The functions of narrative : a study of recent novelistic nonfiction
- Authors: Carlean, Kevin John
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Reportage literature -- History and criticism , Nonfiction novel
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2176 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001827
- Description: Since Truman Capote's In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences was published in 1965, there have been many attempts to define and explain the phenomenon of the "non-fiction novel" as a unified narrative genre. Some of these attempts have been highly theoretical and scholarly, but most have been rather loose definitions referring to an extremely wide range of diverse factual narratives. Over the years, so many different works have been called "non-fiction novels" that it now seems as if the notion of such a unified genre is questionable. Surely it is not generically useful to say that such functionally distinct works as Oscar Lewis's La Vida: A Puerto Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty (1967) and Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart ot the American Dream (1971) belong in the same narrative category. The purpose of this study is to show that many of the works routinely referred to as "non-fiction novels" perform fundamentally different narrative functions and do not belong together in a unified genre. Roman Jakobson's model of communication and his notion of the "dominant function" are used to identify three functional categories into which the narratives discussed in the study logically fall: first, there are predominantly sociological works in which the referential function is the most important element of the communication; second, there are predominantly journalistic works in which the opinions of the writer or emotive function constitute the central narrative concern; and thirdly, we have works performing a dominant novelistic or aesthetic function in the sense that the secondary meanings and themes implied are the most important elements communicated. The thesis follows the following structure. In the introductory chapter, a critique of some of the major generic theories of the "non-fiction novel" as unified genre is offered. The purpose here is not to caricature what are sometimes extremely sophisticated studies. (Indeed, in my own analysis of texts, I am often indebted to the critical insights of the scholars whose theories I question in the introduction.) My purpose is merely to show that the corpus of works each writer refers to can be divided more logically between different dominant narrative functions. The introduction ends with a more detailed explanation of the adaptation of Jakobson's notion of "the dominant" and how it relates to the functional categories identified. Chapter 2 offers analyses of a group of documentary narratives that perform a dominant sociological function but have often been referred to as "non-fiction novels." The chapter starts with an analysis of James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941), a text widely regarded as the first real American example of the "genre." This is followed by an examination of the anthropological works of Oscar Lewis: Five Families: Mexican Case Studles in the Culture of Poverty (1959), The Children of Sanchez: Autobiography of a Mexican Family (1964), Pedro Martinez: A Mexican Peasant and his Family (1964) and La Vida: A Puerto Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty. I conclude the chapter with an analysis of the recent sociological works of Studs Terkel: Division Street: America (1968), Hard Times: An oral History of the Great Depression (1970) and Working: People talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do (1974). In Chapter 3, the notion of subjective participation journalism is explained. This is followed by an analysis of three of the most famous and creative of the works that fall into this functional category: Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (1966), Michael Herr's Vietnam classic, Dispatches (1977), and Norman Mailer's account of a famous protest march, The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, The Novel as History (1968). Chapter 4 offers a discussion of three works that perform a dominant novelistic function in the realistic tradition of Dostoevski's Crime and Punishment. All three are based on actual murder cases, but the facts of the stories are subordinated to the novelistic themes the author wishes to abstract. They are: Meyer Levin's Compulsion (1957), Mailer's The Executioner's Song (1979) and Capote's In Cold Blood. From this outline, it may appear as if the study is loaded in favour of the sociological works discussed in Chapter 2. This is intentional because, although many critics have referred to them as "non-fiction novels", very little systematic and detailed analysis of these works as a corpus has been forthcoming. This long chapter is an attempt to redress the balance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Carlean, Kevin John
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Reportage literature -- History and criticism , Nonfiction novel
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2176 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001827
- Description: Since Truman Capote's In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences was published in 1965, there have been many attempts to define and explain the phenomenon of the "non-fiction novel" as a unified narrative genre. Some of these attempts have been highly theoretical and scholarly, but most have been rather loose definitions referring to an extremely wide range of diverse factual narratives. Over the years, so many different works have been called "non-fiction novels" that it now seems as if the notion of such a unified genre is questionable. Surely it is not generically useful to say that such functionally distinct works as Oscar Lewis's La Vida: A Puerto Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty (1967) and Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart ot the American Dream (1971) belong in the same narrative category. The purpose of this study is to show that many of the works routinely referred to as "non-fiction novels" perform fundamentally different narrative functions and do not belong together in a unified genre. Roman Jakobson's model of communication and his notion of the "dominant function" are used to identify three functional categories into which the narratives discussed in the study logically fall: first, there are predominantly sociological works in which the referential function is the most important element of the communication; second, there are predominantly journalistic works in which the opinions of the writer or emotive function constitute the central narrative concern; and thirdly, we have works performing a dominant novelistic or aesthetic function in the sense that the secondary meanings and themes implied are the most important elements communicated. The thesis follows the following structure. In the introductory chapter, a critique of some of the major generic theories of the "non-fiction novel" as unified genre is offered. The purpose here is not to caricature what are sometimes extremely sophisticated studies. (Indeed, in my own analysis of texts, I am often indebted to the critical insights of the scholars whose theories I question in the introduction.) My purpose is merely to show that the corpus of works each writer refers to can be divided more logically between different dominant narrative functions. The introduction ends with a more detailed explanation of the adaptation of Jakobson's notion of "the dominant" and how it relates to the functional categories identified. Chapter 2 offers analyses of a group of documentary narratives that perform a dominant sociological function but have often been referred to as "non-fiction novels." The chapter starts with an analysis of James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941), a text widely regarded as the first real American example of the "genre." This is followed by an examination of the anthropological works of Oscar Lewis: Five Families: Mexican Case Studles in the Culture of Poverty (1959), The Children of Sanchez: Autobiography of a Mexican Family (1964), Pedro Martinez: A Mexican Peasant and his Family (1964) and La Vida: A Puerto Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty. I conclude the chapter with an analysis of the recent sociological works of Studs Terkel: Division Street: America (1968), Hard Times: An oral History of the Great Depression (1970) and Working: People talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do (1974). In Chapter 3, the notion of subjective participation journalism is explained. This is followed by an analysis of three of the most famous and creative of the works that fall into this functional category: Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (1966), Michael Herr's Vietnam classic, Dispatches (1977), and Norman Mailer's account of a famous protest march, The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, The Novel as History (1968). Chapter 4 offers a discussion of three works that perform a dominant novelistic function in the realistic tradition of Dostoevski's Crime and Punishment. All three are based on actual murder cases, but the facts of the stories are subordinated to the novelistic themes the author wishes to abstract. They are: Meyer Levin's Compulsion (1957), Mailer's The Executioner's Song (1979) and Capote's In Cold Blood. From this outline, it may appear as if the study is loaded in favour of the sociological works discussed in Chapter 2. This is intentional because, although many critics have referred to them as "non-fiction novels", very little systematic and detailed analysis of these works as a corpus has been forthcoming. This long chapter is an attempt to redress the balance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The political department and the retraction of paramountcy in India 1935-1947
- Authors: Moëd, Madeleine
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: India , India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001855
- Description: The Political Department and the Indian Political Service stand accused of sins of omission and commission. The evidence suggests that they were badly hampered by ill-conceived training prodecures, a lack of manpower and above all the incoherent policy of the British government towards the Indian states. The failure of the 1935 Federation Act which formally established the Political Department was not due to princely intransigence inspired by political officers. Between 1935 and 1947 the Political Department embarked on a vigorous programme of combining the resources of the smaller states to strengthen them as viable partners in a new India. Their lack of success in effecting the federation of the states with India in 1947 was not a result of the disinclination of political officers to implement reform as much as their inability to do so. Many princes were also unwilling to sacrifice a measure of sovereignty for efficient government and paramountcy precluded forcing internal reform on the princes. Paramountcy was never clearly defined and thus its retraction in 1947 took place amidst confusion and misunderstanding on all sides. The Indian Political Service was always treated as secondary to the Indian Civil Service and the states to British India. Britain's emphasis on constitutional change in British India, reflected in the Cripps Mission of 1942, the Cabinet Mission of 1946 and the rush towards independence in 1947 resulted in her inattention to the Political Department and the princes which culminated in the abandonment of both in 1947.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Moëd, Madeleine
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: India , India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001855
- Description: The Political Department and the Indian Political Service stand accused of sins of omission and commission. The evidence suggests that they were badly hampered by ill-conceived training prodecures, a lack of manpower and above all the incoherent policy of the British government towards the Indian states. The failure of the 1935 Federation Act which formally established the Political Department was not due to princely intransigence inspired by political officers. Between 1935 and 1947 the Political Department embarked on a vigorous programme of combining the resources of the smaller states to strengthen them as viable partners in a new India. Their lack of success in effecting the federation of the states with India in 1947 was not a result of the disinclination of political officers to implement reform as much as their inability to do so. Many princes were also unwilling to sacrifice a measure of sovereignty for efficient government and paramountcy precluded forcing internal reform on the princes. Paramountcy was never clearly defined and thus its retraction in 1947 took place amidst confusion and misunderstanding on all sides. The Indian Political Service was always treated as secondary to the Indian Civil Service and the states to British India. Britain's emphasis on constitutional change in British India, reflected in the Cripps Mission of 1942, the Cabinet Mission of 1946 and the rush towards independence in 1947 resulted in her inattention to the Political Department and the princes which culminated in the abandonment of both in 1947.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The Port Elizabeth disturbances of October, 1920
- Authors: Baines, Gary F, 1955-
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Black people -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Social conditions , Police shootings -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Labor movement -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001858
- Description: Chapter one suggests thet trade and merchant capital, which were crucial to Port Elizabeth's economic development during the nineteenth century, was subsumed by the rise of manufactures and industrial capital after the First World War. Industrial expansion was cut short by the post-war recession, which caused un- and underemployment. The black worker, who experienced a severe loss in real earnings on account of the increased cost of living, became involved in a struggle with employers for wage increases. Chapter two shows how the policy of segregation was applied in Port Elizabeth, which meant that the workers were subjected to an increasing degree of control and regulation of their daily lives. The conditions of reproduction in the black townships fostered inter-racial and cross-class mobilisation which culminated in the formation of a general labour union, the Port Elizabeth Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (PEICWU). Chapter three will suggest links between the tradition in Port Elizabeth of worker resistance and the unionisation of black workers in the post-war period. Thus, the first three chapters attempt to provide a historical perspective for analysing the underlying causes of the 1920 Port Elizabeth disturbances. The immediate cause of the disturbances was the arrest of the Union leader, Masabalala, after he called for a general strike. Chapter four will show how the intervention of the local authorities provoked a spontaneous act of defiance on the part of Union members. A demonstration outside the Baakens Street Police Station to demand the release of Masabalala, precipitated the tragic shootings of 23 October 1920. The repressive violence which left 22 dead (with two further deaths resulting indirectly from the incident) was unprecedented in South African history. The resolution of the crisis brought the workers no nearer to obtaining a reasonable settlement of the wage issue. If anything, the resolve of employers to deny wage demands was hardened by the actions of the local authorities, who attributed the disturbances to ' agitation '. Such thinly-disguised justifications of the shootings by the dominant classes, however, provoked recriminations from other quarters. Chapter five examines the legal and political ramifications of the Port Elizabeth shootings. The circumstances of the shootings prompted the Smuts Government to appoint a Commission of Enquiry in the face of public pressure. The Commission found that the Police and vigilantes were largely to blame for the high death toll. But the Government's 'whitewash' of the findings could not absolve the Police from culpability entirely, nor could it sidestep its own responsibility and liability to victims of the shootings. Finally, in Chapter six, an attempt will be made to assess the long term impact of the shootings on the PElCU and the black labour movement in Port Elizabeth generally. The outcome of the episode was a victory for employers, which dealt a body blow to worker organisation which only became resurgent in the 1950s.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Baines, Gary F, 1955-
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Black people -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Social conditions , Police shootings -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Labor movement -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001858
- Description: Chapter one suggests thet trade and merchant capital, which were crucial to Port Elizabeth's economic development during the nineteenth century, was subsumed by the rise of manufactures and industrial capital after the First World War. Industrial expansion was cut short by the post-war recession, which caused un- and underemployment. The black worker, who experienced a severe loss in real earnings on account of the increased cost of living, became involved in a struggle with employers for wage increases. Chapter two shows how the policy of segregation was applied in Port Elizabeth, which meant that the workers were subjected to an increasing degree of control and regulation of their daily lives. The conditions of reproduction in the black townships fostered inter-racial and cross-class mobilisation which culminated in the formation of a general labour union, the Port Elizabeth Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (PEICWU). Chapter three will suggest links between the tradition in Port Elizabeth of worker resistance and the unionisation of black workers in the post-war period. Thus, the first three chapters attempt to provide a historical perspective for analysing the underlying causes of the 1920 Port Elizabeth disturbances. The immediate cause of the disturbances was the arrest of the Union leader, Masabalala, after he called for a general strike. Chapter four will show how the intervention of the local authorities provoked a spontaneous act of defiance on the part of Union members. A demonstration outside the Baakens Street Police Station to demand the release of Masabalala, precipitated the tragic shootings of 23 October 1920. The repressive violence which left 22 dead (with two further deaths resulting indirectly from the incident) was unprecedented in South African history. The resolution of the crisis brought the workers no nearer to obtaining a reasonable settlement of the wage issue. If anything, the resolve of employers to deny wage demands was hardened by the actions of the local authorities, who attributed the disturbances to ' agitation '. Such thinly-disguised justifications of the shootings by the dominant classes, however, provoked recriminations from other quarters. Chapter five examines the legal and political ramifications of the Port Elizabeth shootings. The circumstances of the shootings prompted the Smuts Government to appoint a Commission of Enquiry in the face of public pressure. The Commission found that the Police and vigilantes were largely to blame for the high death toll. But the Government's 'whitewash' of the findings could not absolve the Police from culpability entirely, nor could it sidestep its own responsibility and liability to victims of the shootings. Finally, in Chapter six, an attempt will be made to assess the long term impact of the shootings on the PElCU and the black labour movement in Port Elizabeth generally. The outcome of the episode was a victory for employers, which dealt a body blow to worker organisation which only became resurgent in the 1950s.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The promotion of a racially integrated Catholic community at King William's Town : challenges and opportunities
- Authors: Fahy, Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1218 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001548
- Description: Taking as its point of departure the model of the Church as a sacrament of unity, this study explores its implications for the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community within an apartheid society. The particular context within which the investigation is conducted is the Sacred Heart Church, King William's Town, where the writer is pastor to a multiracial congregation. A dialogical approach is adopted between theology and praxis, in terms of which the data from a social analysis of the community are brought into a creative dialogue with the Vatican II vision of the Church. Findings from the analysis show that the attitudes of congregants to a racially integrated community are generally ambivalent. Historical, theological, psychosocial and political factors are seen to play an important role in shaping these attitudes. Arising from the dialogue between theology and praxis, the model of a pilgrim Church suggests itself as more relevant and realistic. This model constitutes a proximate goal. The sacrament model of the Church provides direction and focus for the pilgrim Church and is viewed as the ultimate goal. These models must be seen as complementary. The study concludes with a pastoral plan aimed at attaining the goals described. The main thrust of this plan is directed at changing congregants' attitudes to a racially integrated community. The strategies suggested involve the motivation of congregants to become actively involved, the transformation of congregants' attitudes, the promotion of a positive attitude to conflict and the challenging of apartheid structures. A differential approach is suggested in the pursuit of these objectives. A final conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the search for community is never-ending and that the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community is a slow and painful process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Fahy, Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1218 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001548
- Description: Taking as its point of departure the model of the Church as a sacrament of unity, this study explores its implications for the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community within an apartheid society. The particular context within which the investigation is conducted is the Sacred Heart Church, King William's Town, where the writer is pastor to a multiracial congregation. A dialogical approach is adopted between theology and praxis, in terms of which the data from a social analysis of the community are brought into a creative dialogue with the Vatican II vision of the Church. Findings from the analysis show that the attitudes of congregants to a racially integrated community are generally ambivalent. Historical, theological, psychosocial and political factors are seen to play an important role in shaping these attitudes. Arising from the dialogue between theology and praxis, the model of a pilgrim Church suggests itself as more relevant and realistic. This model constitutes a proximate goal. The sacrament model of the Church provides direction and focus for the pilgrim Church and is viewed as the ultimate goal. These models must be seen as complementary. The study concludes with a pastoral plan aimed at attaining the goals described. The main thrust of this plan is directed at changing congregants' attitudes to a racially integrated community. The strategies suggested involve the motivation of congregants to become actively involved, the transformation of congregants' attitudes, the promotion of a positive attitude to conflict and the challenging of apartheid structures. A differential approach is suggested in the pursuit of these objectives. A final conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the search for community is never-ending and that the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community is a slow and painful process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
Theory in interpretive psychology - with special reference to Paul Ricoeur's interpretation of Freud
- Authors: Du Toit, Barry
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939 , Ricœur, Paul , Psychoanalysis
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2906 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002071
- Description: The thesis aims to show that, while an interpretive psychology is not compatible with theory as it occurs in the predictive- causal explanation of the natural sciences, it is both possible and necessary to develop a concept of theory valid within an interpretive methodology. These claims are advanced in the course of an examination of Ricoeur 's interpretation of Freudian psychoanalysis. After examining some traditional ways in which phenomenological psychology has responded to the psychoanalytic challenge, the thesis presents an interpretation of Freudian psychoanalysis as a hermeneutic approach which utilized theoretical constructions in a productive way, although distorted by Freud's natural-scientific self- understanding. Freud's causal-explanatory language and natural- scientific meta theory are shown to be significant inasmuch as they provide a vehicle for theory construction in psychoanalysis. However, since the theory is modeled on that of the natural sciences, it proves incompatible with the interpretive aspects of Freud's approach. We then establish a concept of theory and of causal analysis which is different to that of the natural sciences, and is compatible with, and indeed founded in, an interpretive approach to psychology. These concepts are then illustrated in the context of psychoanalysis. In the final chapter the advantages of the use of theory in interpretive psychology are discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
Theory in interpretive psychology - with special reference to Paul Ricoeur's interpretation of Freud
- Authors: Du Toit, Barry
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939 , Ricœur, Paul , Psychoanalysis
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2906 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002071
- Description: The thesis aims to show that, while an interpretive psychology is not compatible with theory as it occurs in the predictive- causal explanation of the natural sciences, it is both possible and necessary to develop a concept of theory valid within an interpretive methodology. These claims are advanced in the course of an examination of Ricoeur 's interpretation of Freudian psychoanalysis. After examining some traditional ways in which phenomenological psychology has responded to the psychoanalytic challenge, the thesis presents an interpretation of Freudian psychoanalysis as a hermeneutic approach which utilized theoretical constructions in a productive way, although distorted by Freud's natural-scientific self- understanding. Freud's causal-explanatory language and natural- scientific meta theory are shown to be significant inasmuch as they provide a vehicle for theory construction in psychoanalysis. However, since the theory is modeled on that of the natural sciences, it proves incompatible with the interpretive aspects of Freud's approach. We then establish a concept of theory and of causal analysis which is different to that of the natural sciences, and is compatible with, and indeed founded in, an interpretive approach to psychology. These concepts are then illustrated in the context of psychoanalysis. In the final chapter the advantages of the use of theory in interpretive psychology are discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
"All vistas close in the unseen" : a study of the transcendent in the fiction of E. M. Forster
- Authors: Butler, Ian
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2175 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001826
- Description: From introduction: It has become something of a commonplace among critics to remark Forster's relative lack of success in offering an alternative to the world which he satirises with such wit and humour. His comic treatment of the suburban absurdities of the Edwardian Englishman is, on the whole, far more compelling and memorable than the often vague, symbolic gestures by means of which he implies the possibility of something better. With the exception of his last and greatest novel, A Passage to India, his "alternatives" are largely factitious and contrived. Worse, the reader senses a fundamental uncertainty on the part of the author: his characteristic ambivalence in itself an indication of a perceptive and discriminating mind -- all too often suggests lack of conviction rather than an intelligent awareness of the infinitude of human possibilities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
- Authors: Butler, Ian
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2175 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001826
- Description: From introduction: It has become something of a commonplace among critics to remark Forster's relative lack of success in offering an alternative to the world which he satirises with such wit and humour. His comic treatment of the suburban absurdities of the Edwardian Englishman is, on the whole, far more compelling and memorable than the often vague, symbolic gestures by means of which he implies the possibility of something better. With the exception of his last and greatest novel, A Passage to India, his "alternatives" are largely factitious and contrived. Worse, the reader senses a fundamental uncertainty on the part of the author: his characteristic ambivalence in itself an indication of a perceptive and discriminating mind -- all too often suggests lack of conviction rather than an intelligent awareness of the infinitude of human possibilities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
Pascalʾs Pensées and Baudelaireʾs Les fleurs du mal : a study of the parallels and development of the theme of ʺennuiʺ
- Authors: Hammond, Nicholas Gascoigne
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Pascal, Blaise, 1623-1662 -- Criticism and interpretation , Pascal, Blaise, 1623-1662 -- Pensées , Baudelaire, Charles, 1821-1867 -- Criticism and interpretation , Baudelaire, Charles, 1821-1867 -- Fleurs du mal
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3562 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002009
- Description: From Introduction: Upon first reading the writings of both Pascal and Baudelaire, one cannot help being struck by a sensation of awe at the penetrating insight into the human condition possessed by both writers. A further exploration of the realms of Pascalian and Baudelairian thought considerably strengthens this initial reaction into a recognition that both authors were men of equal moral and spiritual intensity. Despite their outward differences, both sought to attain a deep understanding of human nature, but without attempting to offer any excuses on behalf of man. Furthermore, the two writers employ an identical term to describe the condition of humanity: "ennui". Although the word exists in the writings of contemporaries of both Pascal and Baudelaire, no other author makes such full, unique and significant use of ennui. As this thesis will hopefully prove, Baudelaire was indeed directly and positively influenced by Pascal. However, it is not our intention to concentrate upon such an influence; rather, we wish to indicate the parallels and development of the theme of ennui, so central to each man's outlook, in their respective writings. Evidently, it would be beyond the boundaries of this thesis if we were to try to analyse closely the entire creative output of Pascal and Baudelaire; and so, although their other works will act as points of reference, the two books which are generally regarded as their masterpieces will be used as the basis of the unfinished Christian "Apologie" which was projected by Pascal, now known as the Pensées (1670), and Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (1857 and 1861)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
- Authors: Hammond, Nicholas Gascoigne
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Pascal, Blaise, 1623-1662 -- Criticism and interpretation , Pascal, Blaise, 1623-1662 -- Pensées , Baudelaire, Charles, 1821-1867 -- Criticism and interpretation , Baudelaire, Charles, 1821-1867 -- Fleurs du mal
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3562 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002009
- Description: From Introduction: Upon first reading the writings of both Pascal and Baudelaire, one cannot help being struck by a sensation of awe at the penetrating insight into the human condition possessed by both writers. A further exploration of the realms of Pascalian and Baudelairian thought considerably strengthens this initial reaction into a recognition that both authors were men of equal moral and spiritual intensity. Despite their outward differences, both sought to attain a deep understanding of human nature, but without attempting to offer any excuses on behalf of man. Furthermore, the two writers employ an identical term to describe the condition of humanity: "ennui". Although the word exists in the writings of contemporaries of both Pascal and Baudelaire, no other author makes such full, unique and significant use of ennui. As this thesis will hopefully prove, Baudelaire was indeed directly and positively influenced by Pascal. However, it is not our intention to concentrate upon such an influence; rather, we wish to indicate the parallels and development of the theme of ennui, so central to each man's outlook, in their respective writings. Evidently, it would be beyond the boundaries of this thesis if we were to try to analyse closely the entire creative output of Pascal and Baudelaire; and so, although their other works will act as points of reference, the two books which are generally regarded as their masterpieces will be used as the basis of the unfinished Christian "Apologie" which was projected by Pascal, now known as the Pensées (1670), and Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (1857 and 1861)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
A phenomenological analysis of the psychological manifestations of ontic conscience as derived from Heidegger's ontological conception of that phenomenon
- Authors: Parker, Michael Alan
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Conscience , Heidegger, Martin, 1889-1976
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2911 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002076
- Description: The aim of this study was to investigate ontic conscience, as derived from Heidegger's ontological conception of conscience, as it is lived in concrete experience. Having established, through a close examination of Heidegger's writings on conscience, a question which would elicit actual experience of this phenomenon, the researcher collected sixty-four written accounts of these experiences. Of these he chose the four psychologically richest accounts and, having interviewed each of these four subjects on his situated experience, analysed in detail (using the phenomenological method) the resulting protocols comprising the written accounts and interviews. He then explicated the structure of conscience within its context of authenticity and inauthenticity. The context of conscience was discovered to be such that the person, having surrendered himself to others' experience and expectations of him, lives a pretence in the service of (inauthentically) being-for-others. He loses his sense of (bodily) self in the process, and it is at this point of his living at the extremes of inauthenticity, that he is forced to realise his own (authentic) reality which he has hitherto been concealing both from himself and from others. His primary attunement is reflected in feelings of betrayal, guilt, shame, dread and ambivalence. Through openly and resolutely living his authentic experience, he heals the rupture in his existence between what is revealed (his being-for-others) and what is concealed (his authentic experience), and feels liberated in so doing. This structure of conscience was dialogued with the writings of existential and psychoanalytic philosophers and psychologists in the context of discussing particular areas of psychological significance such as self, others, meaning, awareness and psychotherapy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
- Authors: Parker, Michael Alan
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Conscience , Heidegger, Martin, 1889-1976
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2911 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002076
- Description: The aim of this study was to investigate ontic conscience, as derived from Heidegger's ontological conception of conscience, as it is lived in concrete experience. Having established, through a close examination of Heidegger's writings on conscience, a question which would elicit actual experience of this phenomenon, the researcher collected sixty-four written accounts of these experiences. Of these he chose the four psychologically richest accounts and, having interviewed each of these four subjects on his situated experience, analysed in detail (using the phenomenological method) the resulting protocols comprising the written accounts and interviews. He then explicated the structure of conscience within its context of authenticity and inauthenticity. The context of conscience was discovered to be such that the person, having surrendered himself to others' experience and expectations of him, lives a pretence in the service of (inauthentically) being-for-others. He loses his sense of (bodily) self in the process, and it is at this point of his living at the extremes of inauthenticity, that he is forced to realise his own (authentic) reality which he has hitherto been concealing both from himself and from others. His primary attunement is reflected in feelings of betrayal, guilt, shame, dread and ambivalence. Through openly and resolutely living his authentic experience, he heals the rupture in his existence between what is revealed (his being-for-others) and what is concealed (his authentic experience), and feels liberated in so doing. This structure of conscience was dialogued with the writings of existential and psychoanalytic philosophers and psychologists in the context of discussing particular areas of psychological significance such as self, others, meaning, awareness and psychotherapy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
An analytical study of narrative techniques in Giono's Regain
- Authors: Abel, Hermione
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: French fiction , Novels , Criticism , Symbolism , Regain , Giono, Jean, 1895-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3561 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002008
- Description: The dominant theme in Regain is that of death leading to rebirth. This dissertation attempts to explore Giono's narrative techniques within this context. No single chapter will be devoted to a specific technique; instead, the various devices used by the author are discussed as they emerge from the structure of the chapters. Justifying the field of study as defined in the "Introduction", the following three chapters outline the passage of life from death to eventual rebirth. With acknowledgement to Frank Kermode, who writes: "A concord of past, present and future three dreams which, as Augustine said, cross in our minds, as in the present of things past, the present of things present, and the present of things future" ¹, the first three chapters bear his terminology for their headings. Chapter One, "The Present of Things Past", deals with Mameche's loss of her husband and son. Chapter Two, "The Present of Things Present", focuses upon Mameche' s realization of Gaubert's departure, and the decision that she must do something to save the dying village of Aubignane. Chapter Three, "The Present of Things Future", sees Mameche setting out in search of a wife for Panturle, and succeeding. This brings to an end Part One of the novel. Interwoven throughout the chapters are paradigms from Greek mythology, rich in universal symbolism, and the author's belief in man's ability to fuse himself with his surroundings. The conclusion summarizes the findings of this study, attempting to show how an analysis of Giono's narrative technique provides an insight into such a novel as Regain. ¹The Sense of an Ending (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), rpt., 1970, p. 50.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
- Authors: Abel, Hermione
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: French fiction , Novels , Criticism , Symbolism , Regain , Giono, Jean, 1895-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3561 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002008
- Description: The dominant theme in Regain is that of death leading to rebirth. This dissertation attempts to explore Giono's narrative techniques within this context. No single chapter will be devoted to a specific technique; instead, the various devices used by the author are discussed as they emerge from the structure of the chapters. Justifying the field of study as defined in the "Introduction", the following three chapters outline the passage of life from death to eventual rebirth. With acknowledgement to Frank Kermode, who writes: "A concord of past, present and future three dreams which, as Augustine said, cross in our minds, as in the present of things past, the present of things present, and the present of things future" ¹, the first three chapters bear his terminology for their headings. Chapter One, "The Present of Things Past", deals with Mameche's loss of her husband and son. Chapter Two, "The Present of Things Present", focuses upon Mameche' s realization of Gaubert's departure, and the decision that she must do something to save the dying village of Aubignane. Chapter Three, "The Present of Things Future", sees Mameche setting out in search of a wife for Panturle, and succeeding. This brings to an end Part One of the novel. Interwoven throughout the chapters are paradigms from Greek mythology, rich in universal symbolism, and the author's belief in man's ability to fuse himself with his surroundings. The conclusion summarizes the findings of this study, attempting to show how an analysis of Giono's narrative technique provides an insight into such a novel as Regain. ¹The Sense of an Ending (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), rpt., 1970, p. 50.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
An examination of Aristotelian modality
- Authors: Munshi, Salma
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Aristotle , Modality (Theory of knowledge)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2703 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001978
- Description: From introduction: A popular misconception regarding Aristotle's views on modality is that Aristotle adhered to the doctrine of no unrealized possibilities. According to this doctrine, all possibilities are realized in time; in other words, if it is possible that something could happen, then at some time it is the case that that happens. For example, if it is possible for Socrates to escape from prison, then there will be a time at which Socrates will actually escape from prison. On this view, the possible and the actual co-incide; whereas there is abundant evidence that Aristotle was careful to maintain a distinction between the possible and the actual.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
- Authors: Munshi, Salma
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Aristotle , Modality (Theory of knowledge)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2703 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001978
- Description: From introduction: A popular misconception regarding Aristotle's views on modality is that Aristotle adhered to the doctrine of no unrealized possibilities. According to this doctrine, all possibilities are realized in time; in other words, if it is possible that something could happen, then at some time it is the case that that happens. For example, if it is possible for Socrates to escape from prison, then there will be a time at which Socrates will actually escape from prison. On this view, the possible and the actual co-incide; whereas there is abundant evidence that Aristotle was careful to maintain a distinction between the possible and the actual.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
Competition and segmentation : an analysis of wage determination and labour adjustments in manufacturing industry
- Authors: McCartan, Patrick John
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Labour supply , Labour market , Competition , South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001453
- Description: The thesis itself proceeds according to the following outline. Chapter One is concerned with the neoclassical theory of the labour market. Three particular models are surveyed all of which attempt to explain wage differentials and labour adjustments within a competitive equilibrium framework. The basic model of the labour market which rests upon the marginal productivity theory of labour demand, the utility-maximising approach to labour supply and the competitive theory of market equilibrium is dealt with first.This is followed by an outline of human capital theory which emphasises the crucial role played by education and training in determining individual earnings . Finally, attention is focused on disequilibrium wage models of adjustment which account for wage dispersion in terms of the amount and quality of information available to transactors in the labour market.(Introduction, p. 3-4)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
- Authors: McCartan, Patrick John
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Labour supply , Labour market , Competition , South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001453
- Description: The thesis itself proceeds according to the following outline. Chapter One is concerned with the neoclassical theory of the labour market. Three particular models are surveyed all of which attempt to explain wage differentials and labour adjustments within a competitive equilibrium framework. The basic model of the labour market which rests upon the marginal productivity theory of labour demand, the utility-maximising approach to labour supply and the competitive theory of market equilibrium is dealt with first.This is followed by an outline of human capital theory which emphasises the crucial role played by education and training in determining individual earnings . Finally, attention is focused on disequilibrium wage models of adjustment which account for wage dispersion in terms of the amount and quality of information available to transactors in the labour market.(Introduction, p. 3-4)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
Elie Wiesel's fictional universe : the paradox of the mute narrator
- Authors: Berman, Mona
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Wiesel, Elie, 1928- -- Criticism and interpretation , Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives , Auschwitz , Narration , Silence , English literature , Criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2178 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001829
- Description: The approach I have chosen for my study is to analyse the narrative techniques in Wiesel's fiction, with particular emphasis on the role of the narrator and listener in the narratives. This will not only highlight aspects of his authorial strategy involving the reader's response to various dimensions of the Holocaust, but will allow an appraisal of the literary merit of Wiesel's novels. The hushed reverence that tends to accompany allusions to Auschwitz and its literature has impeded certain theoretical investigations, with the result that most critical studies undertaken on Wiesel's works have dealt predominantly with themes and content rather than with form. A narrative approach, however, while it accounts for themes, does so within the narrative process of the work. Form and content are examined as interwoven entities in the particular context of an individual work. My decision to adopt this pursuit is based on the conviction that Wiesel's fiction is a significant contribution to the literature of testimony, not only because of its subject matter, but also because of the way in which his narrators unfold their stories with words suspended by silence in the text. The paradox of the mute narrator, the title of my study, is intended to convey the paradoxical quality of Wiesel's fiction and to show how silence, which is manifested in the themes of his work, is concretized by his strategy of entrusting the transmission of the tale to narrators, who, for various reasons have been silenced. A mute by definition cannot emit an articulate sound. A narrator, on the other hand, is a storyteller who is reliant on verbal articulation for communication. This contradiction in terms is dramatized in the novels and is symptomatic of the dilemma of Wiesel's narrators who are compelled to bear testimony through their silence. In my study of Wiesel's fiction, I will follow the chronological sequence in which the novels were written, although I will not be using a developmental approach, except to point out that the trilogy which marks the beginning of his exploration into narrative strategies, and The Testament, the last book I will be dealing with, are a culmination of his previous fictional techniques. While a developmental analysis of his fiction, particularly from a thematic point of view, enables the reader to gain insight into his background, which is important in a comprehensive study of his works, I feel that this avenue of investigation has been competently dealt with by other critics. Ellen Fine's Legacy of Night, one of the first book-length studies of Wiesel, puts forward a convincing argument for examining his fiction in chronological sequence as a kind of serialized journey from being a witness in l'univers concentrationnaire to bearing - witness in a post-Holocaust world. Furthermore, it is possible to trace the direction Wiesel's fiction follows, as in each book the seeds are sown for new ideas which are expanded upon in subsequent books. My discussion, however, will deal with the narrative process of each novel as an individual work in its own particular context. Apart from the trilogy which is examined in one chapter, and The Testament which serves as a conclusion to the study, I have not used cross references to Wiesel's other fiction when analysing specific books. Moreover, I have deliberately avoided including Wiesel's comments on his works and references to them in his essays, interviews and non-fiction writing. The reason for this approach is that I consider each novel to be a separate narrative work which merits an interpretative response that is independent of the comparative criteria that has up to now influenced the assessment of his fiction. (Introduction, p. 12-14)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
- Authors: Berman, Mona
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Wiesel, Elie, 1928- -- Criticism and interpretation , Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives , Auschwitz , Narration , Silence , English literature , Criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2178 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001829
- Description: The approach I have chosen for my study is to analyse the narrative techniques in Wiesel's fiction, with particular emphasis on the role of the narrator and listener in the narratives. This will not only highlight aspects of his authorial strategy involving the reader's response to various dimensions of the Holocaust, but will allow an appraisal of the literary merit of Wiesel's novels. The hushed reverence that tends to accompany allusions to Auschwitz and its literature has impeded certain theoretical investigations, with the result that most critical studies undertaken on Wiesel's works have dealt predominantly with themes and content rather than with form. A narrative approach, however, while it accounts for themes, does so within the narrative process of the work. Form and content are examined as interwoven entities in the particular context of an individual work. My decision to adopt this pursuit is based on the conviction that Wiesel's fiction is a significant contribution to the literature of testimony, not only because of its subject matter, but also because of the way in which his narrators unfold their stories with words suspended by silence in the text. The paradox of the mute narrator, the title of my study, is intended to convey the paradoxical quality of Wiesel's fiction and to show how silence, which is manifested in the themes of his work, is concretized by his strategy of entrusting the transmission of the tale to narrators, who, for various reasons have been silenced. A mute by definition cannot emit an articulate sound. A narrator, on the other hand, is a storyteller who is reliant on verbal articulation for communication. This contradiction in terms is dramatized in the novels and is symptomatic of the dilemma of Wiesel's narrators who are compelled to bear testimony through their silence. In my study of Wiesel's fiction, I will follow the chronological sequence in which the novels were written, although I will not be using a developmental approach, except to point out that the trilogy which marks the beginning of his exploration into narrative strategies, and The Testament, the last book I will be dealing with, are a culmination of his previous fictional techniques. While a developmental analysis of his fiction, particularly from a thematic point of view, enables the reader to gain insight into his background, which is important in a comprehensive study of his works, I feel that this avenue of investigation has been competently dealt with by other critics. Ellen Fine's Legacy of Night, one of the first book-length studies of Wiesel, puts forward a convincing argument for examining his fiction in chronological sequence as a kind of serialized journey from being a witness in l'univers concentrationnaire to bearing - witness in a post-Holocaust world. Furthermore, it is possible to trace the direction Wiesel's fiction follows, as in each book the seeds are sown for new ideas which are expanded upon in subsequent books. My discussion, however, will deal with the narrative process of each novel as an individual work in its own particular context. Apart from the trilogy which is examined in one chapter, and The Testament which serves as a conclusion to the study, I have not used cross references to Wiesel's other fiction when analysing specific books. Moreover, I have deliberately avoided including Wiesel's comments on his works and references to them in his essays, interviews and non-fiction writing. The reason for this approach is that I consider each novel to be a separate narrative work which merits an interpretative response that is independent of the comparative criteria that has up to now influenced the assessment of his fiction. (Introduction, p. 12-14)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
Form and idea in the fiction and non-fiction of John Fowles
- Authors: Etter, Julie-Anne
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Fowles, John, 1926-2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2179 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001830
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
- Authors: Etter, Julie-Anne
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Fowles, John, 1926-2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2179 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001830
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
Gerard Manley Hopkins's poetic art as "current language heightened" : (with reference to selected sonnets and in the light of contemporary stylistic theory)
- Authors: McDermott, Lydia Eva
- Date: 1985
- Subjects: Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 1844-1889 , English poetry -- 19th century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2337 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002019
- Description: The aim of this thesis is twofold: To examine Hopkins's writings on poetics and to relate these to modern theories of poetic stylistics; and to show, through an examination of two sets of Hopkins sonnets, the ways in which Hopkins's writings on language and poetics are reflected in his verse (Introductory outline, p. 5)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1985
- Authors: McDermott, Lydia Eva
- Date: 1985
- Subjects: Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 1844-1889 , English poetry -- 19th century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2337 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002019
- Description: The aim of this thesis is twofold: To examine Hopkins's writings on poetics and to relate these to modern theories of poetic stylistics; and to show, through an examination of two sets of Hopkins sonnets, the ways in which Hopkins's writings on language and poetics are reflected in his verse (Introductory outline, p. 5)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1985
Spenser's Colin Clout : an introductory study
- Authors: Brown, Molly Anne
- Date: 1985
- Subjects: Spenser, Edmund, 1552?-1599 -- Criticism and interpretation , Faerie Queene , English poetry , Epic , Criticism , Interpretation , Clout, Colin (Fictitious character)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2180 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001831
- Description: From introduction: In the sixth book of The Faerie Qveene, the reader is presented with a vision of the Graces and their attendants dancing on Mount Acidale to the piping of a simple shepherd. Spenser identifies this favoured musician as Colin Clout and then goes on to pose a seemingly inconsequential rhetorical question. "Who knowes not Colin Cloute?” he asks. The note of confident pride which can be discerned in the query clearly reveals Spenser's peculiar interest in one of his most intriguing creations. It is almost impossible to read a representative selection of Spenser's poetical works without noticing the hauntingly frequent appearances of his "Southerne shepheardes boye". Colin appears or is named in no fewer than six of Spenser's poems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1985
- Authors: Brown, Molly Anne
- Date: 1985
- Subjects: Spenser, Edmund, 1552?-1599 -- Criticism and interpretation , Faerie Queene , English poetry , Epic , Criticism , Interpretation , Clout, Colin (Fictitious character)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2180 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001831
- Description: From introduction: In the sixth book of The Faerie Qveene, the reader is presented with a vision of the Graces and their attendants dancing on Mount Acidale to the piping of a simple shepherd. Spenser identifies this favoured musician as Colin Clout and then goes on to pose a seemingly inconsequential rhetorical question. "Who knowes not Colin Cloute?” he asks. The note of confident pride which can be discerned in the query clearly reveals Spenser's peculiar interest in one of his most intriguing creations. It is almost impossible to read a representative selection of Spenser's poetical works without noticing the hauntingly frequent appearances of his "Southerne shepheardes boye". Colin appears or is named in no fewer than six of Spenser's poems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1985
Behavioural methods for the control of examination anxiety : an experimental investigation
- Authors: Norton, Gary Kenneth
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Anxiety , Test anxiety
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2916 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002081
- Description: In 1982, it was reported that one in every three students who fail at South African universities, do not pass because of experiences of excessive anxiety resulting from university examinations. A survey conducted amongst student counsellors and counselling services on all South African university campuses, revealed a deficiency of group and individual therapy for this phenomenon of examination anxiety. The cause of this deficiency, was found to be the already excessive demands made on the time of student counsellors. Noting a similar situation at Rhodes University, the present investigation was initiated, with the aim of developing an economical group counselling programme for test anxious students on Rhodes campus. Sixty-four Rhodes students (who identified themselves as test anxious) volunteered for this investigation. These Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four treatment programmes (each divided into two groups, where Group A, N=6 and Group B, N=7) and a wait-list control group (N=12). Three of the treatments featured multicomponent programmes, each offering a cluster of behavioural interventions centred around: Study Skills Training/Counselling; Systematic Desensitisation (Using individually-constructed anxiety hierarchies); Systematic Desensitisation (Using group-constructed anxiety hierarchies). Included in addition, was a single-component treatment, featuring cognitive modification: a component much favoured by local test anxiety counsellors. Given adverse reports concerning the efficacy of single component programmes, when contrasted with multi component treatments, the cognitive modification package was included as a placebo. A battery of measures was used to assess test anxiety and progress made by Subjects to assuage its debilitative effects . The measures included: (a) Six Self-report measures (including a treatment evaluation schedule and the maintenance of a diary of experience by each Subject); (b) Two measures of physiological reactivity, viz. pulse rate and finger sweat print; and (c) One 'observable' measure, that of academic performance. Using these measures, an assessment of the performance gains or losses by each of the Subjects, was made on three occasions: at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. In support of the a priori hypotheses, the systematic desensitisation and study skills multicomponent programmes, realised significant gains on all measures over both the placebo and control groups (with exception of the higher score achieved by placebo subjects over that of the study skills group, on the treatment evaluation schedule) . This finding confirmed the superiority of multicomponent programmes over those with only a single component. The systematic desensitisation programmes proved to be the most effective, as measured on self-report and physiological measures. The superiority of group-constructed anxiety hierarchies over those individually-constructed was established. Study skills training helped Subjects to realise and maintain gains on the academic performance measure, although it took many of these subjects six months, before they had fully incorporated the study techniques taught, in with their own study habits. In discussion of the findings, the evident need to match test anxious students to programmes which "best suit" their characteristics, is presented, and solutions proposed. Weaknesses evident in the measuring instruments and research design, are also highlighted for discussion. As part of this experimental investigation, a discussion on the nature of test anxiety and its links with anxiety theory is introduced, together with a review of problems in measuring test anxiety; popular behavioural treatments used to relieve test anxiety; and a survey of test anxiety counselling on South African campuses. Advice for the therapist/counsellor, the academic, and the researcher, are posited in conclusion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1983
- Authors: Norton, Gary Kenneth
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Anxiety , Test anxiety
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2916 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002081
- Description: In 1982, it was reported that one in every three students who fail at South African universities, do not pass because of experiences of excessive anxiety resulting from university examinations. A survey conducted amongst student counsellors and counselling services on all South African university campuses, revealed a deficiency of group and individual therapy for this phenomenon of examination anxiety. The cause of this deficiency, was found to be the already excessive demands made on the time of student counsellors. Noting a similar situation at Rhodes University, the present investigation was initiated, with the aim of developing an economical group counselling programme for test anxious students on Rhodes campus. Sixty-four Rhodes students (who identified themselves as test anxious) volunteered for this investigation. These Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four treatment programmes (each divided into two groups, where Group A, N=6 and Group B, N=7) and a wait-list control group (N=12). Three of the treatments featured multicomponent programmes, each offering a cluster of behavioural interventions centred around: Study Skills Training/Counselling; Systematic Desensitisation (Using individually-constructed anxiety hierarchies); Systematic Desensitisation (Using group-constructed anxiety hierarchies). Included in addition, was a single-component treatment, featuring cognitive modification: a component much favoured by local test anxiety counsellors. Given adverse reports concerning the efficacy of single component programmes, when contrasted with multi component treatments, the cognitive modification package was included as a placebo. A battery of measures was used to assess test anxiety and progress made by Subjects to assuage its debilitative effects . The measures included: (a) Six Self-report measures (including a treatment evaluation schedule and the maintenance of a diary of experience by each Subject); (b) Two measures of physiological reactivity, viz. pulse rate and finger sweat print; and (c) One 'observable' measure, that of academic performance. Using these measures, an assessment of the performance gains or losses by each of the Subjects, was made on three occasions: at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. In support of the a priori hypotheses, the systematic desensitisation and study skills multicomponent programmes, realised significant gains on all measures over both the placebo and control groups (with exception of the higher score achieved by placebo subjects over that of the study skills group, on the treatment evaluation schedule) . This finding confirmed the superiority of multicomponent programmes over those with only a single component. The systematic desensitisation programmes proved to be the most effective, as measured on self-report and physiological measures. The superiority of group-constructed anxiety hierarchies over those individually-constructed was established. Study skills training helped Subjects to realise and maintain gains on the academic performance measure, although it took many of these subjects six months, before they had fully incorporated the study techniques taught, in with their own study habits. In discussion of the findings, the evident need to match test anxious students to programmes which "best suit" their characteristics, is presented, and solutions proposed. Weaknesses evident in the measuring instruments and research design, are also highlighted for discussion. As part of this experimental investigation, a discussion on the nature of test anxiety and its links with anxiety theory is introduced, together with a review of problems in measuring test anxiety; popular behavioural treatments used to relieve test anxiety; and a survey of test anxiety counselling on South African campuses. Advice for the therapist/counsellor, the academic, and the researcher, are posited in conclusion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1983
On becoming a psychotherapist
- Authors: Anema, Margaret Catherine
- Date: 1982
- Subjects: Psychotherapist and patient , Psychotherapy , Psychotherapists
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2913 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002078
- Description: From Introduction: To learn to focus on the other, I first have to learn my natural limits. Unless my natural limits are found, I cannot focus on myself or the other with freedom. I will either draw back or intrude. As I learn my natural limits, I free the energy I previously used in questioning limits. Having recognised that I am bounded, the effect of my released energy is to deepen my space. The infinity which used to lie beyond the horizon is brought into the realm of the human where it can be useful. As a psychotherapist the deepening (that is differentiation) of my own space is very important. It means that the space I share with the other is better explored and better known. The raw data for this thesis is a record of 2½ weeks of intensive psychotherapy and 3 weeks of intensive explication. During this time I explored the interrelated themes of my own limits and the particular shadowedness of the space I shared with Tony, the person in psychotherapy with me.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1982
- Authors: Anema, Margaret Catherine
- Date: 1982
- Subjects: Psychotherapist and patient , Psychotherapy , Psychotherapists
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2913 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002078
- Description: From Introduction: To learn to focus on the other, I first have to learn my natural limits. Unless my natural limits are found, I cannot focus on myself or the other with freedom. I will either draw back or intrude. As I learn my natural limits, I free the energy I previously used in questioning limits. Having recognised that I am bounded, the effect of my released energy is to deepen my space. The infinity which used to lie beyond the horizon is brought into the realm of the human where it can be useful. As a psychotherapist the deepening (that is differentiation) of my own space is very important. It means that the space I share with the other is better explored and better known. The raw data for this thesis is a record of 2½ weeks of intensive psychotherapy and 3 weeks of intensive explication. During this time I explored the interrelated themes of my own limits and the particular shadowedness of the space I shared with Tony, the person in psychotherapy with me.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1982
Some aspects of play production in the English and parallel medium secondary schools of the Eastern Cape 1822-1977
- Dickerson, Mary Elizabeth Henderson
- Authors: Dickerson, Mary Elizabeth Henderson
- Date: 1980
- Subjects: Drama -- Study and teaching (Secondary)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2127 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002029
- Description: There has been very little research into play production in schools, as distinct from drama in education and theatre in education, and none at all with specific attention to the Eastern Cape. The proliferation of dramatic productions in the schools of the Eastern Cape during the 1960s and 1970s coincided with the establishment at Rhodes University of a Department of Speech and Drama. The particular interest of this Department in the educational aspects of dramatic work of all kinds led naturally to a desire to investigate what was being done, and had been done, in the schools in the area. Added to this, interest in the history of the Eastern Cape has been stimulated by the building of the 1820 Settlers' Monument, which was opened in 1974, to mark the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the British Settlers. In order to set the social and political scene for the beginnings of cultural activity in the schools, I have given a brief account of the historical events leading up to the English settlement in the Eastern Cape. Because the evolution of the towns has affected that of the schools, an account of this development has been included¹. To prevent this work from becoming unwieldy, the detailed investigation of the cultural milieu has been limited to that of two frontier towns and two seaports, as being the most representative in the Eastern Cape². So much that was done in the schools had grown out of the ideas brought from Britain and its public schools that it was necessary also to look at the basis upon which the schools in the Eastern Cape were founded, and the lines along which their ethos developed. To facilitate a consideration of the work done in play production and related activities over a period of approximately a hundred and fifty years, I have separated the account into four natural historical divisions: from 1820 until the turn of the century; 1900 to 1918; the period between the two world wars; and that which follows the Second World War. Of these, the first three have been considered from the historical point of view; but with regard to the years between 1940 and 1977 it seemed more interesting and profitable to examine specific trends and developments in dramatic activity within the schools. I wished, further, to find more detailed information about what is happening in the schools at present than could be gathered from school magazines and the local press. For this purpose, two questionnaires were sent to the schools. The evaluation of these will be found in Part III and in Appendix B. The investigation was confined to the English and parallel medium schools in the area. The catalogue of plays produced since 1860 which is given in Appendix E is not necessarily exhaustive, though as comprehensive as it was possible to make it. It has been drawn up from the information in school archives and the press, as well as that given in the answers to the questionnaires, but there are occasions when these sources do not give titles of plays (this is especially the case with one-act plays) and there are also times when productions may not have been reported, or magazines are missing. It is not the purpose of this thesis to give details of the best production procedures. Teacher-directors may find these in many excellent books on the subject, some of which have been suggested in Appendix F. ¹While not strictly part of the subject under investigation, a consideration of musical activity is relevant to developments in drama . A short section on music has therefore also been included in Appendix A. ²My researches have pointed to the fact that there is an interesting field for further investigation in the smaller towns such as Cathcart and Uitenhage. (Pref. p. ii-iii)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1980
- Authors: Dickerson, Mary Elizabeth Henderson
- Date: 1980
- Subjects: Drama -- Study and teaching (Secondary)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2127 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002029
- Description: There has been very little research into play production in schools, as distinct from drama in education and theatre in education, and none at all with specific attention to the Eastern Cape. The proliferation of dramatic productions in the schools of the Eastern Cape during the 1960s and 1970s coincided with the establishment at Rhodes University of a Department of Speech and Drama. The particular interest of this Department in the educational aspects of dramatic work of all kinds led naturally to a desire to investigate what was being done, and had been done, in the schools in the area. Added to this, interest in the history of the Eastern Cape has been stimulated by the building of the 1820 Settlers' Monument, which was opened in 1974, to mark the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the British Settlers. In order to set the social and political scene for the beginnings of cultural activity in the schools, I have given a brief account of the historical events leading up to the English settlement in the Eastern Cape. Because the evolution of the towns has affected that of the schools, an account of this development has been included¹. To prevent this work from becoming unwieldy, the detailed investigation of the cultural milieu has been limited to that of two frontier towns and two seaports, as being the most representative in the Eastern Cape². So much that was done in the schools had grown out of the ideas brought from Britain and its public schools that it was necessary also to look at the basis upon which the schools in the Eastern Cape were founded, and the lines along which their ethos developed. To facilitate a consideration of the work done in play production and related activities over a period of approximately a hundred and fifty years, I have separated the account into four natural historical divisions: from 1820 until the turn of the century; 1900 to 1918; the period between the two world wars; and that which follows the Second World War. Of these, the first three have been considered from the historical point of view; but with regard to the years between 1940 and 1977 it seemed more interesting and profitable to examine specific trends and developments in dramatic activity within the schools. I wished, further, to find more detailed information about what is happening in the schools at present than could be gathered from school magazines and the local press. For this purpose, two questionnaires were sent to the schools. The evaluation of these will be found in Part III and in Appendix B. The investigation was confined to the English and parallel medium schools in the area. The catalogue of plays produced since 1860 which is given in Appendix E is not necessarily exhaustive, though as comprehensive as it was possible to make it. It has been drawn up from the information in school archives and the press, as well as that given in the answers to the questionnaires, but there are occasions when these sources do not give titles of plays (this is especially the case with one-act plays) and there are also times when productions may not have been reported, or magazines are missing. It is not the purpose of this thesis to give details of the best production procedures. Teacher-directors may find these in many excellent books on the subject, some of which have been suggested in Appendix F. ¹While not strictly part of the subject under investigation, a consideration of musical activity is relevant to developments in drama . A short section on music has therefore also been included in Appendix A. ²My researches have pointed to the fact that there is an interesting field for further investigation in the smaller towns such as Cathcart and Uitenhage. (Pref. p. ii-iii)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1980
The image of agriculture in two Ciskeian communities
- Authors: Webb, Nigel L
- Date: 1980
- Subjects: Urban agriculture -- Eastern Cape , Land use, Urban -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Urban agriculture
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:4791 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001891
- Description: Agriculture is a complex cultural institution. This is particularly the case when studying subsistence conditions in a tribal system, because aspects requiring investigation include social, religious, political and economic factors (Dalton, 1967). These factors represent an extremely broad sphere of inquiry and the large number of relevant aspects has been the cause of problems plaguing attempts to develop subsistence agriculture (Grigg, 1973). The purpose of this study is to outline an environmental perception approach to agriculture and explore the contribution that the approach could make to agricultural improvement. As such it represents a pilot study which attempts to introduce behavioural science research into agricultural development. Foster (et all (1965) outline three research foci in this respect; the socio-cultural-psychological system of the recipient people (farmers), the system of the innovating organization, and the interaction of the two. This study deals with the first focus outlined by Foster, and aims to make a statement about the image that two semi-subsistence communities have of their agricultural system. In other words, how their agricultural system appears to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1980
- Authors: Webb, Nigel L
- Date: 1980
- Subjects: Urban agriculture -- Eastern Cape , Land use, Urban -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Urban agriculture
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:4791 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001891
- Description: Agriculture is a complex cultural institution. This is particularly the case when studying subsistence conditions in a tribal system, because aspects requiring investigation include social, religious, political and economic factors (Dalton, 1967). These factors represent an extremely broad sphere of inquiry and the large number of relevant aspects has been the cause of problems plaguing attempts to develop subsistence agriculture (Grigg, 1973). The purpose of this study is to outline an environmental perception approach to agriculture and explore the contribution that the approach could make to agricultural improvement. As such it represents a pilot study which attempts to introduce behavioural science research into agricultural development. Foster (et all (1965) outline three research foci in this respect; the socio-cultural-psychological system of the recipient people (farmers), the system of the innovating organization, and the interaction of the two. This study deals with the first focus outlined by Foster, and aims to make a statement about the image that two semi-subsistence communities have of their agricultural system. In other words, how their agricultural system appears to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1980
The relationship between the Orange Free State and the Rolong of Thaba 'Nchu during the presidency of J.H. Brand, 1864-1888
- Authors: Wales, Janet Mary
- Date: 1980
- Subjects: Rolong (African people) -- Politics and government , Rolong (African people) -- Government relations , Free State (South Africa) -- Native races
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2521 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001850
- Description: During the period 1864 to 1888, President J .H. Brand of the Orange Free State Republic had to deal with two Rolong chiefs at Thaba 'Nchu. The first, Chief Moroka II, ruled the Seleka tribe from 1829 to 1880, while his successor Tsipinare, a Tshidi-Rolong, ruled from 1880 to 1884. The majority of the Rolong at Thaba 'Nchu were of the Seleka division, but the minority groups, the Tshidi and Rapulana, also played an important role in the tribe's relations with the Free State.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1980
- Authors: Wales, Janet Mary
- Date: 1980
- Subjects: Rolong (African people) -- Politics and government , Rolong (African people) -- Government relations , Free State (South Africa) -- Native races
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2521 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001850
- Description: During the period 1864 to 1888, President J .H. Brand of the Orange Free State Republic had to deal with two Rolong chiefs at Thaba 'Nchu. The first, Chief Moroka II, ruled the Seleka tribe from 1829 to 1880, while his successor Tsipinare, a Tshidi-Rolong, ruled from 1880 to 1884. The majority of the Rolong at Thaba 'Nchu were of the Seleka division, but the minority groups, the Tshidi and Rapulana, also played an important role in the tribe's relations with the Free State.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1980