My study investigates this translation process using linguistic, functional and ideological models. The focus of the research is on the whole body of GRs and their entire production process starting from the selection of English GRs for translation into isiZulu, right up to the use of these translated IsiZulu GRs by teachers in their classrooms. Data gathered led to the investigation of conceptual integrity in the entire production process. Conceptual integrity is a theory popular in the field of architecture. It is about the unity, coherence, functionality, simplicity and wholeness of a design. In search for conceptual integrity in the translated graded readers, literal analysis was used and also voices of the translators, editors and educators were gathered and analysed. It is an indisputable fact that reading improves language proficiency – be it a mother tongue, second or foreign language. Graded readers are hailed by many applied linguistic scholars as a very crucial element in language learning. Prominent scholars in the field of graded readers, for example, Bamford (1984), Bassett (2005), Hill (1997, 2001, 2008), Krashen (1987), Nation (2006), et cetera. all agree that graded readers are very important in motivating learners to read more, thus improving their reading ability and proficiency in the language they are learning. In South Africa, in 2012, the National Department of Basic Education prescribed graded readers written in indigenous languages for use in schools for the first time. These graded readers are still in the current 2015/2016 National Catalogue for learning and teaching support material. When examining the isiZulu graded readers listed on the catalogue it appeared that 84% of them are translations from English. Translation is a common global act that happens all the time between different languages and it is encouraged. However, when the two languages entering the translation process belong to different language families and when translation itself is still a relatively new discipline in the country where the translation takes place, the situation becomes intriguing. My study investigates this translation process using linguistic, functional and ideological models. The focus of the research is on the whole body of GRs and their entire production process starting from the selection of English GRs for translation into isiZulu, right up to the use of these translated IsiZulu GRs by teachers in their classrooms. Data gathered led to the investigation of conceptual integrity in the entire production process. Conceptual integrity is a theory popular in the field of architecture. It is about the unity, coherence, functionality, simplicity and wholeness of a design. In search for conceptual integrity in the translated graded readers, literal analysis was used and also voices of the translators, editors and educators were gathered and analysed. The results indicate that in addition to ideological and poetological factors, numerous dynamics (for example, government policies, socio-political issues, stakeholders’ attitudes towards indigenous languages, perceptions of users, et cetera) governed the translation of graded readers from English into isiZulu and affected the conceptual integrity of these graded readers positively and also adversely. This study contributes to the burgeoning research in the field of translation and specifically to the scarcely researched languages within the translation field, that is, South African indigenous languages. The main contribution of this study is the identification of fundamental elements that have to be taken into account during the translation process between English and isiZulu in order for the product to be of acceptable quality. These fundamental elements include ideological and cultural issues, linguistic issues and translation procedures.
L’enfance et l’Afrique Francophone : la représentation de l’enfance dans Petit Piment, Demain j’aurai vingt ans et Les cigognes sont immortelles d’Alain Mabanckou.
(2021) Ayeni, Adeniyi Oluwaseun.; De Meyer, Bernard Albert Marcel Sylvain.
This study explores the representations of childhood in some selected novels of Alain Mabanckou. The study seeks to investigate how childhood is portrayed in Petit Piment (Black Moses), Demain j’aurai vingt ans (Tomorrow I Will Be Twenty Years) and Les cigognes sont immortelles (The Death of the Comrade President) by the modern and experienced novelist, Alain Mabanckou. This thesis uses Claude Duchet’s sociocritical approach to literary analysis and “ethos” as illustrated by Dominique Maingueneau. Drawing from Duchet’s sociocritical approach on literary text, which considered a novel as social elements, and its methodology components, “société du roman” and “société de référence”, the thesis observes that childhood is a product of history and history is shaped by childhood. However, beyond the peripheral history of Congo Brazzaville which echoes throughout the three novels, this study reveals that childhood is less literal than aesthetic. In a context specific term, through the analysis of these three novels, the thesis maintains that the representation of childhood finds expression in the hybridity of language, intertextual onomastics, rhetorical elements, humour, animality and places. This implies that the representation of childhood is not static but transactional and fragmented. Moreover, the analysis of the representation of childhood in the chosen novels reveals an autobiographical pact between Alain Mabanckou and the novel. Therefore, his representation through these novels showed that childhood is an ideological playground on which Mabanckou’s literary ideologies are construed, which is quite evident in continual shared experiences between the writer, narrator and character. Through amicable relationships that exist between some of his characters in the novel and the outside world, Mabanckou positions himself as an open-minded writer. This, also, alludes to his literary ideology of openness to the world. The analysis of how childhood is represented further reveals that Francophone Africa, which is portrayed in novels through the lens of a child, is heterogenic in nature. Arguably, it oscillates between autochthonous places and others places. This can be seen through the reincarnation of various places and negotiation with others. This brings to mind Kleppinger’s idea of “nationhood” and it equally reveals the cosmopolitan spirit of Mabanckou. In essence, this thesis attempts to contribute towards understanding childhood in Francophone Africa, not just on a literal level but as a creative, aesthetic and ideological concept of one of world’s most renowned and accomplished novelists, Alain Mabanckou. RÉSUME: Cette étude traite de la représentation de l’enfance dans Petit Piment, Demain j’aurai vingt ans et Les cigognes sont immortelles d’Alain Mabanckou. Elle utilise l’approche sociocritique de Claude Duchet selon laquelle un texte littéraire est à la fois un élément social et un émetteur du social. Cette étude s’inspire également du cadre théorique de l’ethos, renouvelé par Dominique Maingueneau. Nourrie par la méthodologie sociocritique et ses outils méthodologiques comme la société de roman et la société de référence, cette étude relève que l’enfance est le produit de l’Histoire et que, de retour, l’Histoire est influencée par l’enfance. Cependant, bien au-delà de la périphérie de l’Histoire du Congo-Brazzaville qui traverse les trois romans, l’analyse de ce corpus montre que la représentation de l’enfance est moins littérale qu’esthétique. Foncièrement, cette étude démontre que la représentation de l’enfance trouve expression dans l’hybridité langagière, l’onomastique intertextuelle, les éléments rhétoriques, l’humour, l’animalité et la toponymie. Cela implique que la représentation de l’enfance est transactionnelle et fragmentée. En outre, une lecture attentive du corpus dévoile le pacte autobiographique qui existe entre les trois romans et Alain Mabanckou. Cette étude observe que le rapport écrivain-narrateur-personnage, tel qu’illustré dans le corpus, indique que l’enfance est un terrain où se joue l’idéologie littéraire de Mabanckou. À travers la relation amicale que partagent certains personnages dans le corpus avec leurs homologues intertextuels, Mabanckou se positionne comme un écrivain ouvert au monde. Cette étude indique d’ailleurs que l’Afrique présentée du point de vue d’un enfant est hétérogène. Cette Afrique oscille entre le contexte autochtone et étranger. L’hétérogénéité devient évidente dans la réincarnation des endroits variés et la négociation avec d’autres endroits ; ceci n’est pas sans rappeler la conception de « nationhood » telle que proposée par Kleppinger. En substance, en prévision d’apporter sa contribution aux études sur l’enfance dans la littérature de l’Afrique francophone, cette étude examine la représentation de l’enfance dans Petit Piment, Demain j’aurai vingt ans et Les cigognes sont immortelles d’Alain Mabanckou comme une représentation esthétique et idéologique d’un écrivain chevronné, Alain Mabanckou. Iqoqa Lolu cwaningo luhlola izethulo zobuntwana kumanoveli athile akhethiwe ka-Alain Mabanckou. Lolu cwaningo luhlose ukuphenya ukuthi ubuntwana buvezwa kanjani encwadini ethi Petit Piment (Black Moses), Demain j'aurai vingt ans (Tommorrow I will be Twenty Years) kanye nethi Les cigognes sont immortelles (The Death of the Comrade President) yombhali wamanoveli wesimanje nonamava u-Alain Mabanckou. Le thesisi isebenzisa indlela ka-Claude Duchet yenhlalonhleko ekuhlaziyweni kwemibhalo kanye "ne-ethos" njengoba kuboniswe ngu-Dominique Maingueneau. Ngokuthathela endleleni kaDuchet yenhlalo-hlengiso embhalweni wombhalo, othathe inoveli njengezinto zomphakathi, kanye nezingxenye zayo zendlela yokwenza, “société du roman” kanye “ne-société de référence”, le thesisi iphawula ukuthi ubuntwana buwumkhiqizo womlando futhi umlando ulolongwa ubuntwana. Nokho, ngale komlando wase-Congo Brazzaville onanela kuwo wonke amanoveli amathathu, lolu cwaningo luveza ukuthi ubuntwana abuyona into engokoqobo kunobuhle. Ethemini elikhethekile, ngokuhlaziywa kwala manoveli amathathu, le thesisi imile ekutheni ukumelwa kobuntwana kutholakala ekuxutshweni kolimi, i-onomastiki yemibhalo, izakhi zokukhuluma, amahlaya, ubulwane kanye nezindawo. Lokhu kusho ukuthi ukumelwa kobuntwana akumile kodwa kuyathengiselana futhi kuhlukene phakathi. Ngaphezu kwalokho, ukuhlaziya ukumelelwa kobuntwana emanovelini akhethiwe kwembula isivumelwano sokubhala ngobuwena phakathi kuka-Alain Mabanckou ngenoveli. Ngakho-ke, ukumelwa kwakhe ngala manoveli kwabonisa ukuthi ubuntwana buyinkundla yokudlala lapho imibono kaMabanckou yezemibhalo ihunyushwa khona, okubonakala kakhulu okuhlangenwe nakho okuqhubekayo okwabiwe phakathi kombhali, umxoxi nomlingiswa. Ngobudlelwane obunokuthula obukhona phakathi kwabanye babalingiswa bakhe kule noveli nangaphandle, u-Mabanckou uzibeka njengombhali onomqondo ovulekile. Lokhu, futhi, kubhekise embonweni wakhe wokubhala wokuvuleleka emhlabeni. Ukuhlaziywa kokuthi ubungane bumelelwa kanjani futhi kuveza ukuthi i-Francophone Africa, evezwa emanovelini ngendlelakubuka yengane, i-heterogenic ngokwemvelo. Ngokungangabazeki, ukuphendukaphenduka phakathi kwezindawo ezizenzakalelayo nezinye izindawo. Lokhu kungabonakala ngokuphindukuzalwa kwezindawo ezihlukahlukene kanye nokuxoxisana nabanye. Lokhu kuletha engqondweni umqondo ka-Kleppinger "wobuzwe" futhi uveza ngokulinganayo umoya wempilodolobheni ka-Mabanckou. Ngamafuphi, le thesisi izama ukufaka isandla ekuqondeni ubuntwana e-Francophone Africa, hhayi nje ezingeni elingokoqobo kodwa njengomqondo wokuqamba, wobuhle kanye nombono womunye wababhali bamanoveli abadume kakhulu nabaphumelele kakhulu emhlabeni, u-Alain Mabanckou.
Reading isiZulu: reading processes in an agglutinative language with a transparent orthography.
(2015) Land, Sandra Jane.; Wildsmith-Cromarty, Rosemary.
The focus of this thesis is skilled silent reading in isiZulu. It begins by exploring the current social and educational context of learning to read and practising reading skills in isiZulu. It then considers eye movement patterns that point to proficient reading or incompetent reading, and discusses pitfalls in designing research that aims to compare reading across languages. Thereafter, by exploring measurable aspects of eye movement patterns of a group of skilled adult readers of isiZulu it offers a tentative profile of the reading processes currently exhibited by these readers. This profile indicates that with an average reading speed of 815 letters per minute, isiZulu text takes more time to read than text in other alphabetic languages, and that readers‟ eye movement patterns differ considerably from the patterns known to characterise proficient reading of English. The comparison is pertinent since English is the most common second language amongst speakers of isiZulu. Psycholinguistic grain size theory provides a useful frame for understanding the differing reading behaviours that appear to characterise each language. The thesis goes on to analyse indications of automaticity in recordings of eye movement, and suggests textual factors that might be associated with immediate recognition of words or active decoding, which is the opposite of automatic recognition. Findings suggest that the agglutinative structure and conjoined writing system of isiZulu may be less conducive to the development and exercise of automaticity than orthographies of disjunctive languages. Finally, through a process of using the records of each reader‟s moving point of focus as a stimulus for recall the intricacies of the cognitive experience of reading of each participant are explored. Their finely detailed accounts are used to identify strategies consciously used by competent readers of isiZulu. Some of these strategies, such as visualisation, are common to efficient readers of all languages, while others might be peculiar to agglutinative and/or tonal languages. These strategies inform suggestions that may be helpful to educationalists in enhancing the development of effective reading skills in isiZulu.
The self in and through the other : a Bakhtinian approach to Little Dorrit and Middlemarch.
(2013) Adkins, Lorraine Dalmae.; Arnott, Jill Margaret.
The thesis explores how readings of two nineteenth century English novels, Little Dorrit and Middlemarch, can be enhanced by using key elements of Mikhail Bakhtin’s ‘prosaics’ as a lens through which to examine them. Additionally, the readings are used to provide a platform from which to explore the Bakhtinian notion that language is inextricably connected to selfhood. The Introduction (1.1.) offers a brief discussion on Bakhtin and, in particular, to his formulation of a ‘prosaics’, offered in opposition to traditional linguistics (or ‘poetics’) which, he feels, is unable adequately to do justice to the social, ethical and ideological complexity of a dialogised heteroglossia, such as is found in the novel. An explanation follows (1.2.) of why the ‘word’ should not be conceived of as static lexical element but rather as an ‘utterance’. Invested with both clear and distinct meanings as well as dialogic overtones, the word forms the basis of all human communication. As the primary means of expressing the ‘self’, it cannot be heard in isolation but is always responsive and dependent upon “another’s reaction, another’s word – the two ‘interpenetrating’ the single utterance, establishing, as a result, its specific locus of meaning” (Danow 22). Likewise, it follows that the ‘self’ cannot exist purely in and for the individual but is irrevocably linked to the ‘other’. Chapter Two begins with a discussion on the way in which ‘centripetal’ and ‘centrifugal’ forces work simultaneously to shape language (2.1.). It looks at the Bakhtinian idea that language cannot ever have been monologic and unmediated, being instead ever-changing and evolving as a result of numerous influences brought to bear on it such as context, ideology and the discourses of others. The nature of heteroglossia is discussed (with particular reference to ‘dialogized heteroglossia’), as is ‘hybridization’ in which, although a statement appears to emanate from one voice, another parodic or ironic voice will also be evident in refracted form. 2.2. and 2.3 engage in a detailed analysis of selected passages from Books I and II respectively of Little Dorrit with a view to exploring ways in which a Bakhtinian reading is able to provide heightened appreciation of the text. With particular regard to the overtly parodic style of Dickens, I aim to show how Bakhtin’s prosaics, which militates against privileging one ‘voice’ over another, enables the voice of a relatively neglected character, such as Fanny Dorrit, to be adequately heard. Although the emphasis in this chapter is on language, I broach the Bakhtinian notion that both the ‘word’ and the ‘self’ are inscribed through the ‘other’. In Chapter Three the focus shifts to Middlemarch and to Bakhtin’s notion that selfhood can only be properly located in its dialogic relations to ‘another’. The chapter is offered in four parts, beginning with a brief discussion on some similarities between Bakhtin’s and Eliot’s philosophical thinking, particularly in regard to the ethical nature of the self (3.1.). The next three parts provide detailed thematic analyses of selected passages from Middlemarch. Particular attention is paid to Rosamond Vincy and Tertius Lydgate, whose relationship is explored in some detail. In order adequately to chart their development in the novel I begin by situating each of these characters in his or her various ‘fields of action’, or, as Bakhtin would have it, ‘character zones’. Character zones take into account not only the characters’ direct discourses but also other aspects of their being, including their backgrounds, ideologies and the various attitudes held by both the narrator and other characters towards them (3.2.). The next section (3.3.) explores, in dialogical terms, the rise and fall of Rosamond’s and Lydgate’s difficult alliance and it is suggested that their relationship represents the antithesis of the Bakhtinian notion of ‘finding the self in and through the other’. In the final section (3.4.), Rosamond’s and Lydgate’s possibilities for ‘real becoming’ are canvassed when each enters into dialogic relation with Dorothea Brooke. The Conclusion (4) offers a brief discussion of some of the ways in which the novel, as a genre, is open-ended. As such, it affords ongoing discussion in which completeness and conclusiveness is replaced with unfinalizability because “the final word has not yet been spoken” in the ongoing search for meaning (EaN 30).
Somewhere in the double rainbow : representations of bisexuality in post-apartheid novels.
(2005) Stobie, Cheryl.; Jacobs, Johan Uys.
This thesis examines the middle ground between dual strands of sexuality/gender and race/ethnicity, which I refer to metaphorically as a fluid space of possibility between the rainbows of the pride flag, which celebrates sexual diversity, and the image of the rainbow nation, which celebrates multiculturalism. I discuss ways in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues and rights have been discursively treated in the West as well as Africa, most particularly South Africa. I note that a substantial number of novels which appeared after 1994 and have a South African setting or were authored by South Africans, employ the trope of bisexuality. This new preoccupation with bisexuality is parallel to attitudes towards change, the future, and progressive politics, including gender politics. Representations of bisexuality in each of the texts I examine vary; however, together they form a crucial cartography of a liberalization of the imagination in post-apartheid South Africa: a space of anxiety and hope, a space particularly revealing the ongoing evolution of a national identity, and newly part of a global community. Reading bisexuality accurately contributes to the disruption of binaries and illumination of the interstitial associated with the post-apartheid moment in general, and contemporary South African literature and literary criticism in particular. This method of reading, which I call "biopia," allows for a fresh understanding of sexuality, gender, race, citizenship and authority.
Travels with my Father - Placing the self : an original novel accompanied by an extended essay that investigates the localization of identity through its relationship to memory and place.
(2014) Jennings, Karen.; Moolman, Jacobus Philippus.
Travels with my Father is a memoir-travelogue that maps the author-narrator’s attempts at regaining a sense of place and re-affirming her identity after the death of her father and the sale of the family home. Using her own travels, her father’s travels, her mother’s move into a new home and the family history written by her father as a basic outline, the book engages with a complex network of personal and social issues. The dissertation component of the thesis examines Jennings’s attempt within Travels with my Father to regain a sense of self through analysing processes of place and possession attachment; through engaging with her ancestry on her father’s side; through travel both locally and abroad; and through critically examining the function of the written narrative that comprises the manuscript of the memoir-travelogue.
Ukuvezwa kwabafelokazi emibhalweni yesiZulu eqokiwe.
(2020) Nkosi, Siduduzo Pretty.; Sibiya, Nakanjani Goodenough.
Kulolu cwaningo kubhekwa indlela okuvezwa ngayo abafelokazi emibhalweni yesiZulu. Izibonelo zalolu cwaningo zicashunwe emibhalweni yesiZulu engamashumi amabili. Le mibhalo ingamanoveli, izindaba ezimfishane nemidlalo emide nenkundlanye. Imibhalo lena iphathelene nendikimba yobufelokazi, kungaba ngokugxila ngqo kubufelokazi noma ngokuvezwa kobufelokazi njengengxenye yezigameko nabalingiswa okutholakala emibhalweni. Miningana imibhalo enendikimba yobufelokazi esishicilelwe esiZulwini, kodwa umcwaningi ukhethe ukusebenzisa leyo abekholwa ngukuthi izoziveza ngokwanele izibonelo zezihlokwana abezokhuluma ngazo. Kuningi kakhulu okungase kushiwo ngabafelokazi, ikakhulukazi uma kubhekwa indlela ababhali ababaveza ngayo emibhalweni. Bekungelula neze ukuba umcwaningi ageqe amagula, ngakho ukhethe ukugxila emaphuzwini athile nje awabone ebalulekile ekuvezeni isithombe esigqamile ngokuvezwa kwabafelokazi. Umcwaningi ubone kubalulekile ukucwaninga ukuthi isizinda somfelokazi singaba namuphi umthelela ekudaleni izinselelo ngokunjalo nendlela umfelokazi abhekana ngayo nalezo zinselelo. Ngokwesibonelo, isizinda esigcizelela kakhulu amasiko, singenza ukuba umfelokazi agcine amasiko athile anjengokuzila, ukungenwa, namanye. Kuyenzeka nokho ukuba umfelokazi angavumelani nala masiko, ngakho umcwaningi ubone kubalulekile ukuba lihlaziywe leli phuzu, kubonakale ukuthi ababhali baliveza kanjani. Umcwaningi ubone kubalulekile futhi ukubheka izinhlobo zezinselelo ezibhekana nomfelokazi nezimbangela zazo, ngokunjalo namasu asetshenziswa ngumfelokazi ekubhekaneni nezingqinamba. Libalulekile futhi nephuzu lesimomqondo somfelokazi, umndeni nomphakathi mayelana nobufelokazi nezinselelo zabo. Umfelokazi usuke ebhekene nezinselelo zokuqhubeka nempilo emveni kokushonelwa. Lokhu kuyamphoqa ukuba athathe izinqumo ezithile engasalekelelwa ngumyeni wakhe. Umcwaningi ubone kubalulekile ukukuhlaziya lokhu ukuthi kuvela kanjani emibhalweni ekhethiwe. Zimbili izinjulalwazi ezisetshenziswe kulolu cwaningo. Kusetshenziswe injulalwazi i-Cycle of Socialization nenjulalwazi i-Hermenuetics. Yizona umcwaningi abone zizomelekelela kangcono ekuhlaziyeni imibhalo. Lezi zinjulalwazi ziphathelene nendlela yenhlaliswano emphakathini nokuhumusha imibhalo yobuciko. Umcwaningi ubone zingena khaxa kulolu cwaningo, kwazise abafelokazi bayingxenye yenhlaliswano yomphakathi futhi kulolu cwaningo bavela bengabalingiswa emibhalweni edinga injulalazwi yokuhumusha ukuze uqondakale kahle umyalezo obudluliswa ngababhali.
Ukuvezwa kwezinselelo zesikhathi senkululeko emanovelini esizulu ashicilelwe kusukela onyakeni we-1994 kuya kowezi-2014.
(2019) Qwabe, Thembinkosi Blessing.; Sibiya, Nakanjani Goodenough.
Lolu cwaningo lubheka izinselelo ezivezwa ngamanoveli aqokelwe lolu cwaningo. Lapha kubhekwa amanoveli ashicilelwe eminyakeni yokuqala yenkululeko engamashumi amabili. Ezinselelweni ezivezwa ucwaningo kukhona ubugebengu, inkohlakalo, ukungahlonishwa kwabantu besifazane, ukucwasana nokubandlululana ngokobuzwe nobuhlanga, ukungamukeleki kahle kwabathandana bewubulili obufanayo, udlame oludlangile ezweni, ubuphofu kanjalo nokungalingani komphakathi weNingizimu Afrika entsha. Lolu cwaningo luveza futhi izizathu ezenza ukuba ababhali bamanoveli ababhale ngale minyaka egaguliwe babhale ngokukhululeka. Luphawula ngokufikakwesikhathi soguquko ezweni laseNingizimu Afrika, kwangena intando yeningi nomthethosisekelo omusha ongacwasi ngokwebala, ubuhlanga, inkolo nobulili. Kuyavela ukuthi ukuguquka kwesimo sezombusazwe kunikeze ababhali inkululeko yokubhala bengenalo uvalo lokuboshwa nokuvalwa umlomo bona qobo lwabo noma imisebenzi yabo ngoba uhulumeni eyibuke wangayithanda. Ucwaningo luveza nezimbangela zezinselelo ezivezwe ngababhali njengoba zitholwe umcwaningi emanovelini. Lubuye luveze nokuthi yiziphi izixazululo ezihlongozwa ngababhali bala manoveli. Lokhu kubalulekile ngoba kulindelekile ukuba imibhalo yababhali ingagcini nje ngokuveza izinkinga nezinselelo kepha ibuye ihlongoze izixazululo ababhali abacabanga ukuthi zingasiza kuleso simo abasuke besivezile emibhalweni. Luveza namasu obuciko asetshenziswe ngababhali bamanoveli aqokiwe ngesikhathi beveza izinselelo emibhalweni yabo. Ucwaningo lusebenziseinjulalwazi ye-Marxism neye-Post-colonialism. Lezi zinjulalwazi zikwenza kube lula ukwenza lolu cwaningo ngokubheka ubudlelwane phakathi kwamanoveli aqokiwe kanye nesikhathi leso abhalwe ngaso. Lusebenzise indlela yeKhwalithethivu, ehlonzwe njengefanele ukwenza lolu cwaningo. Le pharadaymu ilekelelwe yileyo eyaziwa ngokuthi iPharadaymu Ehumushayo. Lubalulekile lolu cwaningo ngoba luveza ubudlelwane phakathi kwemibhalo okucwaningwe ngayo lapha kanye nesikhathi seminyaka yokuqala engamashumi amabili yenkululeko ezweni laseNingizimu Afrika. Kubalulekile ukuveza kwalo ukuthi zikhona izinselelo ezintshaneziqukethwe yizindikimba ezintsha ebekungelula ukubhala ngazo ngesikhathi sobandlululo noma ebezingekho ngaleso sikhathi.
Wifely submission and filial obedience: patriarchal subjugation of women and children and strategies of resistance in selected literary text set in Africa.
(2020) Pillay, Kimméra Sherrilyn.; Stobie, Cheryl.
This thesis performs a textual analysis of Nuruddin Farah’s From a Crooked Rib (2006 [1970]), Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile (2015 [1985]), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (2013 [2003]), Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel (2007 [2006]) and Amma Darko’s Not without Flowers (2007). Using theoretical insights derived from gender studies and religious studies and methods of textual analysis, I argue that the first two selected novels (set almost two generations ago) represent patterns of patriarchal and religious oppression within particular Islamic cultures in Africa that have strong correlations with oppressive patriarchal practices in Christian as well as Muslim families as represented in twenty-first century texts with other African settings, although significantly more resistance to these forms of oppression is represented in the later texts, partly as a result of globalisation.In this study, I perform a textual analysis of five primary texts from diverse contexts, settings and time-periods to explore the representations of women and children subject to patriarchal oppression. These texts date between the years 1970 to 2007 and all have an African setting; however, the settings of the texts are also spread across other locations, for example, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands, highlighting the widespread prevalence of the issues. The selected texts centre on battering, domestic violence, sexual abuse, polygyny, female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriages and prostitution, which are topical issues in contemporary Africa as well as across the globe.The argument, therefore, undertakes an analysis of wifely submission and filial obedience as a result of patriarchal subjugation through a feminist lens. I argue that religious, social and political spheres are used to support the patriarchal system, which subsequently results in the subjugation of women and children. Through a textual analysis of the five literary texts, I examine representations of the subordination of women and children because of paternalistic dominance. I also focus on the roles that secular and religious law play in sustaining the patriarchal order within the texts. The second objective of this thesis is to explore the authors’ redefinition of female identity exemplified in the literary feminine consciousness and commitment to post-colonial feminist theology. To achieve this goal, I explore women’s and children’s struggles for equality and emancipation from patriarchal systems by analysing their strategies of resistance.
Yeats and individuation: an exploration of archetypes in the work of W.B. Yeats.
(1992) Meihuizen, Nicholas Clive Titherley.; Hugo, Francois.
Abstract available in pdf file.

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