OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Watson, Stephen"

Browsing by Author "Watson, Stephen"

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Alejo Carpentier, Gabriel García Márquez, Salman Rushdie : three moments in the problematics of magic realism
(1994) Pooley, Simon Preston; Brink, Andre P; Watson, Stephen
Chapter One begins by outlining the space magic occupies in Western culture, clarifying what I mean by the term "magic". I examine aspects of indigenous American sacred traditions which have influenced and which prefigure magic realism. I review the development of the aesthetic in its Latin American context, touching on the Chronicles, the role of nationalism and erotic rhetoric, the influence of European modernism and the role of the intellectual in Latin American society. Chapter Two examines the development of a realist aesthetic in Europe since the Enlightenment. This review of its manifestations and counter-traditions in European culture is founded upon a discussion of aspects of the philosophy of Kant. I focus on the influence of Surrealism which is particularly illuminating of Latin American magic realism. The impacts of anthropology and psychoanalysis on Latin American writers are also reviewed. Chapter Two includes a review of formulations of magic realism influential in the field of English studies and concludes with a working definition which is used as a basis for the discussions of the three novels analysed in this study. Chapter Three is a study of the development of Alejo Carpentier's version of magic realism culminating in the writing of The Kingdom of this World in 1949. Through using both European and indigenous American techniques and perspectives he hoped to create a literature which could represent the complex realities of Latin American life and establish a mythology for the founding of a unified Latin American identity.
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Aspects of time and narrative in the novels of J.M. Coetzee
(1997) Bruce, Alastair; Watson, Stephen
Building on the approaches of critics such as David Attwell, and starting from the premise that the concepts of time and narrative are inextricably linked, this thesis aims to show how J.M. Coetzee's fictional narratives are concerned with the effects of historical time on both the characters of the novels and on the novels themselves; that is, more generally ,speaking, on literature. The study analyses the novels paying attention to their juxtaposition of literature and history and the tension between these two discourses. Coetzee tries to establish the legitimacy of a fictional, artistic time and space opposed to the violence of historical time and space. In so doing, he reveals the ironic dependence of literature on history as well as the metaphysical and ethical need for the continuing presence of literature in history. The novels are examined in sequence, allowing for illumination of trends and developments in Coetzee' s fiction. The first chapter shows how Dusklands is concerned with breaking down, mainly through parody, the oppressive structures that Coetzee finds in historical time. The second and third, on In the Heart of the Country and Waiting for the Barbarians respectively, discuss how the novels oppose history thematically and formatically. The chapters on Life and Times of Michael K and Foe show characters escaping the restrictive terms of history, and how the novels establish a "fictional realm". The Age of Iron chapter examines more closely the authority of this realm, and notes that the novel issues a plea for the continuation of fictional time and its potential for liberation. The previous five novels all express, ironically enough, reservations about the possible dependence of art or literature on history. The Master of Petersburg, so the chapter argues, takes the trend to its logical conclusion and offers a somewhat ironic look at the ethics of fiction writing.
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At the end of the journey : poems
(2002) Xhegwana, Sithembele Isaac; Watson, Stephen; Nyamende, Abner
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"Bitten-off things protruding" : the limitations of South African English poetry post-1948
(1993) Watson, Stephen; Glenn, Ian E
In this thesis, the discussion of South African English poetry is undertaken in terms of critical questions to which the body of work, to date, has not been subjected. In the nineteen-seventies and -eighties, several anthologies of South African English poetry were published which, despite their differing foci, attested to the strength, innovation, and international stature of the work. Their editors made claims which emphasised both the importance of Sowetan poetry and the emancipation of white poetry, particularly in the last three decades, from the legacy of a stultifying colonial past. This thesis sets out to examine the validity of these critical evaluations. The impetus for such an examination is threefold. Firstly, in comparison with a world literature, South African English poetry has had little impact on the kinds of aesthetic questions which have led to the radical work of international figures like Milosz, Walcott, Neruda. Secondly, South African English poetry tends to be bifurcated by critical analysis, both locally and internationally, into the work of black poets and the work of white poets. Despite the realities of social history which have indeed dichotomised the human experience of South Africa in racial terms, this dichotomy does not seem the most fertile assumption from which to approach the achievement of a nation's poetry. Thirdly, as a poet himself, the writer of this thesis embarked upon the scholarly analysis of a poetic ancestry to which his own work looked ,in vain for location. The re-examination of the roots and value of South African English poetry begins in the thesis with the dilemmas posed by a legacy of romanticism in its displaced relation to a British colony. From this point the discussion argues that this legacy is visible in the unsatisfactory work of liberal poets in the nineteen-seventies and eighties, and argues that such choices cannot be nourishing to a South African cultural originality. Turning to the work most forcefully emphasised as culturally original - i.e. the work of the Soweto poets in the nineteen-seventies and after - the thesis explores this poetry's claims to stylistic and conceptual innovation. The poetry of the late eighties is then examined in relation to its desire to support, and even to drive, anti-apartheid philosophy and practice. The conclusions of the final chapter, presaged throughout the entire argument, suggest that earlier critical estimations of South African English poetry ignore crucial aspects of what has usually been meant by a fully achieved poetic tradition and that such neglect amounts to the betrayal of the very meaning of the term "poem".
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Critical approaches to Soweto poetry : dilemmas in an emergent literature
(1989) Karassellos, Michael Anthony; Watson, Stephen
A review of contemporary South African and European critical approaches 'to "Soweto poetry" is undertaken to evaluate their efficacy in addressing the diverse and complex dynamics evident in the poetry. A wide selection of poetry from the 1970's and early 1980's is used to argue that none of the critical models provide an adequate methodology free from both pseudo-cultural or ideological assumptions, and "reader-grid"(imposition of external categories upon the poems).From this point of entry, three groups of critics with similar approaches are assessed in relation to Soweto poetry. The second chapter illustrates the deficiency in critical method- ology of the first group of critics, who rely on a politicizing approach. Their critique presupposes a coherent shift in the nature of Black Consciousness poetry in the 1970's, which is shown to be vague and problematic, especially when they attempt to categorize Soweto poetry into "consistently thematic" divisions. In the third chapter, it is argued that ideological approaches to Soweto poetry are impressionistic assessments that depend heavily on the subordination of aesthetic determinants to materialistic concerns. The critics in this second group draw a dubious distinction between bourgeois and "worker poetry" and ignore the inter- play between the two styles. Pluralized mergings within other epistemological spectrums are also ignored, showing an obsessive materialist bias. The fourth chapter examines the linguistic approach of the third group of critics. It is argued that they evaluate the poetry in terms of a defined critical terminology which assumes an established set of evaluative criteria exist. This is seen to be empiricist and deficient in wider social concerns. In the final chapter, it is submitted that each of the critical approaches examined foregrounds its own methodology, often ignoring the cohabitation of different systems of thought. In conclusion it is argued that a critical approach can only aspire to the formulation of a "black aesthetic" if it traces the mosaic of cultural borrowings, detours and connections that permeate Soweto poetry. Michel Serres, with his post-deconstructionist "approach", is presented as the closest aspirant. Bibliography: pages 117-123.
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Crystal Night : a short novel
(2002) Rosen, David; Coetzee, JM; Watson, Stephen
Crystal Night is a teenage love story that takes place in South Africa in the 1980s between Rachel, a Jewess, and Danny, a Catholic. Initially the Jewish fear of intermarriage and anti-Semitism that Rachel inherits from her parents challenges this relationship, and when Danny is conscripted into the army by the Apartheid state, his mysterious death ends it.
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Dispatches from an older war
(1999) Rousseau, Jacques; Watson, Stephen
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The dream catcher
(2008) Motana, Nape'a,1945-; Rose-Innes, Henrietta; Watson, Stephen
The dissertation is about an ambitious, rural young woman who aspires to be a great performing artist. Rabeka Maru-a-pula, spurns a marriage proposal, from an eligible bachelor attending her church because she feels that marriage will be an impediment to her unrealised dreams. Her parents are very upset by her decision. She meets her former teacher, TM who, appreciative of her amateur acting experience, invites her to join his project, 'Realise Your Dream.' This step initiates a lasting friendship from which she will draw support and encouragement when she encounters trials in the future.
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The efficacy of song itself : Seamus Heaney's defence of poetry
(2009) Rowan, Sarah; Watson, Stephen
The defence of poetry dates back, in English literature, to Sidney's 'An Apology for Poetry' (1595), and the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have seen an increasing number of writers advancing arguments in support of an art form that seems, more than ever, to be under threat. In this thesis, Seamus Heaney's essays on the purpose of poetry are considered as they constitute a defence of the art form. While Heaney's poetry and prose have, as a result of his popularity and standing as a poet, generated an almost unprecedented body of critical work, his defence of poetry has not been recognised as such, nor has it come under sufficient critical scrutiny. Essentially a defence of a defence, this thesis redresses that omission by examining Heaney's apology as it takes shape in his essays, and in its application to a selection of his own poems.
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From race to grace : the other J M Coetzee
(2005) Janari, Barbara; Watson, Stephen
One of the notable features of JM Coetzee's work is the portrayal in his novels, particularly in his 1999 Booker Prize-winning novel, Disgrace, of worlds that often seem bleak and bereft of redemption. In this dissertation I will argue that there is a resonance in Coetzee's writing that goes beyond the political and historical and that adds another dimension to his work. The focus of my dissertation will be an attempt to account for this other 'dimension' within the broader socio-political-historical nexus that informs much of his work. I will argue that this other dimension represents an ongoing conccrn with the questions of redemption and salvation, particularly as they are manifested in his latcr works, Disgrace and Elizabeth Costello. These concerns, however, are not just a consequence of Coetzee's evolving thought. As I will show, they are present in his earlier texts as well. To this end, I will consider the ways in which the themes of redemption and salvation, in the specifically religious and Christian sense of these words, also resonate in In the Heart of the Country (1977) and Life and Times of Michael K (1983).
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Guy Butler from a post-apartheid perspective : reassessing a South African literary life
(2007) Thurman, Christopher James; Watson, Stephen
Guy Butler was a substantial public figure in South Africa over the second half of the twentieth century: performer of chameleon literary roles (professor, poet, playwright, autobiographer and historian), as well as cultural politician and opponent of apartheid legislation. Nevertheless, his is not a familiar name to the majority of South Africans, and where he is known, Butler remains a problematic figure. On the one hand, he has been criticised for expressing dated or even "colonial" ideas, or for lacking radical political conviction; on the other hand, he is often seen as a "grand old man" in South African literature rather than as a writer for a new generation of readers. These views do not take into account those elements in Butler's writing that were (and still are) subversive, intellectually compelling and of enduring literary value; nor do they consider the complex private man behind the public persona. Butler's response to the South African situation presents us with a challenge - to acknowledge frankly those elements in his life and work that distance him from us, without losing sight of the significance they hold. The current study makes use of Butler's private correspondence and unpublished material from the National English Literary Museum archives in Grahamstown, and combines the biographical insight gained from this documentation with criticism of his published work in every genre to offer a more balanced explication of Butler's life and work than has yet been achieved.
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The liberal ideology and some English South African novelists
(1980) Watson, Stephen; Glenn, Ian E
This thesis has been written in an attempt to answer a question which came to mind when I first began reading white English south African literature. The question itself was quite simple: why is this literature like it is, and, more particularly, why is it a body of work whose quality is generally so mediocre? There is a general critical consensus that it is mediocre, and all the more so when it is judged in the light of standards set by modern European and American literature.
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Mothers and sons : stories
(2003) Robins, Roy; Watson, Stephen
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Ohneland
(2001) Curry, Mark; Watson, Stephen
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Poems
(2000) Moir, William; Watson, Stephen
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Thirty-three poems
(2000) Zerbst, Fiona; Watson, Stephen
The work which follows is divided into two sections. The first section consists of the thirty-three original poems of the title. The second section consists of notes which reflect at length on both the process of writing love poetry and on the poems and other works which have influenced the composition of these thirty-three pieces.
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Verses on Auschwitz : images of the Holocaust in modern American poetry
(1995) Pager, Chet Kelii-Wallraff; Brink, Andre P; Watson, Stephen
This thesis examines how poetic responses to the Holocaust in America, when they emerged, have differed from the novels addressing the same subject; how the Second World War has challenged, in a way the First World War did not, basic humanistic assumptions regarding the image of man, the role of God, the benefits of civilisation & culture, and the humanising power of art or reason; and how this impact has influenced modern trends in poetry. After an extensive background section documenting the impact the Holocaust and Second World War have made upon the literary imagination, an extensive review is conducted of the varied critical positions and criteria, both aesthetic and ethical, from which American literary responses have been evaluated. Among the major critical positions is the belief that there should be no literary response to the Holocaust; that this literary response must primarily serve to document and testify; that the Holocaust should not be addressed imaginatively by non-victims; and that the Holocaust should not be used as a metaphor to convey some other subject or theme. These and other critical standpoints are discussed in relation to works by ten American poets whose poetry is representative of the ways in which the Holocaust has impacted on the poetic imagination, the breadth of poetic responses to this atrocity, and the range of difficulties and corresponding criticisms which are associated with almost all attempts to respond creatively to the Holocaust. The poets examined are Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Maxine Kumin, Adrienne Rich, Denise Levertov, Stephen Berg, Van Brock, W.D. Snodgrass, William Heyen and Charles Reznikoff. Where illustrative, comparisons to relevant European poets have been made, including Nellie Sachs and Paul Celan. It was concluded that certain poets (Levertov, Rich, Heyen), as well as certain critical standpoints (Ezrahi, Langer, James Young) did more justice to the reality of the Holocaust and the challenges it poses to the literary and poetic imagination. Bibliography: p. 135-140.
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The weather of before : versions of the Xhosa cattle killings in 1856
(2001) McClenaghan, Kim; Watson, Stephen
Every place has its own secrets. They lie just below the surface of the land, never quite sure of the story they might form. They are the unmentionables, the words that no one dares utter; but still they lie there, as part of a history that remains untold.
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What remains
(2002) Burle, Eduard; Watson, Stephen

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