An investigation into the nature and function of prescribed literature in schools and a comparative study of the required reading in English literature in school syllabuses in South Africa, Rhodesia and the ex-High Commission Territories from 1945-1980
- Authors: Marzo, Patricia Beatrice
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: English literature -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , English literature -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe , South African literature (English) -- Study and teaching , South African literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century , Zimbabwean literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2273 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006887 , English literature -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , English literature -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe , South African literature (English) -- Study and teaching , South African literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century , Zimbabwean literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century
- Description: From preface: The original purpose of this thesis was to make a comparative study of all the English literature which had been prescribed from 1945 to 1980 for study by all high school pupils in the Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe and the ex-High Commission Territories. This proved to be a formidable task. However, most of the material collected, including all the individual poems prescribed, was recorded in table form. This proved too bulky a system for comparative purposes and the field was narrowed to include only that English literature which had been prescribed for candidates writing Matriculation or Senior Certificate examinations on the higher grade as part of the English Language syllabus. From time to time, however, reference will be made in this thesis to prescriptions for the lower grades and for the lower standards.
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- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Marzo, Patricia Beatrice
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: English literature -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , English literature -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe , South African literature (English) -- Study and teaching , South African literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century , Zimbabwean literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2273 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006887 , English literature -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , English literature -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe , South African literature (English) -- Study and teaching , South African literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century , Zimbabwean literature (English) -- History and criticism -- 20th century
- Description: From preface: The original purpose of this thesis was to make a comparative study of all the English literature which had been prescribed from 1945 to 1980 for study by all high school pupils in the Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe and the ex-High Commission Territories. This proved to be a formidable task. However, most of the material collected, including all the individual poems prescribed, was recorded in table form. This proved too bulky a system for comparative purposes and the field was narrowed to include only that English literature which had been prescribed for candidates writing Matriculation or Senior Certificate examinations on the higher grade as part of the English Language syllabus. From time to time, however, reference will be made in this thesis to prescriptions for the lower grades and for the lower standards.
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- Date Issued: 1981
Freedom and form in the fiction of Doris Lessing
- Authors: Flischman, Rita
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Lessing, Doris May, 1919- -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2269 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005921 , Lessing, Doris May, 1919- -- Criticism and interpretation
- Description: From Introduction: This thesis then is a detailed study of Lessing's novels in an attempt to show her development as a writer. Her short stories are handled briefly in connection with her novels. For, although the short stories are among her finest work, focus on the novels is sufficient to show her growth as a writer. Hers is the small individual struggle to overcome the limitations of both her content and her form. To overcome the limitations of her content means expanding her own consciousness and re-forming life itself. Only when she is free and the world is free can she overcome the limitations of her content. Then, of course, she need no longer and can no longer write. The task seems as impossible as that of the dung beetles, but she nevertheless continues. Like the sacred beetles with "the sun between their feet" she carries on rolling the muck of the world into symbols of the truth.
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- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Flischman, Rita
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Lessing, Doris May, 1919- -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2269 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005921 , Lessing, Doris May, 1919- -- Criticism and interpretation
- Description: From Introduction: This thesis then is a detailed study of Lessing's novels in an attempt to show her development as a writer. Her short stories are handled briefly in connection with her novels. For, although the short stories are among her finest work, focus on the novels is sufficient to show her growth as a writer. Hers is the small individual struggle to overcome the limitations of both her content and her form. To overcome the limitations of her content means expanding her own consciousness and re-forming life itself. Only when she is free and the world is free can she overcome the limitations of her content. Then, of course, she need no longer and can no longer write. The task seems as impossible as that of the dung beetles, but she nevertheless continues. Like the sacred beetles with "the sun between their feet" she carries on rolling the muck of the world into symbols of the truth.
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- Date Issued: 1981
The poetry of Guy Butler
- Authors: Van der Mescht, Hennie
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Butler, Guy, 1918-2001 -- Criticism and interpretation , South African poetry (English)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2256 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004387 , Butler, Guy, 1918-2001 -- Criticism and interpretation , South African poetry (English)
- Description: This study of ButIer's poetry proceeds chronologically in accordance with the dates of composition of his poems. The first task has, therefore, been the compilation of a chronology of his poems. Butler rarely dates his poems; nor does he keep a diary. Yet there are several criteria which make sensible dating of his poems possible. The first is the date of publication of individual poems. Many of the poems which appear in one or more of the five collections were published earlier in army magazines, student newspapers, and the like. A work which can be traced back to one of these early sources may be assumed to have been written fairly soon before its date of publication. Another criterion is subject. It is possible to discern periods in the poet's career in relation to the subjects of his poems. The most obvious example is the War Period. Allied to subject is the criterion of theme. To use the War Period again, poems written during or immediately after the war years all treat the theme of man's dehumanisation. Both subject and theme are linked with biography. It is often possible to ascertain Butler's location from details in the poem; knowledge of his movements thus enables one to date such a poem. Butler's style is the most significant criteion. This study is based on the observation that his style develops as time passes. The Butler of the Sixties is different from the Butler of the Fifties as far as style of writing is concerned. A poem which defies dating on all other grounds cannot escape this ultimate test. Each of these criteria - date of publication, subject matter and theme linked to biography, and style - has limited reliability as a guide to dating the poems. But combined they are a meaningful instrument to assist in the structuring of a chronology whose most valuable source was the poet himself who was kind enough to search his memory for dates. The fact that Butler rewrote or revised a number of his poems several times does of course raise the question: Is the first version merely a stage in the development of the poem, or a poem in its own right? This study is based on the opinion that a poem is a poem, regardless of the number of versions which precede or follow it, provided it is a complete statement. Each version should, in fact, be regarded as representative of the poet's thoughts, feelings, and skills at the time he wrote it, and is lndependent of subsequent versions. For the purposes of this chronology, poems have been placed at the time of the experience from which they grew. This thesis does, however , take cognizance of the ehanges in style or theme later versions may reveal.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Van der Mescht, Hennie
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Butler, Guy, 1918-2001 -- Criticism and interpretation , South African poetry (English)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2256 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004387 , Butler, Guy, 1918-2001 -- Criticism and interpretation , South African poetry (English)
- Description: This study of ButIer's poetry proceeds chronologically in accordance with the dates of composition of his poems. The first task has, therefore, been the compilation of a chronology of his poems. Butler rarely dates his poems; nor does he keep a diary. Yet there are several criteria which make sensible dating of his poems possible. The first is the date of publication of individual poems. Many of the poems which appear in one or more of the five collections were published earlier in army magazines, student newspapers, and the like. A work which can be traced back to one of these early sources may be assumed to have been written fairly soon before its date of publication. Another criterion is subject. It is possible to discern periods in the poet's career in relation to the subjects of his poems. The most obvious example is the War Period. Allied to subject is the criterion of theme. To use the War Period again, poems written during or immediately after the war years all treat the theme of man's dehumanisation. Both subject and theme are linked with biography. It is often possible to ascertain Butler's location from details in the poem; knowledge of his movements thus enables one to date such a poem. Butler's style is the most significant criteion. This study is based on the observation that his style develops as time passes. The Butler of the Sixties is different from the Butler of the Fifties as far as style of writing is concerned. A poem which defies dating on all other grounds cannot escape this ultimate test. Each of these criteria - date of publication, subject matter and theme linked to biography, and style - has limited reliability as a guide to dating the poems. But combined they are a meaningful instrument to assist in the structuring of a chronology whose most valuable source was the poet himself who was kind enough to search his memory for dates. The fact that Butler rewrote or revised a number of his poems several times does of course raise the question: Is the first version merely a stage in the development of the poem, or a poem in its own right? This study is based on the opinion that a poem is a poem, regardless of the number of versions which precede or follow it, provided it is a complete statement. Each version should, in fact, be regarded as representative of the poet's thoughts, feelings, and skills at the time he wrote it, and is lndependent of subsequent versions. For the purposes of this chronology, poems have been placed at the time of the experience from which they grew. This thesis does, however , take cognizance of the ehanges in style or theme later versions may reveal.
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- Date Issued: 1981
Trapped identity in the novels of Dan Jacobson
- Authors: Bekker, Janine
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Jacobson, Dan -- Criticism and interpretation , Identity (Philosophical concept) in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2260 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004545 , Jacobson, Dan -- Criticism and interpretation , Identity (Philosophical concept) in literature
- Description: Dan Jacobson has written short stories, many non-fiction articles and eight novels: The Trap (1955), A Dance in The Sun (1956), The Price of Diamonds (1957), The Evidence of Love (1959), The Beginners (1966), The Rape of Tamar (1970), The Wonder-Worker (1973), and · The Confessions of Josef Baisz (1977) . The first five are all set in South Africa, though Jacobson has been living in England since 1954, i.e. since before his first novel was published. A distinct break in terms of subject matter and voice occurs after The Beginners , giving Jacobson what he calls "two rounds as a novelist. But critics recognizing this break seem not to have recognized that all eight novels are linked by certain thematic preoccupations, notably the notion of the trapped identity, which this thesis will attempt to demonstrate. On a first reading of Jacobson's work one is drawn to affirm his portrayal of the position of the white English-speaking South African, but a closer reading reveals that he does not speak as vitally to the South African situation as he seems to, or has been taken to do. Why this should be so is the second main concern of this thesis. In the first chapter the expectations underlying English literary activity in South Africa are outlined, as this is a necessary background to the discussion of Jacobson's South African novels. (Introduction, p. 4)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Bekker, Janine
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Jacobson, Dan -- Criticism and interpretation , Identity (Philosophical concept) in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2260 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004545 , Jacobson, Dan -- Criticism and interpretation , Identity (Philosophical concept) in literature
- Description: Dan Jacobson has written short stories, many non-fiction articles and eight novels: The Trap (1955), A Dance in The Sun (1956), The Price of Diamonds (1957), The Evidence of Love (1959), The Beginners (1966), The Rape of Tamar (1970), The Wonder-Worker (1973), and · The Confessions of Josef Baisz (1977) . The first five are all set in South Africa, though Jacobson has been living in England since 1954, i.e. since before his first novel was published. A distinct break in terms of subject matter and voice occurs after The Beginners , giving Jacobson what he calls "two rounds as a novelist. But critics recognizing this break seem not to have recognized that all eight novels are linked by certain thematic preoccupations, notably the notion of the trapped identity, which this thesis will attempt to demonstrate. On a first reading of Jacobson's work one is drawn to affirm his portrayal of the position of the white English-speaking South African, but a closer reading reveals that he does not speak as vitally to the South African situation as he seems to, or has been taken to do. Why this should be so is the second main concern of this thesis. In the first chapter the expectations underlying English literary activity in South Africa are outlined, as this is a necessary background to the discussion of Jacobson's South African novels. (Introduction, p. 4)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
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