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Gender, genre and identity in selected short stories by Bessie Head

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dc.contributor.advisor Byrne, D. C. (Deirdre C.) en
dc.contributor.author Ngomane, George Nkhesani en
dc.date.accessioned 2009-08-25T10:50:04Z
dc.date.available 2009-08-25T10:50:04Z
dc.date.issued 2009-08-25T10:50:04Z
dc.date.submitted 2004-11 en
dc.identifier.citation Ngomane, George Nkhesani (2009) Gender, genre and identity in selected short stories by Bessie Head, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1152> en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1152
dc.description.abstract This study probes selected stories from Bessie Head's The Collector of Treasures (1977) in order to elicit instances of contiguity and disjuncture between orality and literacy, to establish Head's complex identity configurations which are often manifested in the interactions between aesthetic form and content, authorial consciousness, character delineation, and narrative voice. At the same time, the dissertation explores her portrayal of the proscribed condition of women, the subversive consciousness that undercuts women's subjugation by patriarchy, and her vision for the liberatory possibilities for women from the exigencies of patriarchal domination. I also examine Head's (re-)vision of culture within the framework of hybridity and creolity and determine how some of these perspectives are crystallized in discourses such as When Rain Clouds Gather (1968), Maru (1971) and A Question of Power (1973). I juxtapose my reading of Head with other African writers such as Bâ, Emecheta and Nwapa to draw references in instances where the context permits. The dominant critical approach adopted in this thesis is a contextual approach. I consider this approach useful for my purposes because of its flexibility, the attention it pays to the formal properties of literary texts and, its cognizance of the socio-historical genesis of texts and its demonstration of literature's timeless value. en
dc.format.extent 1 online resource (115 leaves)
dc.language.iso en en
dc.subject Bessie Head en
dc.subject Identity en
dc.subject Orality en
dc.subject Literacy en
dc.subject Condition of women en
dc.subject Traditional culture en
dc.subject Modern culture en
dc.subject Subversive consciousness en
dc.subject Hybridity en
dc.subject Creolity en
dc.subject Patriarchy en
dc.subject.ddc 823.914
dc.subject.lcsh Head, Bessie, 1937-1986 -- Criticism and interpretation
dc.subject.lcsh Head, Bessie, 1937-1986 -- When the rain clouds gather
dc.subject.lcsh Gender in literature
dc.subject.lcsh Identity (Philosophical concept) in literature
dc.subject.lcsh Literary form
dc.title Gender, genre and identity in selected short stories by Bessie Head en
dc.type Dissertation en
dc.description.department English Studies en
dc.description.degree M.A. (English) en


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