Browsing by Author "Glaeser, Jessica"

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    Apocalypse: a study of myth and archetype in the novels of Calixthe Beyala
    (Univeristy of the Western Cape, 2024) Glaeser, Jessica; Culpin, David J
    This thesis uncovers the previously unremarked presence and significance of archetypes in the novels of the Franco-Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala. It shows how the worldview of her characters is constructed around three principal archetypal themes, lost paradise, exile and paradise regained, and that her novels are themselves peopled by archetypal characters, the barren woman, the absent father and the trickster among others. Dominant among these archetypes is the theme of apocalypse, which is understood not just as a catastrophe, but also as a revelation, opening the way to a new future, a heaven on earth from which the sufferings and injustices of the present world are banished. Surprisingly, given the scepticism of Beyala’s characters about all branches of the Christian church, these archetypal themes and characters are drawn predominantly from the Bible and from biblical myths such as the flood and the virgin birth, myths that are dominated by the presence of apocalypse. Thus, in Beyala’s works as in the Bible, the passage from Genesis to Revelation, from the beginning of the Bible to the end, parallels not just the hero’s journey as understood by the mythologist Joseph Campbell, but also the process of loss, wandering and reintegration illustrated notably in the works of Jung and other depth psychologists.
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    The female protagonist’s intersection with the African world of actuality in beyala’s novel tu t’appelleras tanga
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Glaeser, Jessica; Assam, Blanche Nyingone
    In order to overcome the silence that had been instilled by colonialism, several postcolonial female writers employ fiction to restore their local culture and reflect on their representation in historical writings. For female writers, literature often becomes a medium through which they can become active agents of their own destiny by establishing a voice for themselves. Writing becomes a means of reclaiming traditional discourses relating to women. The following study is primarily focused on Calix the Beyala, a Franco-Cameroonian novelist, and specifically concentrates on the manner in which Beyala makes use of her female protagonist in Tu t’appelleras Tanga to portray the realities facing African Francophone females. The study aims at illustrating that the female protagonist plays acritical role in mirroring both the conditions of females in African societies and the conditions pertaining to Womanism in a universal context. Through the analysis of the role of the protagonist, the study reveals that there seems to be a relationship between fiction and society which is definite enough for fictional characters to be used as prototypes for social roles and attitudes.