Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Antjie Krog'

Summary in English.|Bibliography: leaves 155-166.
Anthie Krog's poetry from the beginning caused a stir in the educational, church and academic circles. This was not only because of her forthrightness about sensitive issues, but also because of the new manner in which she used Afrikaans. Dissonance which continually manifests itself in her poetry, reflects the fact that, as a feminist poet in a strongly patriarchal society, she rejects the marginal position of women in a phallogocentric world.

Thesis (DLitt)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die ondersoek in hierdie studie sentreer random die diskoers in Antjie Krog se sewende digbundel, Lady Anne (1989). Die ondersoekprableem is die vraag na die wyse waarop die diskoers van hierdie teks georden en' geproduseer word. Foucault se teorie oor diskoersanalise word as kritiese werktuig gebruik by die beantwoording van hierdie vraag. Foucault (1981) omskryf diskoers onder meer as die sosiale gebruik van taal gesitueer binne bepaalde kontekste en verbonde aan spesifieke instansies. Volgens Foucault vertoon diskoers 'n innerlike orde of formasie wat argeologies opgediep kan word; dit het 'n regulerende funksie wat nie net betekenis afbaken nie, maar betekenis praduseer in die positiewe sin van die woord (Foucault, 1981). Wanneer hierdie regulerende funksie genealogies ontleed word, blyk dit dat diskoers mag uitoefen deur die meganismes van kennis, waarheid en self (Foucault, 1980), Diskoers artikuleer kennis wat die self die waarheid oor die self toe-eien. Dit roep op sy beurt weer die prableem van vryheid en politieke verset op. Die ondersoek fokus op die volgende vraagstukke random die diskoers in Lady Anne: die diskursiewe patrone in die teks; die beperkinge wat op die diskoers geplaas word (Foucault, 1981); die outeursfunksie soos beskryf deur Foucault (1979); die fiksionalisering van die lady Anne Barnard-geskiedenis aan die hand van die genealogiese benadering (Foucault, 1970; 1972). Daar sal ook ingegaan word op die verestetisering van die politieke diskoers in Suid-Afrika, asook op die kwessie in watter mate daar sprake is van stemgewing aan die Ander. Die sentrale vraagstuk wat ondersoek word, is: wat is die posisie van die wit skeppende vrau in Suid-Afrika en hoe word hierdie posisie ingeskryf in die diskoers van die Afrikaanse letterkunde? In samehang hiermee word gelet op kwessies soos subjektiwiteit, beskrywing van die objek, asook die subjek se posisie met betrekking tot die tradisie waarin sy die teks inskryf.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation centers on the discourse in Antjie Krog's seventh volume of poetry, Lady Anne (1989). The central thesis of the dissertation is to analyse the way in which the discourse of the text under discussion is being ordered and produced. The theoretical approach is based on Foucault's discourse analysis. Foucault (1981) defines discourse as, among others, the social usage of language within specific contexts and as part of specific institutions. According to Foucault, discourse has an internal order or formation which one can reveal by way of an archaeological approach; it also has a regulatory function which not only delineates meaning, but produces meaning in the more positive sense of the word (Foucault, 1981). If one analyses this regulatory function by way of a genealogical approach, it appears as if discourse exercises power over mechanisms such as knowledge, truth and self (Foucault, 1980). Discourse articulates knowledge that the self claims as a particular truth. This calls to mind issues such as the problem of freedom and political resistance. This dissertation focuses on the following issues pertaining to the discourse in Lady Anne: the discursive patterns in the text, the limitations placed on the production of discourse (Foucault, 1981), the author function as used by Foucault (1979), the fictionalization of the history of Lady Anne Barnard by means of a genealogical approach (Foucault, 1970; 1972). Another pertinent issue that will be analysed is the aestheticisation of the political discourse in South Africa, as well as the manner in which a voice is given to the so-called Other. The central issue of this investigation is the following: What is the position of white creative women in South Africa and how is this position being inscribed into the discourse of Afrikaans literature? Concomitantly, issues such as subjectivity, the description of the object, as well as the subject's position within the literary tradition will be analysed.

This study primarily investigates the autobiographical code in Antjie Krog's poetical oeuvre, spanning from 1970 to the present. Krog's poetry collections may be read as offering life writing through poetry, while the prose works mostly present the reader with a mixture of autobiographical fact plus creative reworkings of fact and fiction. Even though her 10 volumes of poetry follow her biological development from young girl to grandmother, uncertainty still exists about about where truth ends and fiction begins in this poet and autobiographer's interwoven tapestry of multiple and varied perspectives. Furthermore, autobiographical (as utilised and adapted in Krog's oeuvre, in combination with the conventioans from other genres), offers a variety of creatively innovative, experimental strategies and possibilities exploited adroitly by Krog. Reading her poetry with the focus on autobiographical markers leads to another, mostly untapped, dimension of interpretation. This literary approach is in stark contrast to the approach prescibed by N.P. van Wyk Louw in "Die 'mens' agter die boek" ["The 'Person' behind the Book] (1956), in which he states clearly that a text should be interpreted as not "about the human behind the text". To a large extent Krog as poet is inviting the reader to consciously break the taboo that Louw placed on the reader intent on "searching the actual person behind the text". My hypothesis is that in Krog's poetry there is a distinct interrelationship between the perceptions, experiences and sensual impressions of the lyrical "I" in the poems and that of the authobiographical "I" writing. It would be irresponsible to declare the poet and the speaker as one and the same, but in instances where the poet purposefully integrates autobiographical elements into her poems, she is implicitly requesting the reader to interpret her work in this way. This fictive and implicit request is referred to by Philippe Lejeune as the autobiographical poet. Krog's poetry can be divided into four categories: "direct autobiographical", "indirect autobiographical", "universal" and "general" poems. The first category involves criteria that are linked to the poet, such as the use of the names, initials and dates. Indirect autobiographical poems can be read against the background of knowledge (previously published information) about the poet. Poetry with no apparent autobiographical element, but with universal themes such as love, loss and transience, fall into the third category of "universal" poetry. If poems do not fit into the mentioned categories, they are deemed "general".

Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))—University of Stellenbosch, 2005.
In this thesis the translating strategies of domestication and foreignisation in Antjie Krog’s anthology die sterre sê ‘tsau’ (2004) are investigated. A descriptive approach is followed in the analysis, with the main focus on Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) and the poststructuralist concept différance (Derrida 1982). The researcher states that Krog, in her translation of the /Xam narratives, 1) follows a foreignising strategy by moving the target reader towards the source text; 2) is visible as translator as a result of her use of annotations, for example; and 3) that, in addition to foreignisation, she moves the source text towards the target reader by domesticating towards her own poetic style. The introductory chapter is followed by a discussion of those translational models relevant to the analysis. The discussion focuses on Venuti’s (1995) model of domestication/ foreignisation, as well as on some aspects of deconstruction and différance. Lambert and Van Gorp’s (1985) descriptive model is expounded as the primary model for the analysis of the anthology. The following chapter involves a literary historic overview of the language and culture of the /Xam in order to fully contextualise both the source and target texts. In the following chapter the most relevant aspects of Krog’s poetics and translational strategy are discussed as far as they coincide with the main argument of the thesis. In the practical part of the thesis five poems from the anthology are discussed on macro-, micro- and systemic level in order to establish Krog’s translational strategy as well as the presence in the translation of her poetic style. In the final chapter the extent to which the findings in the analysis correspond to the hypothesis is concluded.

In this thesis Antjie Krog’s ‘transformation trilogy’ consisting of three nonfiction texts, Country of My Skull (1998), A Change of Tongue (2003) and Begging to Be Black (2009) is analysed with specific focus on conceptions of identity in the trilogy. This is done from numerous angles, namely a postcolonial approach to the trilogy, an analysis of Krog’s exploration of an ‘African worldview’, an in-depth inquiry into Krog’s preoccupation with ‘race’ and the assertion that Krog is essentially asking the National Question. The overarching approach that is followed in the thesis is to read all three texts of the trilogy in conjunction with each other and to highlight examples of repetition, progression and/or change with regard to the issues that have been identified. The translated nature as well as the form and content of the transformation trilogy are singled out as important signposts for the interpretation of the trilogy. Several instruments are identified that will be used in analysing the texts, including the importance of questioning, the concept of gesturing as articulated by Terry Eagleton, and Krog’s pedagogical attitude. The trilogy is situated within postcolonial theory: the importance of postcolonial theory in general and whiteness studies specifically for the study of the trilogy is highlighted. Krog’s explicit and implicit references to colonialism and postcolonialism in the trilogy are discussed as an important postcolonial gesture. Another meaningful gesture is Krog’s exploration of what can be termed an ‘African worldview’. This exploration takes place through her incorporation of African orality in the trilogy, and through her extensive enquiry into African humanism. Her use of the term ubuntu is examined, as well as her explicit interaction with formal African philosophy. It is averred that Krog’s focus on an ‘African worldview’ necessitates a thorough investigation into the role of ‘race’ in the trilogy. The place that is given to ‘whiteness’ and ‘blackness’ in the trilogy is analysed in part by engaging with whiteness studies. The conclusion in reached that the concept of complicity is essential for correctly interpreting Krog’s preoccupation with ‘race’, and the way that her trilogy engages with international discourses on restitution is equally important. Finally all the above issues come together when it is stated that Krog is essentially asking the National Question: to whom does South Africa belong? Can ‘white’ people belong to the South African nation? Krog’s conceptions of identity are evaluated in this context and identity-as-becoming is identified as a central concept emerging in the course of the trilogy.
In hierdie proefskrif word Antjie Krog se ‘transformasie-trilogie’ bestaande uit drie niefiksie tekste, Country of My Skull (1998), A Change of Tongue (2003) en Begging to Be Black (2009) ondersoek met spesifieke fokus op konsepsies van identiteit in die trilogie. Dit vind vanuit verskeie invalshoeke plaas, naamlik ’n postkoloniale benadering tot die trilogie, ’n analise van Krog se verkenning van ’n ‘Afrikawêreldbeeld’, ’n indringende ondersoek na Krog se preokkupasie met ‘ras’, en die bewering dat Krog die Nasionale Vraagstuk betrek. Die oorkoepelende benadering wat in die proefskrif gevolg word, is om al drie tekste van die trilogie saam te lees en voorbeelde van herhaling, progressie en/of verandering ten opsigte van die geïdentifiseerde kwessies aan te toon. Die vertaalde aard asook die vorm en inhoud van die transformasie-trilogie word as belangrike rigtingswysers vir die interpretasie van die trilogie belig. Enkele instrumente word geïdentifiseer met behulp waarvan die tekste telkens ontleed word, insluitende die belangrikheid van vraagstelling, die konsep van gebare wat van Terry Eagleton ontleen is, en Krog se pedagogiese ingesteldheid. ’n Postkoloniale situering van die trilogie vind plaas waarin die belangrikheid van die teorie van postkoloniale studies in die breë en witheidstudies in besonder ten opsigte van die trilogie kortliks uitgelig word. Die wyses waarop Krog eksplisiet na kolonialisme en postkolonialisme verwys, word as ’n veelseggende postkoloniale gebaar bespreek. ’n Verdere belangrike gebaar is Krog se verkenning van wat as ’n ‘Afrikawêreldbeeld’ omskryf kan word. Hierdie verkenning vind plaas deur haar inkorporasie van Afrika-oraliteit in die trilogie, en deur haar uitgebreide ondersoek na Afrikahumanisme. Krog se gebruikmaking van die term ubuntu geniet aandag, asook haar eksplisiete interaksie met formele Afrikafilosofie. Daar word beweer dat Krog se fokus op ’n ‘Afrikawêreldbeeld’ ’n deeglike ondersoek na die plek van ‘ras’ in die trilogie noop. Die plek van ‘witheid’ en ‘swartheid’ in die trilogie word ontleed deur onder andere met witheidstudies in gesprek te tree. Uiteindelik word beweer dat die konsep van medepligtigheid noodsaaklik is om Krog se preokkupasie met ‘ras’ na behore te interpreteer, en daarmee saam is dit belangrik dat Krog deelneem aan internasionale diskoerse oor restitusie. Uiteindelik val al die genoemde kwessies saam wanneer beweer word dat Krog in wese die Nasionale Vraagstuk opper: aan wie behoort Suid-Afrika? Mag ‘wit’ mense tot die ‘Suid-Afrikaanse nasie’ behoort? Krog se konsepsies van identiteit word binne hierdie konteks beoordeel en identiteit-as-wordingproses word as ’n belangrike konsep geïdentifiseer.
Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the work of two contemporary South African poets, Antjie Krog and Joan Metelerkamp. Through an analytical-discursive engagement with their work, it explores the relationship between confession and embodiment, drawing attention to the ethical potential located at the confluence of these theories and modes. The theory informing this thesis is drawn from three broad fields: that of feminism, embodiment studies and ethical philosophy. More specifically, foundational insights will come from the work of Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas. While much of the theory used originates from Western Europe and North America, this will be mediated by sensitivity towards Krog and Metelerkamp’s South African location, as is fitting for a study focused on embodied confession and the ethical treatment of the other. The first chapter will establish Krog and Metelerkamp as confessional poets and explore the ethical implications of this designation. It will also explore the contextual grounds for the establishment for a confessional culture in both the United States of America of the 1950s that gave rise to the school of confessional poets, and in South Africa of the 1990s. The second chapter will use embodiment theory to discuss the relationship between poetry and the body in their work, and the ethics of this relationship. The remaining chapters concentrate on three forms of embodiment that frequently inhabit their poetry: the maternal body, the erotic body and the ageing body. Throughout the analyses of their poetic depictions of, and engagements with, these bodies, the ethical potential of these confessional engagements will be investigated. Through the argument presented in this thesis, Metelerkamp’s status as a minor South African poet will be re-evaluated, as will that of Krog’s undervalued English translations of her acclaimed Afrikaans poetry. The importance of confessional poetry and poetry of the body, often pejorative classifications, will also be asserted. Ultimately, through drawing the connections between confession, embodiment and ethics in poetry, this thesis will re-evaluate the way poetry is read, when it is read, and propose alternative reading strategies.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die werk van twee kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse digters, Antjie Krog en Joan Metelerkamp. Analities-beredeneerde benadering tot hulle werk verken die verband tussen belydenis en beliggaming. Klem word gelê op die etiese implikasies waar hierdie teorieë en vorme bymekaarkom. Die teorie waarop hierdie tesis berus, word vanuit drie breë velde geput: feminisme, beliggamingsteorie en etiese filosofie. Daar word meer spesifiek op die fundamentele beskouings van Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty en Emmanuel Levinas gesteun. Alhoewel die teorie grotendeels ontstaan het in Wes-Europa en Noord-Amerika, sal dit met begrip benader word ten opsigte van Krog en Metelerkamp se Suid-Afrikaanse agtergrond, wat meer gepas is vir studie wat fokus op beliggaamde belydenis en die etiese hantering van die ander. Die eerste hoofstuk vestig Krog en Metelerkamp as belydenisdigters en verken die etiese implikasies van hierdie benaming. Die kontekstuele beweegredes vir die vestiging van belydeniskultuur word ook ondersoek, in beide die Verenigde State van Amerika van die 1950s (wat geboorte geskenk het aan die era van belydenisdigters) en in Suid-Afrika van die 1990s. Die tweede hoofstuk rus op beliggamingsteorie om die verband tussen poësie en liggaam in hul werk te bespreek, asook die etiese implikasies binne hierdie verband. Die oorblywende hoofstukke fokus op drie vorme van die liggaam wat dikwels in hulle digkuns neerslag vind: die moederlike lyf, die erotiese lyf en die verouderende lyf. Die etiese implikasies van hierdie belydende betrokkenheid word deurgaans in ag geneem in die analise van hulle digterlike uitbeelding van en omgang tot hierdie liggame. Die argument in hierdie tesis herevalueer Metelerkamp se status as meer geringe Suid-Afrikaanse digter asook Krog se onderskatte Engelse vertalings van haar bekroonde Afrikaanse gedigte. Die waarde van belydenispoësie en gedigte oor die liggaam, dikwels pejoratiewe klassifikasies, sal ook verdedig word. Deur belydenis, beliggaming en etiek in digkuns met mekaar te verbind, herevalueer hierdie tesis uiteindelik die manier waarop gedigte gelees word, wanneer dit gelees word, en stel alternatiewe leesstrategieë voor.

It is evident in Antjie Krog's oeuvre that autobiographical aspects and themes play an important role in her work, and that such aspects are in fact characteristic of all her work. In this study the relation between the autobiographical material in 'n Ander Tongval (2003) and in some of her volumes of poetry is researched. It is clear from the theoretical works that were consulted that the relation between the text and "reality" can be extremely complex, because all autobiographical texts always contain both autobiographical and fictional aspects. In the autobiographical text the writer must constantly negotiate between the public and the private; in other words what the writer chooses to remember and reveal, and what is concealed. There are significant similarities between the autobiographical memories in 'n Ander Tongva/ and a number of Antjie Krog's poems from the volumes Dogter van Jefta, Otters in bronslaai, Jerusa/emgangers, Lady Anne, Gedigte 1989 - 1995 and Kleur kom nooit aileen nie. It is evident, however, that the same information is presented very differently in the poetic and narrative texts. Krog uses her memory very selectively and she manipulates her memories in the representation of the poems. A reason for this may be that she regards her poetry as personal, while the autobiographical text was written for a bigger audience. The same argument applies to her use of different voices ("I" as well as other voices) which is used in both texts.
Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the construction of cultural identity in Mamma Medea by Tom Lanoye (2001) and it’s translation by Antjie Krog (2002) by employing various theories as well as exhausting binary oppositions, and analysing the way it relates to the difference in language use between the conflicting individuals and groups in the drama. Mamma Medea is based predominantly on two versions of the Greek myth of Medea and her shocking tale of infanticide in order to wound her deceitful spouse, Jason. It follows the long tradition in literature and art wherein Medea is used to comment on the subjugation and oppression of women and non-dominant groups, as well as on the formation of the Other. Lanoye uses the details of the Ancient account, but broadens the spectrum to include commentary on contemporary themes in order to seek an alternative motivation for her premeditated infanticide. The drama does not stay within the details of the intertexts, however, and is altered so that both Medea and Jason each kill one of their children. A context-relevant approach is followed to examine how Lanoye’s drama challenges modern myths surrounding cultural identity in the Flemish-Dutch context. The latter interpretation is warranted by linking Flemish en Dutch with the groups in the drama, in accordance with the real language tension between the two language regions. In contrast to this Krog makes use of much more dialectal forms of Afrikaans reflecting the multicultural and multilingual South-African context. Her translation is not studied from a purely translational, theoretical perspective, considering that the focus of the study is on differences in cultural identity and on the differences in context wherein the respective drama and translation is produced.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die konstruksie van kulturele identiteit in Mamma Medea van Tom Lanoye (2001) en in die vertaling daarvan deur Antjie Krog (2002) aan die hand van verskeie teorieë, asook met behulp van binêre opposisies, en analiseer die wyse waarop dit onder meer saamhang met die verskille in taalgebruik tussen konflikterende individue en groepe in die drama. Mamma Medea ontgin veral twee weergawes van Griekse mites oor Medea, wat haar twee seuns op skokkende wyse vermoor om haar verraderlike eggenoot, Jason, leed aan te doen, in aansluiting by ’n lang tradisie in die literatuur en kunste waarin dié figuur veral gebruik is om kommentaar te lewer op die uitbuiting en onderdrukking van vroue en nie-dominante groepe, asook die formasie van die die Ander in verhoudinge. Lanoye verruim in sy drama die onderwerp van die konvensionele huweliksdrama en betrek hedendaagse kwessies ten einde ’n geldige eietydse motivering te verskaf vir Medea se optrede. Hy wyk onder meer doelbewus af van die brontekste deurdat hy Medea en Jason elk ’n seun laat vermoor. ’n Gemeenskapsrelevante benadering word gevolg om na te gaan hoe Lanoye se drama in die proses moderne mites rondom kulturele identiteit uitdaag binne ’n Vlaamse-Nederlandse konteks. Laasgenoemde interpretasie word ondersteun deur onderskeidelik Vlaams en Nederlands te verbind met die hoofgroepe in die drama, in ooreenstemming met reële taalspanninge tussen die twee taalgebiede. Hierteenoor maak Krog van veel meer dialektiese taalvorme gebruik in aansluiting by die multikulturele Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Haar vertaling word nie soseer vanuit ʼn vertaalwetenskaplike perspektief nagevors nie, aangesien die hooffokus val op sowel die verskille in kulturele identiteit as op verskille rakende die konteks waarin onderskeidelik die drama en die vertaling geproduseer is.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 1990.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this investigation was to provide a theoretical overview of the predominant feminist literary movements and their theoretical theses. I concentrated specifically on providing an historical overview of the major theories and by doing so accumulating them into one theoretical model. Concommitantly theories coined by post-structuralist thinkers such as Derrida and deconstruction are also employed in furnishing the reading model with a deconstructivi i-.>"": base. It proved appropriate to analyse postmodernist poetry ~AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie ondersoek was om in die inleidende teoretiese gedeelte In oorsig te gee van die belangrikste feministiese teoretici se bevindings. Daar is veral gekonsentreer op In historiese oorsig van die feministiese teoriee en hieruit is probeer om een teoretiese model daar te stel, waarvolgens literere tekste in die besonder gelees kon word. In aansluiting by die post-strukturalistiese teoriee van Jacques Derrida is aan die feministiese leesmodel In dekonstruktivistiese basis gegee. Dit het veral geblyk van pas te wees, by die lees van die postmodernistiese poesie soos in die geval van Joan Hambidge. In die tweede hoofstuk is veral gefokus op die poes1e van Antjie Krog en is die eiesoortige kenmerke van haar poesie eers uitgelig. Daarna is veral gekonsentreer op haar mees onlangse digbundel Lady Anne. Uit die bundel is veral tekste geselekteer wat pertinent fokus op uitbeelding van die man-vrou-verhouding binne die huwelik. Daar word veral gekonsentreer op die drie bel~ngrikste vrouefigure in die bundel, naamlik Lady Anne Barnard, Mev. Van Reenen en die digteres Antjie Krog self. Daar is veral aangetoon wat hulle verhoudings met hulle mans was en die huweliksrelasie is met behulp van In feministiese leesmodel beskou en gedekonstrueer. Dikwels is daar sprake van In seksuele magstryd in die huwelik aan die gang. In die geval van Lady Anne Barnard weerspieel die huweliksverhouding tussen man en vrou die spanning wat inherent aanwesig is, veral omdat Barnard so In swakkeling is en hy onderdanig aan sy vrou staan. Hierdie magsbalans wat versteur word, kern ook voor in die verse oor Antjie Krog en haar man. Die man as verteenwoordiger van die patriargale waardesisteem, sien dit as sy plig om oor die vrou te heers. In die derde hoofstuk word veral gekonsentreer op Joan Hambidge se Lesbiesfeministiese verse en wel uit haar derde digbundel, Die anatomie van melancholie. Die kodes van die Lesbiese verhouding tussen twee vroue is ondermynend van aard en dit gee aanleiding tot kontroversiele bevraagtekening van die heersende ideologie binne die same1ewing. Die heersende seksistiese ins1ag van die patriargie het tot gevolg dat Lesbiese liefde as IIvreemd" bestempel word en gevolglik strydig is met die wese van die ideologiese apparatuur in so 'n staat. Ten slotte word aangetoon, dat In feministiese leesmodel weI sinvol is vir die lees van tekste en dat dit veral daarop gemik is am die seksistiese binere opposisies binne ' n seksistiese denksistee~ te ondermyn.

Thesis (DLitt (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores Antjie Krog as translator within the Afrikaans and English literary field in South Africa. The focus of the study is primarily on Krog’s translation of her own work, namely her prose works Country of my skull and A change of tongue/’n Ander tongval, and poetry Down to my last skin, die sterre sê ‘tsau’/the stars say ‘tsau’ and Verweerskrif/Body bereft. Although Krog is also renowned for her work as translator of others’ work, the concept self translation is particularly relevant for this study: to write through translation and translate through writing. The study has a dual objective: on a polysystemic level Krog’s position and status as translator and that of her translation products within the Afrikaans and English literary field in South Africa is researched; on a sociocultural level Bourdieu’s concept habitus is employed in order to explore the underlying force behind Krog’s translation process. The focus throughout is on Krog’s double writing, the overlapping of the act of writing and the act of translating as it resonates on textual and metatextual level. Although a Bourdieusian reading of translations is a relatively unexplored terrain in the South African translation field, this study aims to add fresh insights into a dispositional view of the translator in his or her space within the literary field. In the course of this study philosophical concepts of Deleuze and Guattari, Kristeva and Bhabha are employed. Deleuze and Guattari’s concept minor literature is employed insofar the act of translation and the translation product reflects a different subjectivity. Kristeva’s concept the abject is likewise explored in the way it is reflected in Krog’s writing and translating. In the end it is argued that Krog, when writing in her non-mother tongue and when translating, is situated in a hybrid space, an in-between space. This study thus shifts from a polysystemic analysis of Krog’s translation products to a more individual approach and the notion that Krog’s habitus as writer is inextricably linked to her habitus as translator; that translation is an embodied process.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif is ’n studie van Antjie Krog as vertaler binne die Afrikaanse en Engelse literêre veld in Suid-Afrika. In hierdie studie word daar slegs op Krog se vertaling van haar eie werk gekonsentreer, naamlik die prosawerke Country of my skull en A change of tongue/’n Ander tongval, en die poësie Down to my last skin, die sterre sê ‘tsau’/the stars say ‘tsau’ en Verweerskrif/Body bereft. Hoewel Krog ook as vertaler van ander skrywers se werk bekend is, is dit veral die konsep selfvertaling wat in hierdie studie van belang is: om te skryf deur vertaling en vertaal deur te skryf. Die studie neem ’n tweeledige vorm aan: op ’n polisistemiese vlak word die posisie en status van Krog as vertaler, en ook van haar vertaalprodukte binne die Afrikaanse en Engelse literêre veld in Suid-Afrika ondersoek; op ’n sosiokulturele vlak word Bourdieu se konsep habitus ingespan ten einde die onderliggende dryfvere agter die vertaalproses van Krog te ondersoek. Die deurlopende fokus is op die dubbele skrywerskap van Krog; die oorvleueling van die skryfhandeling en vertaalhandeling soos dit op tekstuele en metatekstuele vlak resoneer. Alhoewel ’n sosiokulturele (Bourdieuaanse) lesing van vertaaltekste ’n relatief onbekende terrein in Suid-Afrikaanse vertaalteoretiese kringe is, wil hierdie studie aantoon dat ’n disposisionele beskouing van die vertaler in sy of haar ruimte binne die literêre veld vars insigte bring. Deur die loop van die studie word filosofiese konsepte van Deleuze en Guattari, Kristeva en Bhabha betrek. Deleuze en Guattari se denkinstrument van ’n mineurletterkunde word ingespan sover die vertaalhandeling en -produk ’n andersoortige subjektiwiteit weerspieël. Hierbenewens word Kristeva se konsep van die abjekte in Krog se skryf- en vertaalhandeling ondersoek. Uiteindelik word dit aangevoer dat Krog as vertaler binne ’n hibriede ruimte, ’n tussenruimte funksioneer wanneer sy in Engels skryf en wanneer sy vertaal. Hierdie studie beweeg dus van ’n polisistemiese ondersoek na Krog se vertaalprodukte tot by ’n meer individuele ondersoek na die beskouing dat Krog se habitus as skrywer onlosmaaklik verbind is aan haar habitus as vertaler, en dat die proses van vertaling ’n beliggaamde proses is.

This dissertation examines the role of the egocentric author in the poetry of Antjie Krog and its development through seven volumes of verse. The term "egocentric author" here signifies that author which is the writing subject and which insists that the reader take cogniscence of him or her. The second chapter of the dissertation focuses on the development in literary theory in the twentieth century which has seen the author increasingly marginalised in the process of asserting the autonomy of the text. Barthes in 1968 proclaimed the author dead and early poststructuralism has no place for the author in its approach to discussing literary texts. However, a definite role has lately been assigned to the author, not as the divine artistic source of the meaning in a text, but rather as an agent or textual strategy by which the material or historical discourse present in literary texts can be examined. The study further examines the way in which Antjie Krog's oeuvre shows a definite line of development in respect to the speaking subject which admits that it is also the poet. In no way is dwelt on the specific biography of the "real" poet unless biographical information is obviously a textual element. With Krog the "biographical" information that she is a mother, wife and an Afrikaans speaking poet is an integral component of the textual composition. The last section deals with the fact that in Lady Anne, Krog uses the historical figure of Lady Anne Barnard (born Lindsay) (1750-1825) to function as an objective correlative for the white female poet who is increasingly concerned with the oppressive political climate in her country, her part in the oppression of its disenfranchised citizens. The interaction between the self-conscious poet and her metaphor enables the poet in a singular way to pose the important question of whether she has the power through her poetry to address the injustices which her artistic sensibility witnesses around her.

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Autobiography is a growing, but elusive literary genre. However, when texts are read as autobiographical – and thus as a form of self-representation – the theme of identity provides the reader with an interesting and useful method by which to approach it. In this study, two Afrikaans autobiographical texts are approached in a comparative manner, with the aim being to examine the writers’ representations of themselves. The texts studied are ’n Wonderlike geweld (2005) by Elsa Joubert, and ’n Ander tongval (2005) by Antjie Krog. Besides the autobiographical nature of these texts, the comparison is also based on: the writers’ status in the Afrikaans literary system, similarities beween them and their backgrounds, and the corresponding publication dates. The theoretical basis from where the concepts autobiography and identity are viewed is explained briefly. The emphasis falls on autobiography as a hybrid genre, that is defined mainly by how it is read. The use of identity as a reading strategy is suggested, with identity being understood as an unstable construction that changes constantly, depending on the context in which it is constructed. Consequently, the different identities according to which Joubert and Krog reveal themselves to the reader and the autobiographical forms through which they achieve this, are examined and discussed in separate chapters. Specific emphasis is placed on how they convey the spirit of the time and on the influence of the context in which the texts are published. Finally, the differences and similarities in the writers’ representation of themselves are summarised. In the end it emerges that the reading strategy focused on identity provides the reader with a useful approach to the study of texts in the autobiographical genre, since it is possible to successfully apply it to two texts with diverse autobiographical qualities. Furthermore, it becomes clear that the structure and style of these texts mirror the writer’s approach to identity to a great extent.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Outobiografie is ’n groeiende, maar onpeilbare literêre genre. Wanneer tekste as outobiografies – en dus as ’n vorm van self-representasie – benader word, bied die tema van identiteit egter ’n interessante en nuttige invalshoek. In hierdie studie word twee Afrikaanse outobiografiese tekste vergelykend benader, met die doel om die skrywers se voorstellings van hul identiteit daarin te ondersoek. Die twee tekste wat gebruik word, is ’n Wonderlike geweld (2005) van Elsa Joubert, en ’n Ander tongval (2005) van Antjie Krog. Benewens die outobiografiese aard van die tekste, sluit die basis vir vergelyking ook die skrywers se status binne die Afrikaanse literêre sisteem, ooreenkomste tussen hulle en hul agtergronde, en die ooreenstemmende publikasiedatums in. Die teoretiese basis vanwaar die begrippe outobiografie en identiteit beskou word, word kortliks uiteengesit. Die klem val op outobiografie as ’n hibridiese genre wat veral gedefinieer word op grond van hoe ’n mens dit lees. Die gebruik van identiteit word dan as ’n lees-strategie voorgestel, met identiteit wat verstaan word as ’n onstabiele konstruksie wat konstant verander op grond van die konteks waarbinne dit gekonstrueer word. Die verskillende identiteite waarvolgens Joubert en Krog hulself aan die leser openbaar en die outobiografiese vorme wat hulle hiervoor gebruik, word dan ondersoek en bespreek in twee afsonderlike hoofstukke. Spesifieke klem word gelê op die tydsgees wat vasgevang word en die invloed wat die konteks waarbinne die tekste gepubliseer word, het. Uiteindelik word die verskille en ooreenkomste in die skrywers se voorstellings van hulself saamgevat. Ten slotte blyk dit dat die lees-strategie wat fokus op identiteit ’n nuttige invalshoek bied vir die studie van tekste binne die outobiografiese genre, aangesien dit met vrug op twee tekste met uiteenlopende outobiografiese eienskappe toegepas kan word. Verder word dit ook duidelik dat die struktuur en styl van die tekste in ’n groot mate die skrywer daarvan se benadering tot identiteit weerspieël.

Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006).
Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, ‘Long walk to freedom’, can be viewed as a milestone in South African history. Although it is not necessarily significant in a literary sense, it played an important role in making many South Africans aware of another side to their country’s history, and introduced them to a man who, besides being the world’s most famous political prisoner and a respected statesman, is also an ordinary human being. The Afrikaans translation of the autobiography, Lang pad na vryheid, formed part of a project to translate the original document into all the languages of South Africa (three other translations have been completed thus far). This project is discussed in relation to the ideological motive for it, and also in relation to the ideological position of Afrikaans in South Africa and the ideology and poetics of the translator. The study is based on a descriptive approach, specifically as manifested in the manipulation theory of André Lefevere. It attempts to place the translation of autobiography as a genre within translation theory, and suggests that the translator of autobiography has little ‘leeway’ with regard to the application of translation strategies, specifically those that change the original narrator’s ‘voice’. The various ways in which the text has been ‘manipulated’ in the production of its translation, both to make it function as a text in the target language and in ways that cannot always be justified on that basis, lead to the conclusion that it is very difficult to translate autobiography without interfering with the very personal telling of a person’s life story by that person, and without modulating the narration in a way that cannot always be reconciled with the autobiographer’s ideology. The modulation of the autobiographer’s voice, whether this takes place consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously, is finally argued to produce a translation that can no longer be viewed as the autobiography of Nelson Mandela in the strict sense.

This mini-dissertation examines selected poems by three female poets who deal with what I have termed ‘the personal’ in relation to specifically female concerns in their poetry, namely Anne Sexton, Antjie Krog and Finuala Dowling. There has been a considerable rise in personal and autobiographical writing in the last few decades, and this trend shows no sign of decreasing. This kind of writing has provoked much heated debate, both regarding its content and its style(s). Many critics and poets, such as Robert Lowell or James Dickey, disapprove of the frankness with which female poets discuss subjects which are specific to women, and consider the poems to be too graphic or crude. Personal poems which are not graphic are also criticised as being boring, irrelevant or lacking in artistic craft. Those in favour of poetry of the personal, such as Collette Inez and Alicia Ostriker, believe that contemporary poets’ freedom to examine any topic they like is a positive development. Instead of considering these poems to be irrelevant to readers, they believe that personal poetry can be a means for both writers and readers to explore identity and to navigate various female roles. This mini-dissertation argues in defence of personal poetry, and addresses the common criticisms of this type of writing briefly mentioned above. It highlights women’s issues and questions of female identity throughout. The different ways in which female writers approach personal poetry are also examined, and the mini-dissertation compares the controversial aspects of Sexton’s writing with Krog’s candour and Dowling’s understated humour. Through close textual analysis, the mini-dissertation highlights both similarities and differences in the work of these poets, in support of the value of such poetry for both readers and writers. The mini-dissertation is accompanied by a portfolio of my own creative work. My poems also fit into the category of female poetry of the personal, so while I do not directly discuss my own work in the mini-dissertation, the portfolio and mini-dissertation are thematically linked.
Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
English
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This thesis investigates the depiction of ageing and old age in several key works of South African literature of the transitional and post-transitional period. The study covers texts set both in the transitional period prior to the 1994 democratic elections and in the years following that historical watershed. I examine how the literary representation of the ageing individual operates within the rhetoric of transition and new beginnings that characterizes the contemporary political and ideological climate of South Africa. The study includes a close examination of two novels (Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee, and Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk), a collection of short stories (The Mistress’s Dog by David Medalie), and a volume of poetry (Body Bereft by Antjie Krog). My reading of these texts centres on exploring how the authors depict their ageing protagonists in relation to ideas of time, place and the body. Using Julia Kristeva’s theories on abjection, I analyse whether or not a degree of agency can be found in the abject depiction of older age. Similarly, I examine the ways in which reading older age through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of the grotesque allows for a liberation from reductive understandings of the embodiment of ageing individuals. Because both Agaat and Body Bereft are translated from Afrikaans, I also explore the ways in which translation intersects with the socio-political ideologies of the periods in which these texts are set, as well as how this may have an impact upon the representation of older age. Through examining the tension between the nostalgic, backward-looking perspective usually attributed to old age, and the progressive, forward-looking sentiment of modern South Africa, I investigate the ways in which these writers – Coetzee and Van Niekerk in particular – associate the ageing body with political concerns. I also show how, in their different ways, all four writers counteract stereotypes associated with senescence.
Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
tm2015
English
DLitt
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The stories and histories of the human race are littered with the remnants of utopia. These utopias always exist in some "far away" place, whether this place be removed in terms of time (either as a nostalgically remembered past, or an idealistically projected future), or in terms of space (as a place that one must arrive at). In our attempts to attain these utopias, we construct our worlddefinitions in accordance with our projections of these ideal places and ways of "being". Our discourses come to embody and perpetuate these ideals, which are maintained by excluding any definitions of the world that run counter to these ideals. The continued existence of utopia relies on the subjects of that utopia continuing their belief in its ideals, and not questioning its construction. Counter-discourse to utopia manifests in the same space as the original utopia and gives rise to questions that threaten the stability of the ideal. Questions challenge belief, and therefore the discourse of the ideal must neutralise those who question and challenge it. This process of neutralisation requires that more definitions be constructed within utopian discourse - definitions that allow the subjects of the discourse to objectify the questioner. However, as these new definitions arise, they create yet more counter-definitions, thereby increasing the fragmentation of the aforementioned space. A subject of any "dominant" discourse, removed from that discourse, is exposed to the questions inherent in counter-discourse. In such circumstances, the definitions of the questioner - the "other" - that have previously enabled the subject to disregard the questioner's existence and/or point of view are no longer reinforced, and the subject begins to question those definitions. Once this questioning process starts, the utopia of the subject is re-defined as dystopia, for the questioning highlights the (often violent) methods of exclusion needed to maintain that utopia. Foucault's theory of heterotopia, used as the basis for the analysis of the three texts in question, suggests a space in which several conflicting and contradictory discourses which seemingly bear no relation to each other are found grouped together. Whereas utopia sustains myth in discourse, running with the grain of language, heterotopias run against the grain, undermining the order that we create through language, because they destroy the syntax that holds words and things together. The narrators in the three texts dealt with are all subjects of dominant discourses sustained by exclusive definitions and informed by ideals that require this exclusion in order to exist. Displaced into spaces that subvert the definitions within their discourses, the narrators experience a sense of "madness", resulting from the disintegration of their perception of "order". However, through embracing and perpetuating that which challenged their established sense of identity, the narrators can regain their sense of agency, and so their narratives become vehicles for the reconstitution of the subject-status of the narrators, as well as a means of perpetuating the counter-discourse.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Utopias spikkel die landskap van menseheugenis as plekke in "lank lank gelede" of "eendag", in "n land baie ver van hier", en is dus altyd verwyderd van die huidige, óf in ruimte, óf in tyd. In ons strewe na die ideale, skep ons definisies van die wêreld wat in voeling is met hierdie idealistiese plekke en bestaanswyses. Sulke definisies sypel deur die diskoers, of taal, waarmee ons ons omgewing beskryf. Die ideale wat dan in die diskoers omvat word, word onderhou deur die uitsluiting van enige definisie wat teenstrydig is met dié in die idealistiese diskoers. Die volgehoue bestaan van utopie berus daarop dat die subjekte van daardie utopie voortdurend glo in die ideale voorgehou in en onderhou deur die diskoers, en dus nie die diskoers se konstruksie bevraagteken nie. Die manifestering van teen-diskoers in dieselfde ruimte as die utopie, gee aanleiding tot vrae wat die bestaan van die ideaal bedreig omdat geloof in die ideaal noodsaaklik is vir die ideaal se voortbestaan. Aangesien bevraagtekening dikwels geloof uitdaag en ontwrig, lei dit daartoe dat die diskoers wat die ideaal onderhou, diegene wat dit bevraagteken, neutraliseer. Hierdie neutraliseringsproses behels die vorming van nog definisies binne die diskoers wat die vraagsteller objektiveer. Die vorming van nuwe definisies loop op sy beurt uit op die vorming van teen-definisies wat bloot verdere verbrokkeling van die voorgenoemde ruimte veroorsaak. "n Subjek van die "dominante" diskoers van die utopie wat hom- /haarself buite die spergebiede van sy/haar diskoers bevind, word blootgestel aan vrae wat in teen-diskoers omvat word. In sulke omstandighede is die subjek verwyder van die versterking van daardie definisies wat die vraagsteller - die "ander" - se opinies of bestaan as nietig voorgestel het, en die subjek mag dan hierdie definisies bevraagteken. Sodra hierdie proses begin, vind "n herdefinisie van ruimte plaas, en utopie word distopie soos die vrae (soms geweldadige) uitsluitingsmetodes wat die onderhoud van die ideaal behels, aan die lig bring en, in sommige gevalle, aan die kaak stel. Hierdie tesis gebruik Foucault se teorie van "heterotopia" om die drie tekste te analiseer. Dié teorie veronderstel "n ruimte waarin die oorvleueling van verskeie teenstrydighede (diskoerse) plaasvind. Waar utopie die bestaan van fabels en diskoerse akkommodeer, ondermyn heterotopia die orde wat ons deur taal en definisie skep omdat dit die sintaks vernietig wat woorde aan konsepte koppel. Die drie vertellers is elkeen "n subjek van "n "dominante diskoers" wat onderhou word deur uitsluitende definisies in "n utopia waar die voortgesette bestaan van die ideale wat in die diskoers omvat word op eksklusiwiteit staatmaak. Omdat die vertellers verplaas is na ruimtes wat hulle eksklusiewe definisies omverwerp, vind hulle dat hulle aan "n soort waansin grens wat veroorsaak is deur die verbrokkeling van hul sin van "orde". Deur die teen-diskoers in hul stories in te bou as verteltaal, of te implementeer as die meganisme van oordrag, kan die vertellers hul "selfsin" herwin. Deur vertelling hervestig die vertellers dus hul status as subjek, en verseker hulle hul plek in die opkomende diskoers deur middel van hulle voortsetting daarvan.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis, I undertake an extensive overview of a range of language activities that foreground the materiality of language, and that require an active reader oriented towards the text as a producer, rather than a consumer, of meaning. To this end, performance, as a function of both orality and print texts, forms an important focus for my argument. I am particularly interested in the effect that the disruption of language has on the position of the subject in language, especially in terms of the dialogic exchange between local and global subject positions. Poetry is a language activity that requires a particular attention to form and meaning, and that is licensed to activate and exploit the materiality of language. For this reason, I have focused on the work of a selection of North American poets, the Language poets. These poets are primarily concerned with the performative possibilities of language as it appears in print media. I juxtapose these language activities with those of a selection of contemporary South African poets whose work is marked by the influence of oral forms, and reveals telling interplays between media. All these poets are preoccupied with the ways in which the sign might be disrupted. In my discussion of the work of the Language poets, I consider how examples of their print poetics present the reader with language fragments, arranged according to non-syntactic principles. Confronted by the lack of an individuated lyric subject around whom these fragments might cohere, the reader is obliged to make his/her own connections between words, sounds and phrases. Similarly, in the work of the performance poets, I identify several aspects in the poetry that trouble a transparent transmission of expression, and instead require the poetry to be read as an interrogation of the constitution of the subject. Here, the ―I‖ fleetingly occupies multiple, shifting subject positions, and the poetic interplay between media and language tends towards a continuous destabilising of the poetic self. Poets and performers are, to some extent, licensed to experiment with language in ways that render it opaque. Because the language activities of poets and performers are generally accommodated within the order of symbolic or metaphoric language, their experimentation with non-communicative excesses can be understood as part of their framework. However, in situations where ―communicative‖ language is expected, the order of literal or forensic language cannot accommodate seemingly non-communicative excesses that appear to render the text opaque. Ultimately, I am concerned with exploring the manner in which attention to the materiality of language might open up alternative understandings of language, subjectivity and representation in South African public discourse. My conclusion therefore considers the consequences when the issues opened up by the poetry – questions of self and subject, authority and representation – are translated into forensic frameworks and testimonial discourse.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: My proefskrif bied ‘n breedvoerige oorsig van ‘n reeks taal-aktiwiteite wat die materialiteit van taal sigbaar maak. Hierdie taal-aktiwiteite skep tekste wat die leser/kyker noop om as vervaardiger, eerder as verbruiker, van betekenis in ‘n aktiewe verhouding met die teks te tree. Die performatiewe funksie van beide gesproke sowel as gedrukte taal vorm dus die hooffokus van my argument. Ek stel veral belang in die effek wat onderbrekings en versteurings in taal op die subjek van taal uitoefen, en hoe hierdie prosesse die die dialogiese verhouding tussen lokale en globale subjek-posisies beïnvloed. Poëtiese taal-aktiwiteite word gekenmerk deur ‘n fokus op vorm en die verhouding tussen vorm en inhoud. Terwyl die meeste taalpraktyke taaldeursigtigheid vereis ter wille van direkte kommunikasie, het poëtiese taal tot ‘n mate die vryheid om die materaliteit van taal te gebruik en te ontgin. Om hierdie rede fokus ek selektief op die werk van ‘n groep Noord-Amerikaanse digters, die sogenaamde ―Language poets‖. Hierdie digters is hoofsaaklik met die performatiewe moontlikhede van gedrukte taal bemoeid. Voorts word hierdie taal-aktiwiteite met ‘n seleksie kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse digters se werk vergelyk, wat gekenmerk word deur die invloed van gesproke taalvorms wat met ‘n verskeidenhed media in wisselwerking gestel word. Al hierdie digters is geïnteresseerd in die maniere waarop die inherente onstabiliteit van linguistiese aanduiers ontgin kan word. In my bespreking van die werk van die Language poets ondersoek ek voorbeelde van hul gedrukte digkuns wat die leser voor taalfragmente te staan bring wat nie volgens die gewone reëls van sintaks georganiseer is nie. Die gebrek aan ‘n geïndividualiseerde liriese subjek, waarom hierdie fragmente ‘n samehangendheid sou kon kry, noop die leser om haar eie verbindings tussen woorde, klanke en frases te maak. Op ‘n soortgelyke wyse identifiseer ek verskeie aspekte wat die deursigtige versending van taaluitinge in die werk van sekere Suid-Afrikanse performance poets belemmer. Hierdie gedigte kan eerder gelees word as ‘n interrogasie van die proses waardeur die samestelling van die subjek in taal geskied. In hierdie gedigte bewoon die ―ek‖ vlietend ‘n verskeidenheid verskuiwende subjek-posisies. Die wisselwerking van verskillende media dra ook by tot die vermenigvuldiging van subjek-posisies, en loop uit op ‘n performatiewe uitbeelding van die destabilisering van die digterlike ―self.‖ Digters en performers is tot ‘n mate vry om met die vertroebelingsmoontlikhede van taal te eksperimenteer. Omdat die taal-aktiwiteite van digters en performers gewoonlik binne die orde van simboliese of metaforiese taal val, kan hul eksperimentering met die nie-kommunikatiewe oormaat van taal binne hierdie raamwerk verstaan word. Hierdie oormaat kan egter nie binne die orde van letterlike of forensiese taal geakkommodeer word nie. Ten slotte voer ek aan dat ‘n fokus op die materialiteit van taal alternatiewe verstaansraamwerke moontlik maak, waardeur ons begrip van die verhouding tussen taal, subjektiwiteit en representasie in die Suid-Afrikaanse publieke diskoers verbreed kan word. In my slothoofstuk oorweeg ek wat gebeur as die kwessies wat deur die bogenoemde performatiewe taal-aktiwiteite opgeroep word – vrae rondom die self en die subjek, outoriteit en representasie – binne ‘n forensiese raamwerk na die diskoers van getuienis oorgedra word

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the representation of personal narrative and nationhood within the genre of literary non-fiction written around the theme of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The texts to be examined are Antjie Krog‟s, Country of My Skull, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela‟s A Human Being Died That Night and Sindiwe Magona‟s Mother to Mother. The texts by Krog and Gobodo-Madikizela tell the story of apartheid‟s legacy from two different viewpoints. Their texts are filled with spatial patches of personal narrative which emphasize the impact apartheid had on two different South African cultures, thereby linking the personal to the national by exploring a subjective truth in their narratives. Both these authors were involved with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in a professional capacity and through their respective ideologies the psyche of the apartheid perpetrator is examined, interrogated and analysed. Within the genre of literary non-fiction these two writers grapple with capturing the real, the objective, but simultaneously insist on doing so from a subjective vantage point. Sindiwe Magona‟s, Mother to Mother also centres on the theme of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and on the psyche of the perpetrator. This time, however, the perpetrator‟s psyche is explored through the lens of a narrator-mother in an address to the victim‟s mother. The most significant difference between this text and the other two is that the Magona text provides a fictional account of the TRC case in question. The ethical implications of a literary text with documentary subject matter, of a text that explores the intersections between fiction and non-fiction, surfaces again, and to a larger extent than in the other two texts, thereby further unsettling the line between the reportorial and the imaginative.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die verteenwoordiging van persoonlike vertelling en nasieskap in die genre van die literêre nie-fiksie wat geskryf is om die tema van die Waarheids-en Versoeningskommissie (WVK). Die tekste wat ondersoek word is Antjie Krog se Country of My Skull, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela se A Human Being Died That Night en Sindiwe Magona se Mother to Mother. Die tekste van Krog en Gobodo-Madikizela vertel die storie van apartheid-nalatenskap uit twee verskillende standpunte. Hul tekste bestaan uit gereelde ruimtelike kolle van persoonlike verhaal wat die impak van apartheid op twee verskillende kulture van die land beklemtoon om sodoende die persoonlike aan die nasionale te koppel en „n subjektiewe waarheid van hul narratiewe na vore te bring. Albei hierdie skrywers was in 'n professionele hoedanigheid betrokke by die WVK en deur hulle onderskeie ideologieë word die psige van die apartheid oortreder ondersoek, ondervra en ontleed. Dit is binne literêre nie-fiksie waar hierdie twee skrywers swoeg om die werklike en objektiewe ten toon te stel terwyl hulle dit terseldertyd vanuit „n subjektiewe oogpunt wil benader. Sindiwe Magona se Mother to Mother draai ook om die tema van die Waarheids-en Versoeningskommissie en die psige van die oortreder. Hierdie keer, egter, is die oortreder-psige ondersoek deur die lens van 'n verteller-ma in 'n toespraak aan die slagoffer se ma. Die belangrikste verskil tussen hierdie teks en die ander twee is dat die Magona teks 'n fiktiewe vertelling bied van die WVK saak betrokke in hierdie geval. Die etiese implikasies van 'n literêre teks met 'n dokumentêre onderwerp kom weer na vore en tot 'n groter mate as die ander twee tekste, en daardeur word die fyn lyn van die literêre genres met 'n dokumentêre onderwerp omver gegooi.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Socially responsible writing has been a feature of South African literature for many years. Under apartheid, many novels dealt with apartheid, as it was one of the main features of our social landscape. The end of apartheid did not however bring about the end of a need for socially responsible writing. South Africa is still faced with many problems, one of which is reconciliation. This thesis investigates whether reconciliation may have become a new theme in South African novels, and whether these novels could playa role in assisting the process of reconciliation in the country. For this purpose, three South African works are analysed, namely Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog, Smell of Apples by Mark Behr and Disgrace by J .M. Coetzee. The introduction attempts to explain the psychological discourse surrounding reconciliation, especially Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and parallels that may exists. The main body presents detailed readings of the three works, with the focus being on the presentation of reconciliation in the works, and the role that the individual works could play in assisting the reader in coming to terms with his or her feelings of guilt.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Vir baie jare was apartheid die onderwerp van baie Suid Afrikaanse skrywers aangesien dit die mees problematiese element van Suid Afrikaanse samelewing was. Die einde van apartheid het egter nie die einde van alle probleme beteken nie. Een van die belangrike probleme is versoening. Hierdie tesis ondersoek die moontlikheid dat versoening die nuwe tema in Suid Afrikaanse letterkunde geword het en ofhierdie werke 'n bydrae kan lewer tot werklike versoening. Vir hierdie doel word drie werke behandel, naamlik Country of My Skull deur Antjie Krog, Smell of Apples deur Mark Behr en Disgrace deur J .M. Coetzee. Die inleiding poog om die sielkundige diskoers om versoening te verduidelik, veral rondom posttraumatiese stres, en die ooreenkomste wat mag voorkom. Die hoofdeel van die tesis bestaan uit 'n diepgaande bespreking van die drie werke, met die fokus op versoening in die werk, maar ook die rol wat die werke kan speel om die leser deur sy ofhaar skuld gevoelens te help.

Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As a society that is only in its adolescence as a democracy, South Africa faces massive inequalities, both politically and socially. Within this context, Fanie du Toit of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation urges us to remember that “nation-building in our young democracy requires opportunities for South African voices to be heard, particularly those from the margins of society, so often excluded, ignored or forgotten” (1). This thesis thus focuses on story-telling and representational acts of the marginalized in post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) texts. The term “post-TRC” is an indication of the framework I use to explore the poetics and politics of representation, as well as the past‟s impact on contemporary South Africa. In my overview of the TRC, I focus not on actual testimonies, but on the space provided for the marginalized to speak, as well as methodologies and techniques of representation that stem from the TRC process. Antjie Krog's Country of My Skull (1998), which mimics and expands on the TRC's work, sets the platform for my discussion as Krog incorporates many of the victims' testimonies into her narrative. In my second chapter, I explore the tension between advocacy and appropriation as various factors influence Krog's act of representation. In Chapters Three and Four, the complexities of representation are investigated in four post-TRC texts which feature a protagonist who is either represented as marginalized, or who engages with marginalized individuals. In Chapter 3, I turn to the homeless and the foreigner in Jonathan Morgan and the Great African Spider Writers' Finding Mr Madini (1999), and Phaswane Mpe's Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001). In Finding Mr Madini, Jonathan Morgan consciously employs a framework for interacting with the homeless that draws on processes of the TRC, and turns away from representing others towards providing a space for self-representation. Welcome to Our Hillbrow highlights the power of narrative in effecting marginalization or belonging, while demonstrating the fluidity of the identities of the self and the stranger. In Chapter Four, I look at novels featuring youth protagonists to investigate how genre and literary form shape representation. Using Patricia Schonstein Pinnock's Skyline (2000) and K. Sello Duiker's Thirteen Cents (2000), texts which evoke and deviate from the Bildungsroman form, I explore the ways in which these protagonists navigate their fragmented urban spaces. I also end with these novels to see what kind of future awaits these young people in which the marginalized have (not) been given a space to speak. All these protagonists grapple with the complexities of representation in various ways, as they create stories of self and others to restore a sense of home or belonging in contemporary South Africa. Furthermore, the past is shown to be implicated in the present as colonial and apartheid structures of domination and marginalization are shown to still play a significant role in shaping people's interaction with each other. At the same time, the collective indeterminacy of these texts' endings signals openness to the future, as well as the unfinished nature of the past.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: As demokrasie staan Suid-Afrika nog in sy kinderskoene. Die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing staar daarom omvangryke ongelykhede, beide polities en sosiaal, in die gesig. Met hierdie konteks in gedagte noop Fanie du Toit van die Instituut vir Justisie en Versoening ons om in ag te neem dat “nasie-bou in ons jong demokrasie geleenthede vir Suid-Afrikaanse stemme, veral dié wat deur die samelewing gemarginaliseer, en sodoende dikwels uitgesluit, geïgnoreer en vergeet is, vereis” (1). Hierdie verhandeling fokus dus op vertelling en die voorstellingshandelinge van die gemarginaliseerdes in post-Waarheid en Versoeningskommissie-tekste. Die term “post-WVK” vorm die basis vanwaar ek die poëtiese en politieke aspekte van voorstelling, maar terselfdertyd ook die verlede se impak op die hedendaagse Suid-Afrika, ondersoek. In my oorsig van die WVK fokus ek nie op getuienisse nie, maar eerder op die ruimte vir seggenskap wat vir die gemarginaliseerdes daargestel is. Ek neem ook metodieke en tegnieke van voorstelling wat vanuit die WVK-verwikkelinge spruit in oënskou. Antjie Krog's Country of My Skull (1998) wat die WVK se werk weergee en bepeins, maar ook daarop voortbou, verskaf die basis vir hierdie bespreking aangesien Krog menigte slagoffers se getuienisse in haar boek vervat. Ek ondersoek verder die spanning tussen voorspraak en toe-eiening aangesien verskeie faktore haar voorstellingshandeling beïnvloed. Die daaropvolgende twee hoofstukke ondersoek die ingewikkeldhede van voorstelling in vier post-WVK-tekste. Hierdie tekste word telkens gekenmerk deur 'n protagonis wat óf self gemarginaliseer is, óf met gemarginaliseerde individue omgaan. In Hoofstuk Drie ondersoek ek die daklose en die buitelander in Jonathan Morgan en The Great African Spider Writers se Finding Mr Madini (1999), en Phaswane Mpe's Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001). In Finding Mr Madini maak Jonathan Morgan doelbewus van 'n benadering, in pas met en beïnvloed deur WVK-werkinge, gebruik om met die daklose om te gaan. Hiermee beweeg hy dan weg van die voorstelling van ander na die skepping van 'n ruimte vir self-voorstelling. Welcome to Our Hillbrow plaas weer klem op die mag van vertelling om marginalisering, maar ook samehorigheid te bewerkstellig, terwyl dit ook die onstabiele aard van die identiteite van die self en die vreemdeling illustreer. In Hoofstuk Vier ondersoek ek romans met jong protagoniste om te toon hoe genre en literêre vorm voorstelling beïnvloed. Deur van Patricia Schonstein Pinnock's Skyline (2000) en K. Sello Duiker's Thirteen Cents (2000), tekste wat aan die Bildungsroman-genre herinner, maar ook daarvan afwyk, gebruik te maak, verken ek die maniere waarop hierdie protagoniste hul stedelike ruimtes reël en betree. Verder sluit ek met hierdie romans af ten einde te sien wat die toekoms, waarin die gemarginaliseerde seggenskap gegun is, al dan nie, vir hierdie jongmense inhou. Al hierdie protagoniste worstel op uiteenlopende maniere met die ingewikkeldhede van voorstelling. Dit is duidelik aangesien hulle stories van self en ander skep om 'n sin van tuiste en samehorigheid in hedendaagse Suid-Afrika te bewerkstellig. Die verlede blyk verder in die hede verwikkel te wees aangesien koloniale- en apartheidstrukture van onderdrukking en marginalisering steeds 'n betekenisvolle rol in die aard van mense se interaksie met mekaar speel. Terselfdertyd dui die kollektiewe onbepaaldheid van hierdie tekste se aflope op 'n oopheid vir die toekoms en die onafgehandelde aard van die verlede.

x, 208 p.
In this dissertation "literariness" is defined not merely as a quality of form by which texts are evaluated as literary, but as an immanent and critical sensibility by which reading, writing, speaking, learning, and teaching subjects within the literary humanities engage language in its immediate aesthetic (and thus also historical and ethical) aspect. This reorientation seeks to address the literary academy's overwhelming archival focus, which risks eliding literary endeavor as an embodied undertaking that inevitably reflects the historical contingency of its enactment. Literary endeavor in higher education is thus understood as a performance by which subjects enact not only the effect of literary texts upon themselves but also the contingencies of their socio-economic, national, cultural, and personal contexts. Subjects' responses to literature are seen as implicit identity claims that, inevitably constituted of biases, can be evaluated through the lens of post-positivist realism in terms of their ethical and pragmatic usefulness. Framing this reoriented literariness in terms of its enactment in higher education literature classrooms, this dissertation addresses its pedagogical, methodological, and personal implications. The events of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the literature arising from it serve as a pivotal case study. The TRC Hearings, publically broadcast and pervasive in the national discourse of the time, enacted a scenario in which South Africans confronted the implications for personal and national identities of apartheid's racial abuses. The dissertation demonstrates through close reading and anecdotal evidence how J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace and Antjie Krog's Country of My Skull formally reactivate this scenario in the subject in the event of reading, while surveys of critical responses to these texts show how readers often resisted the texts' destabilizing effects. A critical account of the process that resulted in Telling, Eugene - a stage production in which U.S. military veterans tell their stories to their civilian communities - analyzes the idea of literariness in the U.S. and assesses its potential for socially engaged literary praxis.
Committee in charge: Linda Kintz, Chairperson; Suzanne Clark, Member; Michael Hames-Garcia, Member; John Schmor, Outside Member

En studie som inriktar sig på de förändringar som sker med den antika grekiska krigsföringen mellan perserkrigen och de peloponnesiska krigen - med fokus på den grekiska hopliten och det grekiska kavalleriet.

M.A.
An overview of reviews on Antjie Krog’s ‘n Ander Tongval (2005), shows that critics find it difficult to classify the text and to determine the genre of the book. This study is intended to investigate the hybrid nature of ‘n Ander Tongval which is a mixture of poetry, essays, journalistic report, autobiography, academic research and personal anecdotes. This study is primarily an examination of a specific example of a text that can be considered “literary non-fiction” to contribute to the description of the nature of this particularly problematic genre, while at the same time contributing to the literary criticism of Krog’s “literary non-fiction”. Secondly ‘n Ander Tongval is examined to determine the specific demands that this kind of text makes of the reader. This examination of ‘n Ander Tongval contributes to the description and problematising of the term “literary non-fiction” and many other genres which can be associated with these kind of texts because of its hybrid nature. This is also linked to the current debate about the growing interest in what Leon de Kock (2010) describes as “Creative Non-fiction”. De Kock considers this kind of writing distinctive of South African literature. Eventually it becomes clear that ‘n Ander Tongval does not only advocate change (transformation), but makes a change possible by the choice of genre (literary nonfiction) which is itself a text that “changes” established genre conventions and thereby guides the reader to read differently and look at the text and the country in a different way.

Abstract In post-colonial, post-apartheid South Africa, the avowedly Africanist, nationalist government has taken seriously that as part of the functioning of democracy, this new nation needs a vibrant public space for the airing of ideas and the formation of public opinion. Thus, a crucial priority for the functioning of the public sphere is the widening of the public domain, beyond the participation of the bourgeoisie, to facilitate the inclusion of the voices of the black majority. But, an interesting – and volatile – dimension of the South African public sphere is the rhetoric about its parlous state, and a strong concern with who populates this public sphere and what ideas they put into public. A great many “calls” have been made for various types of intellectuals to take up public positions and contribute to the healthiness of public life. Coupled with these calls are statements invoking Edward Said’s style and ideas about public intellectual representation, and the phrase “speaking truth to power” (with a multiple interpretations) has become a familiar one in these debates in South Africa. There are furious discussions about styles of engagement, suitable subject matter, sources of authority, vested interests and arguments about degrees of independence. A notable feature of these debates is that they are often couched in the language of “crisis” which, I argue, points not to the overt dangers being espoused, but another one entirely – a crisis about what constitutes authority to speak in public and to be a proxy for those who cannot or do not speak. This sense of “crisis” in the South African public sphere has echoes all over the world where similar debates about the public domain and public intellectuals are also taking place. Asserting that these debates are evidence of a deep anxiety about authority and legitimacy, I have chosen to focus on one particular public figure in South Africa, Antjie Krog, the poet, journalist and book author, who for four decades has found a public and a hearing for her ideas. In a time when white Afrikaners have been dispossessed of social and political power, it is remarkable that Krog has both platform and voice, when who speaks for whom and on what issues in the South African public space is so fraught. I argue that the study of Krog shows that the ability to speak in public is more than simply a matter of agency and the acquisition of skilled speech and the facility of representation (as in Said’s formulation of what makes a public intellectual). This thesis asserts that the agency to speak is powerfully connected to accumulated authority and that an investigation of the makers and markers of authority enables an understanding of how a particular person comes to have a platform in public, despite dramatically shifting social and political circumstances. The case study of Krog shows that the literary aesthetic, and an adaptive subjectivity responsive to the ethical, combined with accumulated authority acquired across fields and married to the power of media attention, is what gives this white, Afrikaans-speaking woman poet her voice and hearing in South Africa today.

In this study an attempt has been made to put forward within the framework of literary theory the concept of ‘composition’’ as an integral manifestation of a literary work. An eclectic investigation of the text was the method followed. It became obvious that a thorough look at composition and unity of structure needed to be placed in a wider context, namely in an interlocutory framework of communication in which the author, text and reader each contributes in generating the resultant interaction. Each component is therefore a specific part of the total communicating act, and each on its part is based on some or other literary movement or train of thought. The variety of perspectives naturally shows up many facets of the concept of composition. In this study composition in Antjie Krog’s OTTERS IN BRONSLAAI is investigated. In the course of the discussion a variety of motifs, themes and symbols is at all times pointed out in the closely interwoven network which comprises the anthology. These structural principles within the text are mainly generated from the title of the book. The arrangement of the sections, made possible by presenting the anthology in separate rubrics, has given an external structuring to the over-all text. This was thoroughly investigated from the compositional aspect. The compositional juxtaposition of the two main streams of thought in the collection of poems - eroticism and religion comprises the basic tension of the poetical discourse. In con= junction with this, the special combinatory nature of the compositional technique of complement_ forms the basis of the exceptionally closely-knit composition of the whole collection. The conclusion is reached that, as a coherent system, a good literary text also communicates by way of its compositional structure.
Thesis (MA)--PU vir CHO, 1986

Text in English with abstracts in English, Afrikaans and isiZulu
There has been considerable debate amongst feminist scholars as to whether the normalization of cosmetic surgery positively impacts women, empowers women by promoting agency and choice (Gimlin 2002, Kuczynski 2006), or oppresses women by propagating patriarchal ideologies that confine women’s bodies and consequently inhibit their voice (Blum 2003, Blood 2005, Heinricy 2006, Clarke and Griffin 2007, Tait, 2007). Rather than entering this debate my argument proceeds from a premise that the normalization of cosmetic surgery is a form of implicit and exclusive violence. Using a selection of post‐structuralist, feminist, and psychoanalytic theories, I analyze the manner in which this form of violence confines women’s bodies and structures the psyche. Using Jacques Lacan, Judith Butler, and Michel Foucault’s argument on pastoral power, I deconstruct the formation of the normalized self, the conscience, and the act of confession as it translates in the context of the cosmetic surgical body itself. Furthermore, I highlight liberal feminism’s role in this form of oppression. In so doing, I theoretically show the continual and effective functioning of pastoral power in the context of an individualization technique that oppresses women in the second decade of the twenty‐first century. I argue that the normalization of cosmetic surgery provokes a silencing of woman’s voices, an exploitation and oppression of the individual’s psyche, and an invalidation of the living body by a less visible, less explicit, mode of incarceration that is concealed by an aesthetic and moral veil. It is in this context that I present a counter discourse to the oppression that underlies the normalizing discourses promoted by the cosmetic surgical industry, a destabilization of patriarchal norms embedded within cosmetic surgical discourses, and a theoretical reconstruction that involves an inscription of what I refer to as an authentic feminist voice in contemporary consumer culture – a mode of intimate unconscious insurgence. I advocate a return to Julia Kristeva’s theory and the intimate revolt promoted by her ethical approach. Furthermore, I present a voice that demonstrates an intimate revolt – a voice that challenges patriarchal norms and is not exclusively confined by the mechanisms of normalization that shape the twenty‐first century woman with emphasis on the cosmetic surgical industry and its superincumbent discourses – the South African poet Antjie Krog. It is Krog’s skillfully structured poetic texts that facilitate my theoretical reconstruction. Applying Kristeva’s theory on semanalysis, I theoretically show that Krog’s work fabricates an excess to the confines of the law of the Father and the mechanisms of normalization itself. In addition, I present an “originary attachment” as an adaption of Kristeva’s argument on the chora and my proposal of an “originary ideal” challenges Kristeva’s emphasis on phonetic grams in the context of that which underlies the realm of the paternal metaphor. Using Louise Viljoen’s analysis of Krog’s work and Bridget Garnham’s research on emerging designer cosmetic surgical discourses as support, I then present Krog’s poetic texts as a counter discourse to the “moral” cosmetic surgical discourses that exploit the ageing individual in the second decade of the twenty‐first century. In addition, applying Kristeva’s theory on paragrams to Krog’s poetic text(s), I present a destabilization of the patriarchal norms implicit within cosmetic surgical discourses. Furthermore, I extend Kristeva’s theory on the principle of negativity to present a re‐translation of the act‐of‐confession in Krog’s poetic text(s), an extension of Foucault’s pastoral power and Butler’s argument on the exclusivity of normalization, and a reclamation of her ageing body in Verweersrkrif/Body Bereft (Krog 2006).
Feministiese geleerdes voer al geruime tyd 'n warm debat oor die kwessie of die normalisering van kosmetiese chirurgie vroue positief beïnvloed, vroue bemagtig deurdat dit volmag en keuse vir hulle in die hand werk (Gimlin 2002; Kuczynski 2006), of vroue onderdruk deurdat dit patriargale ideologieë voorstaan wat die vroueliggaam inperk en gevolglik die vrou inhibeer om haar stem te laat hoor (Blood 2005; Blum 2005; Clarke en Griffin 2007; Heinricy 2006; Tait 2007). In plaas daarvan om by hierdie debat betrokke te raak, gaan ek van die veronderstelling uit dat die normalisering van kosmetiese chirurgie 'n vorm van implisiete en eksklusiewe geweld is. Aan die hand van post-strukturalistiese, feministiese en psigoanalitiese teorieë ontleed ek die manier waarop hierdie vorm van geweld vroue se liggaam onderwerp en hul psige vorm. Ek dekonstrueer die vorming van die genormaliseerde self, die bewussyn en die daad van belydenis, soos dit in die konteks oorgebring word, aan die hand van Jacques Lacan, Judith Butler en Michel Foucault se beskouings van herderlike oftewel pastorale mag. Hierbenewens onderstreep ek die rol wat liberale feminisme in hierdie vorm van onderwerping speel. Sodoende demonstreer ek teoreties hoe die voortdurende en effektiewe funksionering van pastorale mag in die konteks van ’n individualiseringstegniek vroue in die tweede dekade van die een-en-twintigste eeu onderdruk. Ek maak die aanname dat die normalisering van kosmetiese chirurgie daartoe bydra dat vroue die swye opgelê word, die individu se psige uitgebuit en onderdruk word en die lewende liggaam ontkragtig word deur middel van ’n inkerkering wat minder sigbaar en minder eksplisiet is en agter ’n estetiese en morele sluier verdoesel word. In hierdie konteks bied ek ’n teendiskoers aan vir die onderwerping wat onderliggend is aan die normaliseringsdiskoerse wat die kosmetiesechirurgiebedryf ondersteun, en ek bepleit dat die patriargale norme wat in diskoerse oor kosmetiese chirurgie vassit, gedestabiliseer word. Ek demonstreer verder ’n teoretiese rekonstruksie wat ’n inskripsie insluit van wat ek ’n geloofwaardige feministiese stem in die eietydse verbruikerskultuur noem – ’n modus van intieme, onbewuste opstandigheid. Ek bepleit 'n terugkeer na Julia Kristeva se teorie en die intieme oproer wat deur haar etiese benadering voorgestaan word. Afgesien hiervan stel ek ’n stem voor wat ’n intieme opstand demonstreer – ’n stem wat patriargale norme uitdaag en nie uitsluitlik onderdruk word deur die normaliseringsmeganismes wat vorm gee aan die vrou van die een-entwintigste eeu nie, waar die klem op die kosmetiesechirurgiebedryf en die boliggende diskoerse daarvan val – Antjie Krog, Suid-Afrikaanse digter. Dit is juis Krog se kunstig gestruktureerde digterlike tekste wat my teoretiese rekonstruksie fasiliteer. Aan die hand van Kristeva se teorie oor semanalise toon ek teoreties dat Krog se werk ’n ruimte daarstel wat "uitstyg" bo die grense wat die wet van die Vader en die normaliseringsmeganismes stel. Hierbenewens stel ek ’n "originêre gehegtheid" as aanpassing van Kristeva se beskouing van die chora voor, en my voorstel van ’n "originêre ideaal" daag Kristeva se opvating oor paragramme uit in die konteks van dit wat ten grondslag lê aan die gebied van die paternalistiese metafoor. Op grond van Louise Viljoen se ontleding van Krog se werk en Bridget Garnham se navorsing oor opkomende diskoerse oor ontwerpers- kosmetiese chirurgie bied ek Krog se digterlike tekste aan as ’n teendiskoers vir die "morele" diskoerse oor kosmetiese chirurgie wat die verouderende individu in die tweede dekade van die een-en-twintigste eeu uitbuit. Daarby, deur Kristeva se teorie oor paragramme op Krog se digterlike teks(te) toe te pas, demonstreer ek 'n destabilisering van die patriargale norme wat implisiet in diskoerse oor kosmetiese chirurgie teenwoordig is. Hierbenewens brei ek Kristeva se teorie oor die negatiwiteitsbeginsel uit deur middel van ’n heroorsetting van die belydenisdaad in Krog se digwerk(e), ’n uitbreiding van Foucault se pastorale mag en Butler se opvatting oor die eksklusiwiteit van normalisering, en ’n opeising van Krog se verouderende liggaam in Verweerskrif/Body Bereft (Krog 2006).
Sekubekhona izingxoxo-mpikiswano eziningi kwizifundiswa zama-feminist ukuthi ngabe ukwenza isurgery yohlinzo olungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka ngokwemvelo (cosmetic plastic surgery) kunomphumela omuhle yini kwabesimame, ngabe kuhlinzeka ngamandla kwabesimame ngokuphakamisela phezulu ukuthi umuntu azenzele akufunayo kanye nokuzikhethela (Grimlin 2002, Kuczynski 2006) noma kuyinto ecindezela abesimame ngokuqhubela phambili indlela nama-idiyoloji abekwa ngabesilisa ukuthi imizimba yabesimame kumele ibukeke kanjani, kanti lokhu kucindezela izwi labesimame (Blum 2003, Blood 2005, Heinricy 2006, Clarke and Griffin 2007, Tait, 2007). Kunokuthi iphuzu nami ngingenele kule ngxoxo-mpikiswano, elami iphuzu lona liqhubeka ukusukela kwisimo sokuthi ukwamukela uhlujzo olungajulile lokuzitshintsha ukubukeka kwabesimame (cosmetic surgery) kuyindlela yodlame olungaqondile ngqo kanye nolukhipha inyumbazane abesimame. Ngokusebenzisa amathiyori epost-structuralist, awe-feminist kanye nawepsychoanalytical, ngihlaziya indlela le nhlobo yalolu dlame ecindezela ngayo imizimba yabesimame kanye nokuhlela indlela okumele bacabange nokuzibona ngayo. Ngokusebenzisa iphuzu likaJacques Lacan, Judith Buttle kanye noMichel Foucault lamandla okukhokhela ngokomoya, ngiqhaqha indlela okubumbeka ngayo isithombe sokuzibona, unembeza kanye nomoya wokuhlambulula ngokuzidalula (confession) lapho kubhekwa izinto ngaphansi kwesimo somzimba wokuhlinzwa okungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka ngokwakho. Nangaphezu kwalokho, ngigqamisa indima ye-liberal feminism ngokwayo kule nhlobo yencindezelo. Ngokwenza lokho, ngikhombisa ngokwethiyori ukuqhubeka nokusebenza kwamandla esikhokhelo ngokomoya ngaphansi kwethekniki yokuzazi komuntu eyedwa okucindezela abesimame kwiminyaka elishumi yesibili, yesenshuri yamashumi amabili nanye . Ngiqhubela phambili iphuzu lokuthi ukwenziwa kohlinzo olungajulile lokuzishintsha ukubukeka kuqala umoya wokucindezela izwi labesimame, ukuxhashazwa kwabo, kanye nendlela umuntu azibona ngayo ngokwengqondo, kanye nokucindezela umzimba ophilayo ngezindlela ezingazibonakalisi obala, ezifihlekile, indlela yokubopha efihlwa yindlela yokubukeka kanye nokwembozwa umoya. Kungaphansi kwalesi simo lapho ngethula khona i-discourse yencindezelo eyenza ukuthi imboni yohlinzo olungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka kwabesimame kube yinto ephakanyiswayo nokubonwa iyinhle, ukuphazamiseka kwama-norm endlela yengcindezi yabesilisa, ngaphansi kwama-discourse okuhlinzwa okungajulile ukushintsha ukubukeka, kanye nokwakha ithiyori ebandakanya ukubona izinto ngendlela ethize, engikuchaza njengezwi okuyilo elifanele le-feminism, kwisimo sosiko esiphila ngaphansi kwaso samanje - okuyindlela abantu abazibuka ngayo ezingqondweni ngendlela engekho obala. Ngigcizelela ukubuyela kwithiyori kaKristeva, kanye nokuthi abantu babhoke indlobana ngezindlela eziphansi, okuyinto ayiphakamisayo yenkambiso yokwazi okulungile nokungalunganga (ethical approach). Naphezu kwalokho, ngiveza izwi elibonisa ukubhoka indlobana kwabesimame ngendlela engekho sobala - izwi elifaka inselele kuma-norm okubhozomelwa ngumqondo wokulawula kwabesilisa, kanti futhi leli zwi aligcinanga nje kuphela umumo wabesimame ngendlela ejwayelekile njengowesimame wesenshuri yamashumi amabili-nanye ngokugcizelela kwimboni yohlinzo olungajulile lokuzishintsha ukubukeka, kanye nendlela lokhu okuyisihibe ngayo – ngokusho kukasonkondlo waseNingizimu Afrika, u-Antjie Krog. Imibhalo yezinkondlo zikaKrog ezinobungcweti yiyo eyenze ukwakha kwami kabusha ithiyori. Ngokusebenzisa ithiyori kaKristeva ye-semanalysis, ngibonisa ngokwethiyori ukuthi umsebenzi kaKrog uqambe okweqele ngaleya kwizihibe zomthetho kubaba kanye nezindlela zokwenza izinto zibukeke ngendlela evamile noma zingavamile. Nangaphezu kwalokho, ngifakela i-"originary attachment" njengokwenza ukuthi kube kwesinye isimo, iphuzu likaKristeva ku-chora kanti isiphakamiso sami se-"originary ideal" sifaka inselele kusigcizelelo sikaKristeva ngamagremu efonethiki ngaphansi kwesimo esigcizelela umfanekiso ngasohlangothini lobaba. Ngokusebenzisa ukuhlaziya kukaLouise Viljoen kumsebenzi kaKrog kanye nocwaningo lukaBridget Garnham ngokuvela kwama-discourse ohlinzo olungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka njengesisekelo, ngase ngethula imibhalo yezinkondlo zikaKrog njenge-discourse yokuphikisa ama-discourse e-"moral" yama-discourse ohlinzo olungajulile lokuzishintsha ukubukeka, elixhaphaza abantu abagugayo ngeminyaka eyishumi yesibili kwisenshuri yamashumi amabili-nanye. Naphezu kwalokho, ngisebenzise ithiyori kaKristeva kumapharagramu kwimibhalo yezinkondlo zikaKrog, ngaphazamisa imibono yokuphatha kwabesilisa equkethwe kuma-discourse ohlinzo ulungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka. Ukuqhubekela phambili, nginwebe ithiyori kaKristeva ngesimiso se-negativity ukwethula ukuhumusha kabusha umoya wokuzihlambulula ngokuzidalula otholakala kwizinkondlozikaKrog, ukuwukunweba amandla umbono kaFaucault wamandla okuthi abantu bazibone ngenye indlela kanye nephuzu likaButler wlkuthi into engavamile engaphandle ibonwe njengento efanele, kanye nokwamukela umzimba ogugayo kwinkondlo ye- Verweerskrif/Body Bereft (Krog 2006).
English Studies
D. Litt. et Phil.(Theory of Literature)