The postmodernist text in contemporary South Africa : a defence of J. M. Coetzee

Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1988.One of the most pressing debates in South Africa concerns the need of writers to address the complex sociopolitical demands of the present day situation. In this paper I examine J M Coetzee's use of Postmodernism forms as an attempt to develop a language and structure of consciousness which offers a telling critique of authority and power in South Africa. My purpose is not primarily to offer an aesthetic appreciation of Coetzee's works, but rather to assess the efficacy of the Postmodernist approach in a world of material forces. The central problem which I explore is whether Coetzee's experimental fiction speaks to a world of "total politics". In the Introduction I consider the way that Coetzee himself establishes the terms for a debate of his texts, a debate which juxtaposes his rejection of realism, mimesis and the dictates of history, (a strategy necessitated by his Postmodernist and Poststructuralist understandings) with his call for a language adequate and sufficient to Africa. Section I explores the claims of those critics who view Postmodernism as a Eurocentric and highly recondite form of elitist exclusion which retards the development of a vital post-colonial expression while extending the ideology of capitalism. Thus Postmodernism is seen to lack a cogency adequate to address a South Africa dominated by a politics of oppression. Section II discusses the implications of Postmodernism as an interventionist strategy which deconstructs hegemonic notions of reality, replacing them with a radicalised doubt and scepticism. This doubt is seen as having an informative role to play in the constitution of a consciousness both subjective and political which is capable of providing a counter to the politics of hegemony, and the'monism of a one dimensional state, either of the left or right. In Conclusion I contend that J M Coetzee's texts pose a linguistic and fictional significance within the context of South African polity and literature

Waveform control of orientation-dependent ionization of DCl in few-cycle laser fields

Strong few-cycle light fields with stable electric field waveforms allow controlling electrons on time scales down to the attosecond domain. We have studied the dissociative ionization of randomly oriented DCl in 5 fs light fields at 720 nm in the tunneling regime. Momentum distributions of D+ and Cl+ fragments were recorded via velocity-map imaging. A waveformdependent anti-correlated directional emission of D+ and Cl+ fragments is observed. Comparison of our results with calculations indicates that tailoring of the light field via the carrier envelope phase permits the control over the orientation of DCl+ and in turn the directional emission of charged fragments upon the breakup of the molecular ion

The construction of a Solanum habrochaites LYC4 introgression line population and the identification of QTLs for resistance to Botrytis cinerea

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is susceptible to grey mold (Botrytis cinerea). Partial resistance to this fungus has been identified in accessions of wild relatives of tomato such as Solanum habrochaites LYC4. In a previous F2 mapping study, three QTLs conferring resistance to B. cinerea (Rbcq1, Rbcq2 and Rbcq4a) were identified. As it was probable that this study had not identified all QTLs involved in resistance we developed an introgression line (IL) population (n = 30), each containing a S. habrochaites introgression in the S. lycopersicum cv. Moneymaker genetic background. On average each IL contained 5.2% of the S. habrochaites genome and together the lines provide an estimated coverage of 95%. The level of susceptibility to B. cinerea for each of the ILs was assessed in a greenhouse trial and compared to the susceptible parent S. lycopersicum cv. Moneymaker. The effect of the three previously identified loci could be confirmed and seven additional loci were detected. Some ILs contains multiple QTLs and the increased resistance to B. cinerea in these ILs is in line with a completely additive model. We conclude that this set of QTLs offers good perspectives for breeding of B. cinerea resistant cultivars and that screening an IL population is more sensitive for detection of QTLs conferring resistance to B. cinerea than the analysis in an F2 population