Browsing by Author "De Beer, Amanda Erika"

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    Fremde Schreiben : Zu Ilija Trojanows Roman Der Weltensammler (2006)
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) De Beer, Amanda Erika; Von Maltzan, Carlotta; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Modern Foreign Languages.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation investigates the different forms of otherness and alterity (“Fremde”) in Bulgarian born German author, Ilija Trojanow’s novel, Der Weltensammler (2006). In this novel, alterity, as portrayed by Trojanow, is read as threatening and uncanny (“unheimlich”), on the one hand, and fascinating on the other. The novel, Der Weltensammler, translated by William Hobson and published under the title The Collector of Worlds (2008), narrates the life of the historical figure Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton, a colonist, traveller and explorer, undertakes a journey across continents: British-India, Arabia and East Africa. As one of the first Europeans to do so, Burton - disguised and converted to Islam - undertakes a pilgrimage to Mecca. Like the title of the novel suggests, Burton is a contradictory man who not only collects worlds, but also obsessively adopts the cultures of the colonised. However, this British officer’s bizarre lifestyle and unusual ability to adapt to and adopt the foreign world raises certain questions regarding the relationship between coloniser and colonised. More importantly, he grapples with the portrayal of otherness. Throughout the novel both the narrator and a writer (the Lahiya) try to put together the pieces of Burton’s life. As the narrator warns in the preface of his novel, Burton remains an enigma. His antipodes are another historical figure, the former slave Sidi Mubarak Bombay and his servant Naukaram. Unlike in Burton’s and Stanley’s travel diaries where Bombay takes a marginalised position, he comes to the fore in Der Weltensammler. Though Burton appears to become part of the foreign world, it is the change of narrative perspectives between coloniser and colonised that puts their relation into question, thereby dissolving binary opposites. This thesis begins with a general discussion of the novel and its significance within German post-colonial literature. The study moves on to a discussion of the discourses surrounding the concept of alterity, identifying one key form of alterity, namely mimicry, a term borrowed from the theorist Homi K. Bhabha. The greater part of the thesis is devoted to the analysis of the novel. The first part deals with the analysis of alterity and otherness by focussing attention on the portrayal of otherness as threatening and fascinating, the concept of mimicry, and finally, Burton’s transformation. The second part investigates the process of re-writing that takes place and the manner in which alterity is portrayed in the novel paying particular attention to the relation between author, writer and narrator. Following this analysis of alterity and its rewriting, this thesis moves to the more general question of how Ilija Trojanow’s novel, Der Weltensammler, functions as a refutation (Gegenschrift/Kampfabsage) of Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Relying on the words of Stephen Slemon, this study finally questions whether this novel can be read as another “scramble for post-colonialism”. Based on the theoretical framework developed on the concept of culture by Homi K. Bhabha on the one hand and the insights on cultures by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski on the other, this study demonstrates how it is through the processes of revision and re-writing of literary borrowings, e.g. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899), that the concept of alterity is redefined and the novel in itself gains a post-colonial voice. Furthermore, this thesis shows how otherness is deconstructed to such an extent that it is not difference that is highlighted, but instead a literary model for the co-existence of cultures.
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    „Wo ist der Junge aus dem Urwald?“ Abenteuer und koloniales Afrika in der Jugendliteratur
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-03) De Beer, Amanda Erika; Annas, Rolf; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Modern Foreign Languages
    AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Hierdie proefskrif is ’n ondersoek na die wyse waarvolgens Duitse jeugboekskrywers die koloniale periode in Afrika uitbeeld. Duitse avontuurliteratuur speel dikwels af in die koloniale periode in Afrika. Motiewe in die avontuurroman stem egter nie altyd ooreen met die historiese konteks en geografiese ruimtes nie. Dit skep die indruk dat so ’n verhaal tyd- en ruimteloos is en dat die historiese en geografiese konteks bloot die afstand tussen Afrika en Europa beklemtoon. In die lig van die feit dat Afrika en sy historiese konteks dikwels as eksotiese agtergrond dien, bespreek die studie die problematiek rondom die manier waarvolgens skrywers die koloniale periode in die avontuurliteratuur ontleed. Vervolgens word die vraag gestel tot watter mate die uitbeelding van Afrika sedert 1945 verander het. Die wyse waarop die koloniale periode in Afrika in Duitse jeugliteratuur uitgebeeld word, behoort dus ondersoek te word binne die konteks van die tradisionele avontuurliteratuur. Deurdat die studie gesentreer is rondom die avontuurliteratuur voor 1945 en avontuurboeke na 1945, stel die dissertasie ondersoek in tot watter mate jeugboeke en hulle uitbeelding van die koloniale periode verander het en in hoeverre die tradisionele avontuurliteratuur aan hierdie boeke ontleen is. In hierdie proefskrif word avontuurverhale en avontuurlike jeugverhale wat tydens die koloniale periode in Afrika afspeel, vervolgens ontleed. Die studie fokus op vier periodes: Eerstens word tradisionele avontuurstories en motiewe wat ’n belangrike rol speel in die uitbeelding van Afrika, geïdentifiseer. Die volgende tekste word ontleed: C.Falkenhorst se Der Baumtöter (1894), Gustav Frenssen se Peter Moors Fahrt nach Südwest (1906), Josef S. Viera se Bana Sikukuu (1924) en Gust in der Klemme (1933), Max Mezger se Aufruhr auf Madagaskar (1930) en Rolf Italiaander se Wüstenfüchse (1934). Tweedens ondersoek die studie die rol wat avontuurmotiewe – inisiasie, weerstand en verowering – speel in jeugboeke wat in die Federale Republiek van Duitsland gepubliseer is. Die volgende tekste word onder die loep geneem: Kurt Lütgen se ...die Katzen von Sansibar zählen (1962), Rolf Italiaander se Mubange, der Junge aus dem Urwald (1957), Herbert Kaufmann se Der Teufel tanzt im Ju-Ju-Busch en sy historiese roman Des Königs Krokodil (1959). Derdens ondersoek die studie watter rol avontuurmotiewe – die edel barbaar (edle Wilde), antiheld en die tweegeveg – speel in jeugboeke wat in die Duitse Demokratiese Republiek gepubliseer is. Die volgende tekste word analiseer: Ferdinand May se roman Sturm über Südwest-Afrika (1962) en Götz R. Richter se Savvytrilogie (1955 – 1963) en Die Löwen kommen (1969). Laastens stel die studie die vraag tot watter mate die kontemporêre avontuurliteratuur – soos Hermann Schultz se sendingroman Auf den Strom (1998) ’n nuwe ontwikkeling toon wat van die tradisionele avontuurliteratuur van die 19de en 20ste eeu afwyk.