Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Department of English
Abstract
Olive Schreine'rs novel, The Story of an African Farm, and nonfiction work, Woman and Labor, have compelled critics to apply the term New Woman to her main character, Lyndall, who speaks out for change against the established gender roles. The thesis proposes that by placing Lyndall in a colonial context, Schreiner creates a plot where place and language embody the possibilities for change. Considering that Schreiner's life consisted of a life in the colonies, first as a governess, later as a wife, one sees Schreiner's personal interest in change. Analyzing Schreiner's style of representing Lyndall's relationship with nature and other characters, one discovers the way Schreiner balances a feminist (and hence radical) shadow discourse of masochism with the discourses of nature and evolution. Schreiner registers an interest in change in her language by turning the linguistic-mental neighborhoods of Jane Austen inside out in favor of a more extrinsic language, the dialect of real South African neighborhoods. In her personal details, furthermore, Schreiner brings to life the language and landscape of her beloved country, creating the conceptual groundwork for political change. Read in this way, Olive Schreiner's work can be seen as creating space for more literature about social change like the award-winning work of the South African writer, Nadine Gordimer.
Extent
viii, 74 p. : ill.
Recommended Citation
Carr, Mellissa M., "Olive Schreiner on "times and seasons"" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 353.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/353
Identifier
FADT3332188
Comments
by Mellissa M. Carr.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011.|Includes bibliography.|Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.|by Mellissa M. Carr.