Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Nuruddin'

The subject conceived as 'individual' is a sustained focus across the novels of Somali writer, Nuruddin Farah. This thesis locates a reading of individualism in Farah's novels in the context of the historical and philosophical development of modern identity in the societies of the North-Atlantic. It relies primarily on the analysis of philosopher, Charles Taylor, who proposes that individualism makes modern identity an historically unprecedented mode of conceiving the person. By individualism, Taylor refers to the inward location of moral sources in orientation around which the self is constituted. Nonindividualist conceptions of the self locate moral horizons external to the subject thereby defined. The novel appears to be the most significant cultural form which mutually constitutes modern subjectivity. This is suggested by the centrality of the Bildungsroman sub-genre which fundamentally determines the form of the novel. Farah's work spans the historical development of the novel from the proto-realism of his first publication, through modernism and postmodernism, returning to the 'neo-realism' of his most recent novel. The representation of the subject in the novel suggests transformations in identity which belie the uniformity of the disengaged, autonomous self which is articulated in the novel as a genre. Tension thus is generated between the social commitment Farah expresses as a writer and the limitations of the form which deny representation to the heteronomous subjectivities who are the objects of Farah's concern. The introduction identifies the centrality of individualism to Farah's project. Chapter 1 explores the historical development of individualism and genealogies of alternative conceptions of self. Chapter 2 addresses the articulation of individualism in the classic Bildungsroman, the sub-genre which defines the novel. Chapter 3 interrogates Farah's use of the 'dissensual' Bildungsroman to escape the contradiction of the classic Bildungsroman. Chapter 4 focuses on how modernism in the novels allows aesthetic resolution of individualist contradiction through fragmentation. Chapter 5 explores the resistance encountered when the novel attempts to represent heteronomy rather than autonomy. Chapter 6 suggests the indispensability of coherent subjectivity to Farah's socially committed stance. Within the philosophical matrix of individualism, the 'performative' or 'stylized' subject is the consequential form of identity.

Fokus för avhandlingen, Att uttrycka det mänskliga: narrativ etik i Nuruddin Farah’s trilogier, är de nio romaner publicerade mellan 1979 och 2011 som tillsammans utgör Nuruddin Farah’s tre trilogier: ”Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship,” bestående av Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Sardines (1981), Close Sesame (1983); “Blood in the Sun,” bestående av Maps (1986), Gifts (1993), Secrets (1998); samt “Past Imperfect,” bestående av Links (2003), Knots (2007), Crossbones (2011). Tematiska och stilistiska skillnader till trots så är dessa trilogier och romaner märkbart sammanhängande i sitt fokus. De är inte bara tydligt förankrade i en somalisk verklighet som spänner över mer än tre decennier – en resa som inbegriper landets skifte från kommunisitstyre, via diktatur, till inbördeskrig, och 2010-talets version med islamistiskt styre och pirater som härjar kustregionen – men dessa romaner pekar genomgående bortom sin tydliga socio-politiska kontext mot djupt etiska, tid- och rumsoberoende frågeställningar: Hur förhåller sig individen till kollektivet? Vilket etiskt ansvar har jaget för den andre? Vad utgör grunden för människans gemensamma varande? Hur bevara sin mänsklighet under omänskliga levnadsförhållanden? Hur göra motstånd i en diktatur utan att bli en del i det maskineri av våld och tyranni man söker bekämpa? Trots det tydligt etiska anslaget så har dessa trilogier nästan uteslutande lästs utifrån sina politiska implikationer. Utan att undervärdera decennier av rikt och varierande kritiskt mottagande så har denna tendens till politiska läsningar ofta genererat förvånansvärt entydiga läsningar av verk kända för sin mångtydighet och komplexitet. Avhandlingen avser därför att påvisa djupet och bredden i Farah’s gestaltningar genom att tydligt belysa hur det etiska gestaltar sig på flera nivåer – tematiskt, berättartekniskt, i mötet mellan läsare och text, samt i föreställningar om författarens moraliska ansvar. Därutöver diskuteras även de etiska dimensionerna av litteraturkritik: vad innebär en etiskt hållen läsemetodik? Arbetets unika bidrag kan formuleras i fyra steg. För det första utgör avhandlingen det ända kända arbete – utöver Fiona F. Moola’s Reading Nuruddin Farah: The Individual, the Novel, and the Idea of Home (2014) – som inbegriper Farah’s alla trilogier, vilket möjliggör mer långtgående och genomgripande analyser än vad som hittills publicerats. Avhandlingens fokus på den senaste trilogin fyller dessutom en viktig lucka i det kritiska mottagandet av Farah’s romaner eftersom väldigt lite publicerats utöver recensioner. Förutom nya läsningar av Farah så utgör min emfas på det etiska i Farah’s etisk-politiska skrivande ett viktigt bidrag till det vidare fält av (afrikansk) (postkolonial) litteraturkritik där man ofta betonat det politiska över det etiska, snarare än att läst dessa två som oskiljaktiga entiteter. Trots att anledningarna till politiska läsningar av Farah’s trilogier kan härledas såväl till verkens starkt politiska nerv som författarens egna uttalanden i intervjuer och artiklar, så pekar privilegieringen av det politiska framför det etiska på en mer generell tendens inom postkolonial kritik att inrymma det etiska under det politiska. Trots att kopplingen mellan fiktion, politik och författaransvar inte kan avfärdas, hävdar jag i denna avhandling att ett ensidigt politisk angreppssätt hotar att såväl underskatta komplexiteten i romanernas gestaltningar, som att reducera konceptuellt vad författare som Farah faktiskt åstadkommer. För det andra så vidgar avhandlingen befintlig forskning kring det etiska i Farah’s romaner genom att inte endast fokusera på tematik och berättartekniska grepp, men också diskutera läsandet och skrivandet – det som i avhandlingen beskrivs som fyra sammanlänkande ”ethical moments of the told, the telling, the act of writing, the act of reading.” Utan att undervärdera tidgare kritiska läsningar så tycks många diskussioner kring Farah’s trilogier fokusera författarens centralitet på ett vis som emellanåt tar fokus från i övrigt tankeväckande läsningar av tematik och narrativa strategier. Min högst textcentrerade utgångspunkt visar som kontrast att läsningen av Farah’s trilogier genererar spörsmål som kräver ett mer holistiskt perspektiv, inte minst tydliga diskussioner kring den etiska dialog som uppstår i mötet mellan läsare och text. Förutom att bidra till befintlig forskning på Farah’s författarskap, så bidrar avhandlingens holistiska inställning till narrativ etik med fem sammanlänkade perspektiv till det vidare fältet av etisk litteraturkritik. Dels beror detta på det faktum att en sådan modell förutsätter användandet av multipla tolkningsmodeller; i mitt fall kontinental filosofi, postkolonial teori, samt narratologiska teorier kring läsande och mottagande. Denna interdisciplinära modell för narrativ etik är dock inte begränsad till min specifika sammansättning utan kan fungera som modell även för andra litteraturforskare, med alternativa kombinationer av tänkare och teoretiker. Till sist; trots att det inte varit ett uttalat mål från projektets början så har arbetet med det etiska i Farah’s trilogier generarat många funderingar kring den egna läsningen som efterhand lett till formulering av nya narratologiska perspektiv. Här utgör mötet mellan text och läsare en central del i avhandlingen. Genom att betona de etiska elementen i mötet mellan text och läsare närmar jag mig spörsmål som i förlängningen kan ses som byggstenar i en mera etiskt hållen läsemetodik. I stället för att tolka ”störande” element som exempel på estetiska brister, alternativt brister i författarens moraliska ansvarstagande (!) så menar jag att de aspekter som irriterar läsaren, försvårar eller rent av omöjliggör förståelse mycket väl kan vara de ting i texten som tvingar läsaren till en mera engagerad och därmed etiskt mer välgrundad läsning. Att läsa textens ”krux” i termer av ”ethical resource” utgör ett viktigt bidrag till såväl litteratur-filosofisk som narratologisk litteraturforskning, eftersom man ofta hamnat i endera värderande samtal kring ”god litteratur” eller i resonemang kring vilka narrativa element/strategier som väcker läsarens engagemang, empati, etc – och vilka som inte gör det.<br>This study explores the multiple ethical dimensions of the nine novels published between 1979 and 2011 that together constitute Nuruddin Farah’s three trilogies Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship, including Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Sardines (1981), and Close Sesame (1983); Blood in the Sun, including Maps (1986), Gifts (1993), and Secrets (1998); and Past Imperfect, including Links (2003), Knots (2007), and Crossbones (2011). For all that separate these trilogies and novels thematically and stylistically, they are remarkably consistent in their enquiry. While firmly rooted in the geo-political particulars of Somalia, these novels stage human experience in ways that cut across time and place, inviting the reader to ponder a plethora of questions of profoundly ethical import: How can one remain human in the face of extreme adversities? How can one resist oppression in all its forms without becoming a perpetrator of that which one seeks to resist? What role may violence or non-violence have in seeking to see justice done? How far does responsibility for the other reach? How may dehumanizing forces be resisted in ways that preserve and even restore human dignity? By privileging the ethical in Farah’s ethico-political writing, the study draws attention to voices and perspectives that have gone unnoticed in previous readings, where political perspectives have dominated. Not only does a sustained analytical focus on how human dignity is valued, protected, preserved and even restored call for re-assessments of concepts such as ‘freedom,’ ‘resistance,’ and ‘moral responsibility.’ but the thesis’ highly text-centered approach has in the process of writing proved that Farah’s trilogies generate questions that demand a fuller exploration than what has hitherto been possible with a more limited emphasis on themes and narrative strategies. The use of a model in which five ‘ethical moments’ are explored thus allows for more extensive conclusions to be drawn, both regarding the ethics emerging in the trilogies themselves (‘ethics of the told,’ ‘ethics of telling’ and ‘ethics of writing’), in reading practices and critical reception (‘ethics of reading’), and my own research practice (‘ethics of method’). Ultimately, the study’s explorations of themes, narrative strategies, author’s responsibilities and critical response elucidate how Farah’s trilogies escape any narrow definition of what (African) (postcolonial) literature is or should be. By privileging the ethical trajectory – without losing sight of the strong political impetus of Farah’s writing – significant stories and perspectives surface that are no less political in their outlook than more conventional readings of “resistance writing.” By drawing on continental philosophy (Lévinas, Cavarero and Butler), narrative theory and postcolonial studies, this study brings fresh perspectives to bear on both familiar and less well-known material, while also contributing to new methodological frameworks within narrative ethics and new theoretical perspectives within narrative theory, not least as reflected in the final chapter’s discussion of imaginative challenges.

Os romances Maps, Gifts e Secrets, pertencentes à trilogia Blood in the sun do escritor somali Nuruddin Farah, apresentam duas camadas narrativas em suas composições: uma dada pelos eventos ficcionais que ocorrem quando os personagens estão despertos e a outra pelos inúmeros sonhos inseridos neles. No espaço da vida de vigília, os protagonistas dessas obras experimentam uma grande imobilidade, estando impossibilitados de alterar a realidade política de seu país, a Somália, e de efetivamente transformar suas próprias vidas. O objetivo deste trabalho é demonstrar que a experiência onírica proporciona, então, uma compensação para a inatividade a que estão condenados. Os sonhos são considerados como lugares especiais de experiência, como cronotopos diferenciados que contestam e invertem o que os personagens vivenciam no mundo dito real. As narrativas oníricas presentes nesses romances operam em dissonância em relação ao restante do que é narrado, oferecendo soluções ficcionais que ainda não parecem possíveis nas outras partes da narração. Dessa forma, o foco da análise se volta para o estudo da estrutura dessas narrativas oníricas, concomitantemente com o procedimento de conferir aos seus signos significados que condigam com o contexto cultural, social e político em que vivem os seus personagens.<br>The novels Maps, Gifts and Secrets, which belong to the trilogy Blood in the sun by Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, present two narrative levels: one given by the fictional events that take place when the characters are fully awake and the other by the numerous dreams inserted in them. In the space of vigil, the protagonists in these works experience great immobility, being unable to change the political reality of their country, Somalia, and effectively transform their own lives. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that the dream experience provides, then, a form of compensation for the inactivity to which they are doomed. Dreams are considered special places of experience, as different chronotopoi that contest and invert what the characters undergo in the so called real world. The dream narratives that are present in these novels operate in dissonance with the rest of what is being narrated, offering fictional solutions that still do not seem to be possible in other parts of the narrative. Thus, the focus of the analysis turns to the study of the structure of these dream narratives, together with the procedure of giving meanings to their signs that match with the cultural, social and political context in which their characters live.

The focal point of this study is the social status and the political status of women in Somalia as depicted in the novels of Nuruddin Farah (1945- ). Based on their roles in the novels, the female characters are classified as the traditional Somali woman who symbolizes what is now the status of women in Somalia; the, transitional Somali. woman who symbolizes what is becoming the status of women in Somalia; the liberated modern Somali woman who symbolizes what should be the status of women in Somalia; and the modern Western woman who, because of her Western values and liaisons with Somali males, serves as a contrast to the Somali woman in every classification. The study contends that changes in the status of women in Somalia are related to changing forces in Somali religion, politics and economics, while showing that Farah is justly called a feminist because of his sympathetic treatment of issues raised in African feminism, such as female genital mutilation, forced polygamous marriage, oppression of barren women, and “muledom."

This dissertation examines the imaginative ways in which three postcolonial writers overcome a fractured collective past by creating a double-voiced discourse narrative framework that allows them to envision a reality that might-have-been while acknowledging the presence of dominant discourses that are. Morrison, Condé, and Farah overlap contradictory forms in order to show that narrative boundaries are self-imposed, mythical, and arbitrary. Intersection among these differing narratives in each text creates dialogism--a balance between dominant and counter-discourse. Because the contrasting viewpoints of dominant and counter-discourse both have a historical perspective, Morrison, Condé, and Farah work to retain a delicate intertextual fabric in their novels--a fabric woven from several narratives to create a text that rests paradoxically on the task of revealing the narrative contradictions while also showing that they can't be completely separated from each other as the singular hegemonic voice argues.

Il presente progetto di ricerca riguarda la terza trilogia di romanzi di Nuruddin Farah, “Past Imperfect” (2004-2011). L’analisi dei tre testi che compongono la trilogia – “Links” (2004), “Knots” (2007) e “Crossbones” (2011) – evidenzia la persistente rilevanza delle narrazioni e delle rappresentazioni della famiglia all’interno di tutta la produzione letteraria dell’autore. Questa prospettiva critica richiede l’impiego di una metodologia che riunisce vari aspetti della critica letteraria di matrice post-strutturalista e, per altri versi, di stampo materialista, assecondando così le due principali tendenze critiche presenti all’interno degli studi postcoloniali. Lo stesso approccio teorico-metodologico può essere applicato anche in altri due ambiti critici chiamati in causa dalla trilogia di Nuruddin Farah: la cosiddetta “world literature” e la cosiddetta “failed-state fiction”. L’analisi delle narrazioni e delle rappresentazioni della famiglia richiede, inoltre, un approccio interdisciplinare molto esteso, stimolando ricerche negli ambiti della semiotica, dell’antropologia, della psicanalisi, dei Gender Studies e dei Trauma Studies.<br>The research project focuses on Nuruddin Farah’s third trilogy of novels, “Past Imperfect” (2004-2011). The analysis of the three novels included in the series – “Links” (2004), “Knots” (2007) and “Crossbones” (2011) – shows the persistency and the importance of the narrations and representations of the family throughout Nuruddin Farah’s literary production. This specific critical engagement requires a methodology which binds post-structuralist and materialist criticism together, according to the two main critical trends also used in Postcolonial Studies. The same approach can be also applied in two other critical fields which Nuruddin Farah’s trilogy allows reference to: “world literature” and “failed-state fiction”. The analysis of the narrations and the representations of the family, however, calls also for a broader interdisciplinary approach, involving further investigations in semiotics, anthropology, psychoanalysis, Gender and Trauma Studies.

Les étrangers occupaient une place importante dans le commerce, l'administration et la culture du monde malais au XVII ème siècle. Nous étudions ici le rôle des étrangers dans le développement de la littérature malaise à travers un exemple précis: le Bustan al-Salafin, écrit vers 1640 à Aceh, au Nord-Ouest de Sumatra, par un savant religieux d'origine arabe né en Inde, Nuruddin ar-Raniri. Nous essayons de comprendre comment cette œuvre, la plus longue de la littérature malaise, a pu être écrite par un étranger qui a appris le malais à l’âge adulte. Pour ce faire, nous commençons par replacer dans son contexte sa rédaction, en présentant le sultanat d'Aceh au XVII ème siècle. Après avoir abordé la vie et l'œuvre de Raniri et la structure et le contenu du Bustan al-Salatin, nous vérifions quelles sources ont été utilisées dans ce texte, en tâchant de séparer les passages traduits des passages originaux. La comparaison précise de Raniri avec ses sources nous permet de déterminer si le Bustan al-Salatin représente une création originale, une adaptation ou une traduction. Nous nous livrons ensuite à une analyse de la vision du monde donnée par le Bustan al-Salatin. Nous nous penchons enfin sur l'interprétation globale de l’œuvre, en analysant les problèmes posés par ses objectifs, sa structure interne, ses rapports avec ses sources et son lieu de rédaction. Après avoir constaté le décalage entre le Bustan al-Salatin et son environnement, nous élargissons le problème à l'ensemble des traductions de la littérature malaise classique. Nous soulignons les divisions qui traversent cette littérature et proposons de repenser les conditions de sa production et de sa réception<br>Foreigners played an important part in the trade, administration and culture of the 17th century malay world. We study the role of foreigners in the development of malay literature through a precise example: the Bustan al-Salatin, written ca. 1640 in Aceh, in the North-West of Sumatra, by an Indian born Arab religious scholar, Nuruddin ar-Raniri. We try to understand how this book, the longest in classical malay literature, can have been written by a foreigner who learned Malay in adulthood. We first place the composition of this book in context by introducing the sultanate of Aceh in the 17th century. After presenting the life and works of Raniri, as weIl as the structure and content of the Bustan al-Salatin, we examine which sources have been used in Ibis text in order to separate the translated parts from the original ones. A precise comparison between Raniri's text and his sources allows us to determine whether the Bustan al-Salatin represents a creation, an adaptation or a translation. We then analyze the world vision given by the Bustan al-Salatin. We finally undertake a global interpretation of the book, by analyzing the problems posed by its objectives, its structure, its relation to its sources and to its place of composition. After having acknowledged the gap between the Bustan al-Salatin and its environment, we enlarge the problem to the other translations in classical malay literature. We underline the divisions running through this literature and propose to rethink the conditions of its production and reception

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Translation Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 2015<br>This study presents an argument for considering the works of Nuruddin Farah translated into Italian as core texts in the body of postcolonial Italian literature. The study focusses on Farah’s first two trilogies: Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship and Blood in the Sun. It is shown in this study that the translated versions of the novels making up these two trilogies, the former in particular, provide rare and unique narrative content capable of directly challenging the myths and misconceptions that have come to characterise the memory of the Italian colonial period. These works are read contrapuntally against historical narrative tropes that were used to represent Africa and Africans in Italian colonial literature. Farah’s work is also compared with the writing of contemporary writers of African descent whose work is at the forefront of interest in postcolonial studies in Italy. This study shows how Farah’s work complements and enhances this emerging literary tradition. It is then shown that, despite this obvious potential, the status of Farah’s work in the Italian literary system has been limited by an unwelcoming publishing climate for African literature in Italy. The study then provides an analysis of the translations themselves focussing on three texts: Maps, Gifts and Sweet and Sour Milk. This analysis takes the form of a descriptive comparative analysis aimed at establishing the extent to which the three different Italian translators of these texts handled the translation of stylistic features of the texts which signal their postcoloniality and their heritage of Somali oral poetry. It is concluded that, in the main, the translations are somewhat domesticated which has certain negative consequences in terms of their ability as texts to speak on behalf of the colonized people they represent. It is however noted that one text exhibits a greater tendency towards foreignization. By no means coincidentally, this text was produced by a translator with theoretical and practical experience in the field of postcolonial literature. The study concludes by conceiving of the trajectory of Nuruddin Farah’s work through the Italian literary system as a narrative of violence, resistance and retribution on either side of the colonial divide.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1996.<br>Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-105).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1999.<br>Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-146).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2005.<br>Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-78).

The hallmark of the three novels forming Nuruddin Farah’s trilogy Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship is the fact that they share several tales of recurrent symbolic departure and return. This cyclical nature of Farah’s narrative foregrounds the collective traumatic past that Farah’s narrative embodies. In three chapters, the trilogy is analysed in the light of the writings of some Trauma Studies theorists such as Anne Whitehead, Cathy Caruth, Marianne Hirsch, and Dominick LaCapra. The first chapter examines the theoretical foundation of reading trauma in Farah’s narrative. Even though the chapter relies on trauma theory that is exclusively influenced by Western traumas, it seeks to adapt this theory to the understanding of a non-Western collective trauma experience. Moreover, an emphasis is placed on deploying psychoanalytical and historical writings on trauma to achieve an understanding of its literary aspect rather than using fiction to develop the pre-existing psychoanalytical and historical readings of trauma. Chapter Two, on the other hand, provides an application of the theoretical views presented in the preceding chapter. The second chapter explores the deployment of two particular literary devices – intertextuality and repetition – in the context of trauma narrative and how they re-create trauma in their own distinct way. Chapter Three focuses primarily on Farah’s characters and their problematic relationship with both the perception of time and memory-keeping. The chapter emphasizes that there is a complete identification between the teller of the memory and the memory told. This reading of Sweet and Sour Milk, Sardines and Close Sesame detangles the tension arising from the narrativisation of trauma from one end and the elements which engage in narrating it (language and characters) from the other.