'Child and serpent, star and stone - all one' : the duality of God and nature in children's literature

This thesis argues that the human mind recognizes within the natural world a dimension of reality that is beyond its knowledge and understanding. Nature confronts it with an ineffable power the source of which is often sensed as a numinous presence. But the divine manifested by nature also assumes the qualities exhibited by nature, and this implies beauty as well as terror. Indeed, in the literature considered in this study duality can be seen to constitute a mark of the divine. To accept the dual forces of nature as a whole, both the beauty and the terror, light and dark, as a unity, one needs the vision of the Romantic Child. The Child of Romantic conception is able to accept the dynamics of the dual forces, because he has the ability to wonder; he has not been sundered from his natural environment like modern man. The realm of Romantic Childhood is seen as a timeless place where the Child experiences a profound communion with nature. Ever since the industrial revolution this place has become a repository of ideas, tradition and literature discarded by a technologically advancing civilization that scorns the link with the past and with nature, which is in the custody of the poet, the true hero, and the Romantic Child. For this reason, the ideas germane to this study are significantly represented in works of so-called 'children's literature'. The duality of the divine is explored within various contexts - as manifested in the natures of god and goddess figures, the cycles of life and death, the dual conceptions of the man-centred pastoral garden and the god-centred wilderness, or the mind of the cultural other. From a wide array of sources, dating from different periods of time and written by authors of divergent backgrounds and stances, a seemingly unified and coherent body of Romantic teaching emerges. These sources include works by P.L. Travers, c.s. Lewis, Walter de la Mare, Richard Adams and Jamake Highwater. The coherence of their teaching attests to the poetical validity of their timeless archetypal thoughts.Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2007.Modern European Languagesunrestricte

An optimization approach to the determination of manipulator workspaces

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this documentDissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009.Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineeringunrestricte

Design and optimum operation of a re-configurable planar Gough-Stewart machining platform

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this documentThesis (PhD (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006.Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineeringunrestricte

Serial murder : psychological themes

The goal of this research is to abstract psychological themes from interviews which were held with people who have committed serial murder. This research thus contributes to a better understanding of the phenomenon of serial murder, which occurs from time to time in communities. Serial murder is operationally defined as three or more seemingly unmotivated murders. Four people who met the operational definition and criteria of serial murder were identified to participate in this research. The research is based on the principles of Grounded Theory and the themes are presented in a descriptive manner. Different theoretical perspectives, which serve as explanation for serial murder, are presented as a point of departure. These explanations are eventually tentatively integrated with the results. Some of the most important themes that have emerged are: these persons display a dependent personality structure with underlying anxiety; these person come across as reasonably normal without indications of severe pathology; these persons have an incapacity to form meaningful relationships; and there is a possibility that these persons grew up in a psychologically deprived environment. Simultaneously, despite the fact that these findings may lead to generalization, the unique composition of each individual who has committed serial murder is advocated and categorization is avoided. AFRIKAANS : Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om sielkundige temas uit onderhoude, met persone wat reeksmoord gepleeg het, te abstraheer. Die navorsing kan sodoende hydra tot 'n beter begrip van die fenomeen reeksmoord, wat van tyd tot tyd in gemeenskappe voorkom. Vier persone, wat aan die navorsing se operasionele definisie en kriteria vir reeksmoord voldoen, is geïdentifiseer en het aan die navorsingsprojek deelgeneem. Die navorsing geskied volgens die beginsels van Grounded Theory en die temas word beskrywend aangebied. As vertrekpunt word verskeie teoretiese perspektiewe as verklarings rakende reeksmoord aangebied. Hierdie verklarings word uiteindelik op 'n tentatiewe wyse met die bevindinge geïntegreer. Van die belangrikste temas wat na vore gekom het is dat die persone 'n afhanklike persoonlikheidstruktuur openbaar met onderliggende angs, dat die persone redelik normaal voorkom sander aanduidings van ernstige patologie, dat die persone 'n onvermoe het om betekenisvolle verhoudinge te kweek, en 'n moontlikheid dat die persone in 'n arm sielkundige omgewing groot geword het. Ten spyte van die feit dat sekere van die bevindinge tot veralgemening mag lei, word die unieke samestelling van elke individu wat reeksmoord gepleeg het bepleit en word kategorisering vermy.Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.Psychologyunrestricte