- Title
- Death, suffering and silencing as explored in the book Thief and the devil's arithmetic
- Creator
- Coetzer, Ashley
- Subject
- Feminist literary criticism War in literature Children's literature, English
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- English
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17116
- Identifier
- vital:40857
- Description
- World War II is a devastating event in the world‘s history, which still haunts society today. It was a war in which millions of Jews and others losing their lives because of the Nazi regime‘s prejudiced beliefs. The primary focus of this study is to investigate concepts such as death, suffering, silencing, language and literature, as well as secrecy as evidenced in selected children‘s literature. The project provides a comparative analysis of two texts which fall under the children‘s war literature genre: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Death, suffering and silencing were significant aspects of the war which crushed the minds and hearts of millions of human lives. Language and literacy are also important notions in the novels, as the historical context allowed for oppression through these areas. A feminist and cultural studies theoretical framework have been used as paradigms in this study as both address oppression in its many forms. The authors‘ biographical backgrounds as well as the historical context of their novels will be outlined in order to provide a context for the chosen theories. World War II relied on oppression based on race and religion. It is for this reason that I use cultural studies theory for an exploration of the many factors which enforced the oppression of the Jewish race by the Nazi regime. Furthermore, a feminist theoretical framework allows for an investigation of the oppression of women during this historical period. While the extent of suffering can never be completely understood, the novels attempt to honour the millions of lives lost by telling the stories of those forgotten. Teun A. Van Dijk‘s cultural studies theory explores manipulation, discourse and racism which are pertinent to a study of the novels. Within both The Book Thief and The Devil’s Arithmetic, there are oppressed female characters which drive the novel. Feminist studies encourage numerous forms of emancipation from a patriarchal society and these novels provide examples of females finding emancipation through various means. In conclusion, this study seeks to highlight the cultural as well as feminist aspects of the children‘s war literature novels, The Book Thief and The Devil’s Arithmetic. In addition, the concepts which will be analysed in this study allow for an in-depth understanding of the context of war within these novels. While these novels have been analysed individually, there is a gap in the literature as these novels have not yet been compared and contrasted. This study, therefore, aims to broaden and encourage further academic discussion in the field of children‘s war literature.
- Format
- 120 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | Coetzer FINAL THESIS 2.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |