Research Articles (Modern Foreign Languages)

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Alain Resnais et l engagement documentaire: Une affaire de morale en trois temps
(Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2011-12) Du Toit, Catherine
Without history there can be no political engagement. But history can only surpass its analytical, abstract and factual dimensions by the operation of memory. From his first short documentaries, such as Guernica, Les Statues meurent aussi (Statues also die) and Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog), the problem of the past is present in Alain Resnais’ cinema. Reconstructing the past does not only occur on the level of text and image but also through cinematographic techniques. This article examines the way in which lived memory in Alain Resnais’ politically engaged documentaries becomes conscience, participating in the imaginary of mnemonic reconstruction.
Beyond the mask : Guy de Maupassant in Algeria
(Peter Lang, 2003-07) Du Toit, Catherine
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The enlightened foreigner who travels to a distant land wears two masks : the mask woven of pre-conceptions when he considers the ‘other’ he encounters and a second, a mirror-mask in which he sees in the ‘other’ only his own image, his personal convictions persuading him that we are all alike. Guy de Maupassant wears this double mask when he travels to the recently colonized Algeria in 1870. He documents his perceptions in a travel journal and in the form of reports sent to Parisian newspapers. These collected essays were republished as «Au Soleil» (In the Sun). In his reports, Maupassant sharply criticizes the harsh actions and methods of the French colonizers. At the same time, however, he cannot distance himself from the very conceptions of European superiority, used by the colonial powers to justify colonization. On the other hand, Maupassant as a modern, intelligent and liberal young author, seems to believe in the sameness of human culture and nature. All ‘otherness’ is absorbed into likeness and his approach to the other is one of assimilation. This approach inevitably leads to comparison and since his frame of reference does not extend beyond his own culture, the ‘other’ is judged inferior as soon as he falls short of this limited measuring stick. In our relations with the ‘other’ – whether this ‘other’ be from a different continent, race or gender group – nothing much has changed over the past century. The key concern remains : how to lay down the various masks that prevent us from seeing the other as a whole and wholly different being that we can relate to precisely because this otherness is and remains beyond our comprehension and control.
Boer-uitbeeldings in Franse jeugliteratuur tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog
(AOSIS Publishing, 2010-07-13) Steyn, J. E. T.
Voorstellings van die “ander” of die “vreemde” word grootliks beïnvloed deur die voorsteller se eie historiese konteks. Wanneer hierdie konteks verander, gebeur dit dikwels dat die voorstelling van die “ander” ook aangepas word by hierdie veranderings. Hierdie artikel kyk kortliks hoedat die Franse voorstellings van die Boere verskil in jeugromans wat vóór die Anglo-Boereoorlog geskryf is van jeugromans wat oor die Anglo-Boereoorlog handel. Vóór die oorlog word die Boer as ’n Nederlandse afstammeling beskryf wat byna agterlik en in uiterste eenvoud leef. Wanneer die Anglo-Boereoorlog uitbreek, word die Boer egter ’n soort alter ego vir die Franse wat indirek Frankryk se stryd teen die Britte voortsit. Hierdie artikel bespreek die manier waarop die Franse hulle voorstelling van die Boere aanpas sodat jong Franse lesers met die Boere kan identifiseer.
Deux Anglaises et le Continent d'Henri-Pierre Roché : des avatars et des affres de l'amour
(Association for French Studies in Southern Africa, 2007) Du Toit, Catherine
Deux Anglaises et le Continent was Henri-Pierre Roché’s second autobiographically inspired novel. Published in 1956, three years after his best known work, Jules et Jim, it principally draws on a period from the author’s youth and consists entirely of manipulated or fictional journal extracts and letters. More youthful in style and approach than his other works, the novel contains both the origins of Roché’s conception of love as well as its finality. For this reason, Deux Anglaises et le Continent can be seen as a pivotal work, embracing most of the themes, especially those relative to love, found in Henri-Pierre Roché’s œuvre.
Dog guides as witnesses with specific reference to Miles and Houellebecq
(Van Schaik Publishers, 2018) Du Toit, Catherine
Since Wild Dog first crawled from the Wet Wild Woods and laid his head on Woman’s lap, he has helped man, not only to hunt and protect, but also as guide. A guide with enhanced senses in the physical world who could find a way across unmarked landscapes, a clever empathic being who could lead man to certain places or to specific individuals. No wonder then that the best-known ancient dog deities accompany humans as guides, often on their way to the afterlife. Dog guides—not to be confused with guide dogs—have remained a constant feature of the representation of dogs in literature, reflecting as much of the nature of these dogs as of the nature and needs of the humans they attend. In this way, the human-animal relationship also reveals how the solipsistic tendencies of human self-definition limits our capacity for being in the world. In the two contemporary novels that form the basis of my enquiry, La Possibilité d’une île (2005) by Michel Houellebecq and Op ’n dag, ’n hond (2016) by John Miles, the agency of dog guides introduces an intriguing element of distancing, reminding us that the self has meaning only in relation to another and that human concerns are not absolute.
Germany : facing the Nazi past today
(AOSIS Publishing, 2009-07-16) Laurien, I.
This article gives an overview of the changing debate on National Socialism and the question of guilt in German society. Memory had a different meaning in different generations, shaping distinct phases of dealing with the past, from silence and avoidance to sceptical debate, from painful “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” to a general memory of suffering. In present-day Germany, memory as collective personal memory has faded away. At the same time, literature has lost its role as a main medium to mass media like cinema and television. Furthermore, memory has become fragmented. Large groups of members of the German society, like immigrants, see the past from a different perspective altogether. Although the remembrance of the time of National Socialism is still a distinctive part of Germany’s political culture, it has become more generalised, with “Holocaust memory” as a globalised symbol for a fundamental “break” in Western culture.
Henri-Pierre Roche et Peter Altenberg : une emotion qui nait de l ellipse meme
(Association for French Studies in Southern Africa, 2011) Du Toit, Catherine
Henri-Pierre Roché’s life as well as his work is characterized by a certain movement which seems to be contradictory at first glance: a dissipatory movement that manifests itself through a curiosity of all and everyone, long journeys and parallel loves – ephemeral or lasting – are accompanied by a strong desire to distil a unique essential and authentic wisdom from this apparent disarticulation. It is a process of concentration and distillation that is equally valid for the contents of his writing as for its form the essential characteristic of which is its concision. The quest for purity of expression most probably has its origins in the 1903 meeting between Roché and the Austrian author Peter Altenberg. Roché found himself at a sensitive and impressionable stage of his writing career when this influential Viennese thinker instilled in him a philosophy of brevity and restraint. Fifty years later, the elliptical and terse style of Jules et Jim, would reveal the lasting impressions of the Viennese experience. Among Henri-Pierre Roché’s numerous travels, his journey to Germany and Austria in 1903, would be decisive for his evolution as a writer. The article reconstitutes the principal stages and meetings of this journey in order to trace their influence in Roché literary career.
Introduction a Don Juan et ... d Henri-Pierre Roche. Un destin fragmentaire
(Nuxos Publishing, 2010-11) Du Toit, Catherine
In spite of a growing interest in the life and works of Henri-Pierre Roché, little has been written on his first publication, Don Juan et... Published in 1920 under the pseudonym of Jean Roc, this series of vignettes represents the first serious attempt Roché made to transform his life and his ideas about love into a literary work. It is also the first time the figure of the seducer appears in Roché’s writing – a seducer he creates in the image of his own conception of love, in other words, a human phenomenon the can be dissected on all levels, whether metaphysical, geopolitical or medico-scientific. In this article, I concentrate on the genesis of this text, studying the conditions in which it was created, the influences authors such as Franz Hessel and Peter Altenberg may have had on its creation and the way in which Roché’s portrayal of the Don Juan figure echoes contemporary texts and perceptions of love, desire and, consequently, the representation of the age-old myth of the relentless and unrepentant seducer. This texts deserves more attention since it effectively reflects the most important European conceptions of the time with regards to love and seduction while serving as a precursor to Roché’s future writing. The figure of the seducer became an important presence in Roché’s life (and consequently in his future autobiographical works), particularly in his liaison with Helen Hessel. The repercussions of this obsession were therefore to lead to the creation of Roché’s most famous novel, Jules et Jim.
L.J. van der Veen et S. Bodinga-bwa-Bodinga. Gedandedi sa Geviya/ Dictionnaire Geviya-Francais
(Bureau of the WAT, 2004) Mavoungou, P. A.
La parution aux Éditions Peeters de l'ouvrage de référence lexicographique intitulé Gedandedi sa Geviya/Dictionnaire Geviya–Français (en abrégé DGF dans les reste de l'article) a été accueilli avec joie et fierté aussi bien par les locuteurs geviya1 en particulier que par les Gabonais en général. Ce dictionnaire, résultat d'une longue et fructueuse collaboration scientifique entre Lolke van der Veen et Sébastien Bodinga-bwa-Bodinga, marque le début d'une nouvelle ère dans la rédaction des dictionnaires au Gabon. En effet, la majorité des ouvrages de référence lexicographique disponibles dans les langues gabonaises sont des dictionnaires bilingues rédigés par les missionnaires catholiques et protestants ou par les administrateurs coloniaux dans la période allant de 1800 à 1960, date de l'accession du Gabon à la souveraineté internationale (Nyangone Assam et Mavoungou 2000, Mavoungou 2001).
Of dirt, disinfection and purgation : discursive construction of state violence in selected contemporary Zimbabwean literature
(Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association, 2018) Ncube, Gibson
This paper examines post-independent Zimbabwean literary narratives which engage with how the ruling ZANU-PF government frames dissenting voices as constituting dirt, filth and undesirability. Making use of Achille Mbembe's postulations on the "vulgarity of power" and Kenneth W. Harrow's readings of the politics of dirt, the central thesis of this paper is that the troping of dirt and state sponsored violence are closely related to the themes of memory and belonging. Literary works by writers such as Chistopher Mlalazi, NoViolet Bulawayo and John Eppel become self-effacing speech acts that are involved in reimagining and revisioning our understanding of power dynamics and how this affects human and social experiences.
Perpetuating the Third World? evaluating knowledge production in the field of German Studies in an African context
(Stellenbosch University, Department of General Linguistics, 2016) Von Maltzan, Carlotta
This paper critically revisits and examines the seemingly outdated concept of the ‘Third World’ by tracing its historical origins with reference to the Three Worlds Theory, and investigates the reasons for the persistent implied or direct usage of the term in public and scientific discourse when referring to contexts which are typically considered to be underdeveloped. Of particular interest is the way in which knowledge production in German Studies functions in an African context which, as is argued, is influenced by complex relations that straddle the divide between a so-called “Western” and a so-called “African” perspective of the African continent, given that these perspectives are essentially determined by asymmetrical relations of wealth and power. To this end, the paper evaluates the self-perception of two academic journals in the field of German Studies published in West Africa and Southern Africa, respectively, by querying whether they participate in the postcolonial project of ‘writing back’ or rewriting colonialism in order to develop a new understanding of their participation in knowledge production.
Polyphony and counterpoint : mechanisms of seduction in the diaries of Helen Hessel and Henri Pierre Roche
(AOSIS Publishing, 2015-06-25) Du Toit, Catherine
Henri Pierre Roché (1879–1959), the author of Jules et Jim, has been called a general introducer, an exemplary amateur, a collector of women and art and one of the most prolific diarists and active lovers in recorded history. Author of a collection of vignettes about Don Juan, Roché was fascinated with the figure of the seducer and in his twenties planned to devote his life to the creation of a body of work which would examine moral, intellectual, social and sexual relations between women and men. To this end, he would transform his life into a laboratory where real-life experiences would become the main source of reference. Roché’s diary spans sixty years and abounds in tales of seduction. However, the most intense and captivating intrigue of seduction and betrayal in his diary, is his relationship with Helen Hessel. At the start of their affair, Roché suggested that she too should keep a diary of the maelstrom of passion into which they were plunged. Written in French, German and English, Helen Hessel’s diary captures the drama of seduction and functions on several levels: realistic, visionary, absorbed in her thoughts and emotions and yet critical of herself and others. A juxtaposed reading of the two diaries generates a fascinatingly dense texture, revealing the mechanisms of seduction at play. The counterpoint created by these two interdependent voices becomes ever more complex as one becomes aware of the intertextual references that contribute to the emerging polyphony of recorded life and love.
Primeurs : les premieres productions litteraires d Henri-Pierre Roche
(Association for French Studies in Southern Africa, 2009) Du Toit, Catherine
The first literary productions of Henri-Pierre Roché are short stories published in different reviews at the start of the 20th century. This article presents the six short stories in question and analyses their principal themes while situating Roché as a young author who, not without audacity, proves to be quite aware of the modernity around him.
Reluctant Romantics : on the fairy tale poetics of the Brothers Grimm and their relationship to German Romanticism
(AOSIS Publishing, 2014-12-03) Dos Santos, Isabel
The legacy of the Brothers Grimm continues to fascinate readers and researchers alike. The 200-year anniversary of the first publication of their fairy tales sparked a renewed interest in the life, work and times of the brothers. Fascinated by the past, by the political present and by the literary future of Romanticism, the Brothers Grimm stayed together in an unusual working union. They established what was to become German philology and published many invaluable works on language and history, myths and folk tales. This article will focus on the brothers’ place in German Romanticism through their contribution of fairy tales. The period was marked by political and philosophical thought that emphasised authentic experienced and the spiritual unity of art, science and philosophy. There was a strong call for national emancipation. Literature was required to embody this unity through an established national literature founded on German folk traditions. The Grimms seemed to have heeded that call. But a careful study reveals that their intentions were motivated less by the literary movement than by their own strong convictions which they upheld even at the cost of compromising the authenticity they claimed to uphold in their poetics. The many controversies regarding the origins, collection and editing of the fairy tales is inextricably linked to the brothers’ difficult relationship with the Romantic Movement. Two hundred years later, this article seeks to give an appraisal of the Brothers’ motivation for their poetics and of the research conducted thus far.
Sprachenpolitik und die Rolle der Fremdsprachen (Deutsch) in Südafrika
(Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University, 2009) Von Maltzan, Carlotta
Taking multilingualism in South Africa into account, this paper investigates language policy, language usage and the role of foreign languages, especially German, within the context of processes of transformation at universities since 1994, i.e. after the end of Apartheid. It is argued that foreign languages find themselves caught in the battle between ideology and practice and have to forge a new direction for themselves.

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