Abjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerk

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dc.contributor.advisorHiggins, Johnen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCrous, Matthys Lourensen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-12-27T19:53:11Z
dc.date.available2014-12-27T19:53:11Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis, three of Marlene van Niekerk's novels, translated from Afrikaans into English, are examined, with the focus on the representation of abjection in the texts under discussion.The theoretical point of departure of this study is Julia Kristeva's essay Powers of horror (1982), which addresses, in particular, the notion of abjection and how certain abject elements play a pivotal role in people's everyday lives. From a psychoanalytic perspective, abjection is viewed as a revolt against the mother and foregrounds particularly the influence of the maternal body over the subject. In this instance, the subject desires liberation from the hold of the maternal and seeks to subject the mother to abjection. Bodily fluids seeping out of the body, diseases, viruses, dirt and death (and in particular the corpse) are all elements that are encompassed in the concept of abjection. Manifestations of abjection in the form of the abject mother, abject spaces, abject bodies and the link between abjection and filth are comparatively analysed in the three texts. The thesis concludes by showing that Van Niekerk deliberately inscribes elements of the abject into her texts so as to transgress and deconstruct the norms associated with a patriarchal and racist society in South Africa. Van Niekerk also undermines the norms that underpin such a society: religious indoctrination, gender oppression and Othering. By writing her novel Triomf (1999) in a demotic register, Van Niekerk furthermore questions the prevalent assumptions about what is deemed proper language for writing a novel. Writing, for her, thus serves the purposes of abjecting, of rejecting the impositions of the symbolic order. Following the publication of her first collection of short stories, Die Vrou wat haar verkyker vergeet het [The woman who forgot her binoculars] in 1992, there was general consensus that the baroque nature of the language resulted in reader resistance to the text. This explains why she decided to write her first novel in the crude and obscene language of a low-class family, the Benades of Triomf.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCrous, M. L. (2013). <i>Abjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerk</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10311en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCrous, Matthys Lourens. <i>"Abjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerk."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10311en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCrous, M. 2013. Abjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerk. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Crous, Matthys Lourens AB - In this thesis, three of Marlene van Niekerk's novels, translated from Afrikaans into English, are examined, with the focus on the representation of abjection in the texts under discussion.The theoretical point of departure of this study is Julia Kristeva's essay Powers of horror (1982), which addresses, in particular, the notion of abjection and how certain abject elements play a pivotal role in people's everyday lives. From a psychoanalytic perspective, abjection is viewed as a revolt against the mother and foregrounds particularly the influence of the maternal body over the subject. In this instance, the subject desires liberation from the hold of the maternal and seeks to subject the mother to abjection. Bodily fluids seeping out of the body, diseases, viruses, dirt and death (and in particular the corpse) are all elements that are encompassed in the concept of abjection. Manifestations of abjection in the form of the abject mother, abject spaces, abject bodies and the link between abjection and filth are comparatively analysed in the three texts. The thesis concludes by showing that Van Niekerk deliberately inscribes elements of the abject into her texts so as to transgress and deconstruct the norms associated with a patriarchal and racist society in South Africa. Van Niekerk also undermines the norms that underpin such a society: religious indoctrination, gender oppression and Othering. By writing her novel Triomf (1999) in a demotic register, Van Niekerk furthermore questions the prevalent assumptions about what is deemed proper language for writing a novel. Writing, for her, thus serves the purposes of abjecting, of rejecting the impositions of the symbolic order. Following the publication of her first collection of short stories, Die Vrou wat haar verkyker vergeet het [The woman who forgot her binoculars] in 1992, there was general consensus that the baroque nature of the language resulted in reader resistance to the text. This explains why she decided to write her first novel in the crude and obscene language of a low-class family, the Benades of Triomf. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - Abjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerk TI - Abjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerk UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10311 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/10311
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCrous ML. Abjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerk. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures, 2013 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10311en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Languages and Literaturesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherLanguage and Literatureen_ZA
dc.titleAbjection in the novels of Marlene Van Niekerken_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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