Academic literature on the topic 'Dutch literature Literature'

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.<br>Two separate texts are submitted towards the degree of MA in Creative Writing. The first is this essay, A Reading of Blood Meridian. The second is a novel, The Book of War. Essay The general focus of the essay is the theme of free will in Blood Meridian and the techniques with which the narrative elements of character, story, style and voice are deployed to focus the reader's mind on this theme. The central question: is the meaning, the final message, of Blood Meridian that as individuals human beings lack agency and that as groups they are shackled to a common destiny? The hypothesis is that Blood Meridian contains significant patterns, oppositions and dialectics, designed to place arguments for and against agency in the mind of the reader, but that the book's response to the theme is inherently and structurally ambiguous. Novel The novel was written before the essay. It was written in direct response to Blood Meridian and to the realization that Blood Meridian was a text rooted in history. Like Blood Meridian, The Book of War is based on, grows out of, first person accounts, specifically Stephen Bartlett Lakeman's What I saw in Kaffir-Land (1880) and William Ross King's Campaigning in Kaffirland: Or Scenes and Adventures in The Kaffir War of 1851- 1852 (1853). The novel takes characters devolved from Lakeman and places them in King’s journey through the war. These characters create, around a child called the kid, the social backdrop of a coming of age tale. The novel uses its source texts as a lens through which to view, and tell the story of, the War of The Prophet (Eight Frontier War 1850-53). Readers seeking to answer the question: Why is South Africa a violent society? might find at least part of the answer in the nature of, and the relationships between, English, Xhosa, Dutch, Khoi and Mfengu cultures in the 19th Century.

This thesis examines the pamphlet literature published in the Dutch Republic during the period surrounding the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Although the Dutch side of the Revolution has been afforded significant attention in recent years, writing on the subject has focused largely on assessing the motivation of William III and the Dutch regents in taking the decision to intervene in England, or on considering how particular groups responded to the events of 1688-89. This study provides a broader perspective, analysing the pamphlet literature published in the Dutch Republic between 1685 and 1689 in reference to Habermas' theory of the public sphere. Through rigorous content analysis of the pamphlet literature, this thesis examines and quantifies the main subjects of interest to the Dutch public, both within a given year and over time, as well as evaluating the information and commentary available to them. Particular focus is placed on the nature of the public debate concerning England, in order to assess Dutch views and opinions of the English situation. The main source used is the Knuttel collection of Dutch pamphlet literature in the Royal Library at The Hague, the largest and most extensive collection in the Netherlands. The Dutch Republic had a broadly accessible public sphere in the seventeenth century, in which political and religious matters were debated relatively freely and widely via the pamphlet medium. During the 1685-1689 period, a wide range of domestic and international issues were addressed in the pamphlet literature. The Dutch public had access to a variety of information sources including official documents, news reports, polemic, propaganda and graphic prints. Dutch interest in English domestic affairs reached its peak in the 1688-89 period, prompted by the translated works of British authors and unidentified anti-Stuart propagandists, which significantly influenced Dutch views of the English situation in the lead up to William's expedition. Dutch pamphleteers gave overwhelming support to William's intervention in England, which was regarded as a defensive measure designed to safeguard Europe's Protestant religion and liberties. However, the Dutch public quickly lost interest in English affairs from 1690 onwards.

Thesis (MA)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die eerste gedeelte van hierdie tesis is ʼn opstel met die titel Van plaas tot agterplaas: Die uitbeelding van Afrikaners in Johannesburg in drie Hertzogpryswenners en die tweede deel is ʼn roman getiteld ʼn Duisend stories oor Johannesburg. Die roman en die opstel hou tematies met mekaar verband. Soos die roman, speel al drie bekroonde werke in Johannesburg af met Afrikaners as sentrale karakters. Die bepaalde historiese konteks waarin elkeen van die drie pryswenners verskyn het, dikteer die invalshoek van die opstel, hoe die werk krities ontvang is, sowel as die rol en waarde wat deur die Afrikaner-instelling daaraan toegeken is. Daar sal verder in die bespreking getoon word watter rol die Hertzogprys in die skepping van die Afrikaner-instelling gespeel het. Die gebruik van die begrip en eienaam “Afrikaner” in hierdie bespreking verwys na die wit, Afrikaanssprekende, Christelike gemeenskap in Suid-Afrika, in die sin dat dit ooreenstem met die (uiters aanvegbare) stelling dat alle wit Afrikaanssprekers saamgevoeg kan word in ʼn organiese “volkseenheid”. Hierdie voorveronderstelling aanvaar ook dat hierdie “Afrikanerdom” tradisionele, konserwatiewe volkswaardes deel, en altyd beskikbaar is vir mobilisering ter wille van gedeelde Afrikaner-belange, soos deur Dan O‟Meara gedefinieer in sy Volkskapitalisme: Class, capital and ideology in the development of Afrikaner nationalism, 1934 – 1948 (1983:6). Hierdie kwessies word, onder meer, deur die polisisteemteorie van die Israeliese kultuurnavorser, Itamar Even-Zohar, asook J.B. Thompson se kritiese teorie van ideologie gedoen. Daar word ook na Jacques Rancière se teorie oor “die verspreiding van die waarneembare” (the distribution of the sensible) verwys. Daar word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die Hertzogprys van meet af aan in diens van die Afrikaner-instelling gestaan het en ten spyte van ʼn veranderende ideologiese landskap, ʼn voortgesette rol gespeel het in die daarstelling van die Afrikaner-repertoire. Binne die polisisteemteorie is die “repertoire” die versameling reëls en elemente wat die produksie van tekste bepaal. Die term “instelling” verwys na die faktore wat betrokke is by die instandhouding van die letterkunde as ʼn sosio-kulturele aktiwiteit. Die roman speel af in ʼn klein Johannesburgse hotelletjie, genaamd Mei Villa, in die buurt Belgravia, tydens ʼn uitbarsting van xenofobiese geweld in 2008. Binne ʼn raamverhaalstruktuur fokus die roman op twee karakters, naamlik die ontheemde argitek, Zweig van Niekerk, wat na 40 jaar na Johannesburg terugkeer, asook die hoteleienaar, die bekroonde maar mindere digter, Bosman Hiemstra. Omring deur hotelgaste en personeel met hulle uiteenlopende verhale, soek Zweig van Niekerk tevergeefs na die Johannesburg van sy jeug, terwyl Bosman Hiemstra met ewe min sukses ʼn tweede digbundel probeer skryf. Aan die einde van die boek begin die digter ʼn roman te skryf met sy gas se lewensverhaal as gegewe dalk ook die boek wat die leser pas klaar gelees het.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The first part of this thesis is an essay titled Van plaas tot agterplaas: Die uitbeelding van Afrikaners in Johannesburg in drie Hertzogpryswenners (From farm yard to back yard: The depiction of Afrikaners in Johannesburg in three Hertzog Prize winners) and the second part is a novel called ʼn Duisend stories oor Johannesburg (A thousand tales of Johannesburg). The novel and the essay are thematically linked. Like the novel, the three Hertzog Prize winners takes place in Johannesburg with Afrikaners as central characters. The point of departure of the essay is the historical context in which the three literary works were published, the critical reception thereof and what role and value was attributed to it by the Afrikaner institution. The role played by the Hertzog Prize in the creation of the Afrikaner institution will also be discussed. The term “Afrikaner” in this discussion refers to the white Afrikaans-speaking, Christian community in South Africa, in the sense that it correlates with the (highly debatable) contention that all white Afrikaans-speakers can be combined in an organic “volkseenheid”. This use of the term assumes that “Afrikanerdom” also shares traditional, conservative national values, and is always available for mobilisation in service of shared Afrikaner interests, as defined by Dan O'Meara in his Volkskapitalisme: Class, capital and ideology in the development of Afrikaner nationalism, 1934 – 1948 (1983:6). To examine these issues, the polysystem theory of the Israeli cultural researcher, Itamar Even-Zohar, as well as J.B. Thompson's critical theory of ideology, will be used. Reference is also made to Jacques Rancière's theory around “the distribution of the sensible”. The conclusion is reached that despite a continuously changing ideological landscape, the Hertzog Prize served the interests of the Afrikaner institution from the very start and played an ongoing role in the Afrikaner repertoire. Within the polysystem theory the “repertoire” is the aggregate of rules and elements which determine the production of texts. The term “institution” refers to the factors involved in the maintenance of literature as a socio-cultural activity. The novel is set in a small hotel, Mei Villa, in the Belgravia neighbourhood in Johannesburg during an outbreak of xenophobic violence in 2008. Within the story structure it focuses on two characters, the displaced architect, Zweig van Niekerk, who returns to Johannesburg after 40 years, and the hotel owner and award-winning, but lesser poet, Bosman Hiemstra. Surrounded by other hotel guests and staff with their own stories, Zweig van Niekerk searches in vain for the Johannesburg of his youth, while Bosman Hiemstra attempts with equal lack of success, to write a second book of poetry. At the end of the book the poet starts to write a novel using his guest's life as material; that could be the book that the reader has just completed.

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die wyse waarop die ruimtebeelding in Joe Speedboot deur Tommy Wieringa in wisselwerking tree met die identiteitsontwikkeling in die roman. Aan die hand van teoretisering deur onder andere Henri Lefebvre word die uitbeelding van die sosiale ruimte in die roman aan die orde gestel. Die klassifikasie van Joe Speedboot as ‟n ontwikkelingsroman is hierby ‟n noemenswaardige uitgangspunt, omdat Wieringa die sentrale karakters se adolessensie, oftewel vormingsjare, in die roman uitbeeld. Die identiteitskonstruksie wat in die roman voorgestel word, strook met teoretiese beskouings van identiteit as ‟n dinamiese en gekonstrueerde konsep wat deur sosiale en kulturele oorwegings beïnvloed word. ‟n Ondersoek na die gesimuleerde werklikheid waarin Wieringa sy hooffigure situeer, dui aan dat die parogiale ruimte in die roman as stagnerend en voorspelbaar uitgebeeld word. In teenstelling tot die stilstand wat die ruimte kenmerk, word ‟n preokkupasie met beweging en vooruitgang aan die sentrale karakters toegeskryf. Beide die fisiese én eksistensïele dimensies van beweging en beweeglikheid figureer prominent in die roman. Dit word nóú verweef met die liminale posisie wat die karakters as adolessente in die gemeenskap beklee. Daar word geponeer dat die opposisie tussen stilstand en beweging nie net ingespan word by die ruimtebeelding en strukturele samestelling van die roman nie, maar ook ten grondslag lê aan die uitbeelding van die hoofkarakters se ontwikkelende identiteite. Die outeur kies in Joe Speedboot ‟n hoofkarakter met beperkte opsies en demonstreer hoe sy fisieke belemmeringe onafwendbaar op ‟n slot afstuur wat negatief óf positief geïnterpreteer kan word. In die lig van die hoë lof wat hierdie roman toegeswaai is, val dit vreemd op dat so min navorsing tot dusver oor Joe Speedboot onderneem is.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the way in which the construction of space interacts with the development of identity in Joe Speedboot by Tommy Wieringa. On the basis of theoretical perspectives of, inter alia, Henri Lefebvre attention is given to the construction of the social space in the novel. The classification of Joe Speedboot as a Bildungsroman is an important point of departure in this regard, due to the fact that Wieringa depicts the central characters‟ adolescence in the novel. The portrayal of the construction of identity in the text corresponds with theoretical thoughts on identity as a dynamic and constructed concept that is affected by social and cultural considerations. An exploration of the simulated reality in which Wieringa situates his characters, indicates that the parochial space in Joe Speedboot is sketched as being stagnant and predictable. In contrast to the standstill which characterizes the social space, a preoccupation with movement and progress is ascribed to the central characters. Both the physical and existential dimensions of movement and mobility figure prominently in the novel. It is also interwoven with the liminal position the characters occupy in the community due to their adolescence. It is postulated that the opposition between stagnation and movement is not only exerted in the construction of space and the structural composition of the text, but is also presented as playing a determinative role in the development of the characters‟ identities. The author chooses for a main character with limited prospects and demonstrates how his physical handicap necessarily leads to a conclusion that allows for both positive and negative interpretations. Given the critical acclaim that the novel has received, it seems strange indeed that Joe Speedboot has thusfar not been the subject of analytical research.